NATO - Part III, Essen und Trinken

 The Humble Brötchen (Source)

I cannot think of my NATO assignment without remembering the gustatory delights of wonderful Deutschland. Which vary from region to region, so I can only speak for Nordrhein-Westfalen, which is where we lived. But the beer, the wine, the pork, the sandwiches...

Eh, sandwiches?

Well, in the Rheinland a belegtes Brötchen is when you take one of those delicious rolls and put stuff on it, a belegtes Brötchen translates to "occupied little bread." In reality Brötchen is the word used by Rhinelanders to describe a bread roll, other regions of Germany have different terms for it. (And that's something I just learned.)

Now in the comments the other day one of my old comrades-in-arms mentioned the Brötchen Bar in our wing. For a nominal fee, you got your Brötchen, you spilt it, buttered it up, then applied cold cuts and cheese. And that was breakfast for me during the week for seven plus years. The bread rolls were delicious, the cheese was superb, and the cold cuts sublime. I am almost drooling as I write this. Check that, I am drooling.

So that was breakfast. Around 1000, the Germans introduced me to something else which at the time they said most of the other Amis didn't care for - espresso. We had out very own wing espresso machine, not a cheap one either. So belegtes Brötchen for breakfast, then espresso at 1000. Most excellent.

Now for lunch I'd wander up to what was called the NATEX, which was the NATO Exchange, which in reality was the Canadian Exchange, what the military folks in the Great White Up would call the CANEX. (Which we humble Yanks call, variously, the Post/Base Exchange, PX/BX or the Navy Exchange, depending on what service you're in. Note that the PX/BX are the same outfit whereas the Navy Exchange is a different organization. I know, it can be confusing.) Before I forget, the NATEX had two shops on base, one for clothing, jewelry and the like, the other for food.

Anyhoo, for lunch I hit the NATEX (the food one of course) to get my ready-cooked, garlic-roasted bratwurst. Two to a package which I would take back to my office and eat with a healthy portion of Löwen-Senf, literally "lion mustard," this stuff -

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And yes, make mine Extra scharf - extra sharp. Rather spicy! The first time I tried that on my bratwurst, one of my German colleagues thought I had used rather too much, warning me that it was "very hot." I assured him I would be fine. Later on that year he tried kimchi and then understood why I relished that German mustard. (Yes, that's me trying to be punny.)

Another favorite of mine was schnitzel. Now, like many northeastern Americans, all I knew of schnitzel was what I got from Hogan's Heroes. Which, you might gather, wasn't a lot. Now Wienerschnitzel was about all I knew. That type of schnitzel is a breaded veal cutlet which came from Vienna (Wien) originally. I don't care for that at all. Your more traditional German schnitzel is technically called Schweineschnitzel, which is a breaded pork cutlet. Now in both types the meat is pounded to tenderize it. The beauty of schnitzel is not in the meat itself but what you put on top of it.

My favorites were schnitzel mit champignon (schnitzel with mushrooms), Zigeunerschnitzel (Gypsy schnitzel which has a tomato based sauce with spices, primarily paprika), and Jägerschnitzel (Hunter schnitzel, another one topped with mushrooms but in a brown gravy). All three are most delicious and are best eaten with one (or more) of these -

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Bitburger is a most delightful pilsner beer brewed in Bitburg, Germany. Which wasn't all that far from where we lived. (Okay, it was two hours and you had to drive through the Netherlands and Belgium to get there via the fastest route. But it takes you through the Ardennes, lovely country that.)

Of course, I also liked this one -

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And this one -

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It's Dutch, but the Nederlanders make an excellent brew. Seems we always had this one after our softball games (if you struck out, you owed the team a case at the next game). I got a kick out of the porcelain bottle caps, yes, I said porcelain. And for fun, plug "Grolsch" into Google Translate, which you'll have to tell it that it's Dutch, and hit the speaker button. The Dutch really make a show out of the letter "G." You'll see. Or rather hear.

So let me see, Brötchen, schnitzel, beer, bratwurst...

What else, what else? Ah yes, the frites! Which is the French word for "fries," as in French fries. The Germans called them that as well. One thing The Missus Herself learned was never order "French fries" in Belgium. Dude was quite irate, claiming he only sold "Belgian fries." Oddly enough, that was at a food stand at the battlefield of Waterloo. Which I visited once or twice. (And not every damn year as The Missus Herself claims, there were a couple of years she didn't go. Out of seven...)

To truly enjoy frites gotta have 'em with a sauce of some sort. Mayo is liked by some, but there are others. Most Belgian food vendors had a variety of sauces. All of 'em pretty tasty. Not that I tried all of them. Most? Maybe?

As I was poking around for other memories of Germany, I "stumbled" across a post I wrote back in January of 2016, titled, appropriately enough, Speaking of Wine. Which was another tale of NATO in the waning years of the 20th Century. Sadly enough, one of the "crying Scots ladies" in that post, a very dear friend and wonderful person has passed on since I wrote that post. Here's to you Marion, I'll never forget you, you were a fine lass.

One last thing, something which a bear pointed out, um, okay "a bear," which is his nom de web I guess you'd say...

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NATO, of course, stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whereas OTAN, it's mirror image, is the French version, Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord, and yes, French has a few extra words in it, but ODTDLN just looks wrong. Doesn't it?

Um, where do you see NATO/OTAN Sarge? (The first post in the series, but here's another photo.)

Though it's late, as I write this, not, perhaps, as you read it, I am sore tempted to go find me some brats and beer. I am feeling a mite peckish all of a sudden. While I do that, watch this refueling video, that's one of our NATO birds.

I'll bet that a few flight suits (on both aircraft) needed laundering after that little episode. (Wouldn't be surprised if that pilot lost his air refueling qual as well!)

(Note, although the video title refers to that jet as an E-8 AWACS, um no, it's an E-3A. I spent over seven years around those big jets, almost as many as I spent around the Phantom, so I guess I'd know.)





With a tip of the hat to my old comrade-in-arms Bob. Bill, another old AF sarge, also chimed in with his memories of the Brötchen Bar. Two of the good old boys from GK.