Spreewald Specialities

The Spreewald is an area in Brandenburg about 80 km south east of Berlin and is a Nature reserve with more than 1000 km of canals. Many farms and villages can only reached by boat. The main transport of people, goods and farm stuff is made on wooden long boats that are pushed by a wooden pole.
Tourists are one of the main income now, they are gliding on long wooden boats pushed by one guy through the canals.

Before tourists came in the end of the 19th century, farming was the main income. Gherkins are famous from here and were and still are exported. Horseradish grows here too and is harvested in huge amounts. Other crops like mustard are well known here.

When you reach the Spreewald you can buy gherkins, horseradish and mustard. Tourists leave here with these goodies.

I only bought a couple of jars of horseradish.

During our boats tour we had a 1 hour lunch break at Lehde. A little town on small islands connected not through roads but bridges.

We went for a traditional boiled beef with horseradish sauce, grated fresh horseradish and potatoes. In Austria this is called Tafelspitz.

Later in Lübbenau I tasted an other speciality:  Hefe Plinze, a yeasty fluffy pancake. Mostly served sweet with cinnamon sugar and applesauce and sometimes savoury with sour cream and salmon.