Schnitzel!

Schnitzel is the German equivalent of a burger. It's easy to find in several different price ranges, it's a standard on most menus (certainly any kiddie menu) and it can be dressed up or down by changing side dishes (often fries are standard) and sauces. That being said, here's a recipe to help you make it at home:


Ingredients
• meat of your choice (butterfly cut pork chops or chicken breasts work best)
• flour
• eggs (beaten) (at least one for every two pieces of meat with a few extras on hand just in case)
• plain breadcrumbs (not Italian ones)
• vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper
• lemons
• ketchup (optional)
• for spicy Schnitzel add garlic powder, red pepper, and bouillon (replace salt with bouillon; use chicken bouillon with poultry, etc.).

Schnitzel can be made with any kind of meat. Actual Wiener Schnitzel is made with veal, but that’s pretty expensive, and I like it best with chicken or turkey anyways. Pork is pretty popular in Germany, too. You’ll want to get the meat of your choice cut “butterfly style” by the butcher at the grocery store (unless you’re
really ambitious and want to do it yourself). That means that it’s cut in half to make the meat half as thick, but the two halves are still connected in the middle.

Cover the meat with a piece of plastic wrap and beat it for about 30 seconds on each side. A meat tenderizer is best for this, but a wooden spoon or rolling pin will do the job, too. The meat should be fairly thin when you're done (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).

After beating the meat, cover it completely in flour, then in egg that has been beaten, and then in breadcrumbs that have no seasoning except for a bit of salt and pepper (red pepper and/or garlic powder can be added if you want spicy schnitzel). Make sure the meat is completely covered in each of the 3
ingredients.

Add about ¼-½ inch of vegetable oil to a frying pan. Make sure the oil is hot before adding the meat. You know it’s hot when you throw a drop of water in and it sizzles. If you don’t make sure the oil is hot first, the breading will soak it up and you’ll wonder where your oil has disappeared to. Once it gets hot, reduce the heat to medium because otherwise the meat will be burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

The Schnitzel is done when it has a nice golden-brown color and is firm (raw meat is sorta squishy, cooked meat isn’t).
Serve with slices of lemon. The lemon juice is squeezed onto the Schnitzel. A lot of people eat ketchup with their Schnitzel, too.

Guten Appetit!

Will my cell phone work in Germany?

Most of us, whether young or old, have trouble separating ourselves from our cell phones. We use them as alarms, clocks, entertainment, and ways of staying connected through texting, e-mail, facebook, chat programs and as telephones. For safety reasons, students studying abroad at the European Study Center receive a cell phone upon arrival. They come with a SIM card to which money can be uploaded for inexpensive, pre-paid phone calls.

But what if students want to continue to use their beloved cell phones from home while here? They need to be sure to discuss the possibilities with their cell phone provider. There are too many variables to list them all here, but students who do not take the time to inform themselves well generally end up unexpectedly unhappy about their phone not working in Germany at all (which is fairly standard), or paying extravagant roaming fees. Charging their cell phones may also be an issue if they don't take the time to look into electrical converters as discussed in this earlier post.


No matter what, all students receive a cell phone as part of the program so that they'll have their own German phone number. It will be much less expensive for new friends to reach them on a local number than an international one. The good news is that incoming phone calls are always paid by the caller, not the receiver, so, unlike in the U.S., it's free for students to receive calls on their cell phones.

Dress code

At the European Study Center, one of our goals is to integrate German culture into the atmosphere there. It is because of this goal that we expect that students present themselves in an appropriate manner for all occasions, whether at the European Study Center or on official excursions. Europeans generally consider it very important to always dress appropriately when in public areas and they often dress much nicer than North Americans. Does this mean our students can't wear jeans to class? No. It does, however mean, that they shouldn't wear sweat pants, pajamas, or "jogging" clothes outside of the student living areas (unless they are actually currently jogging in the case of the last example). Those planning on coming to the European Study Center should plan on bringing a mixture of clothes – business casual, dress up, and casual wear. Our staff is always happy to give advice if you're not sure what to wear.