Alsatian Cuisine - The Complete Guide to Dishes and Specialities

Alsace is a border region - and its cuisine bears that heritage magnificently. Heir to both French and Germanic culinary traditions, shaped by centuries of Rhine trade and enriched by the generosity of its terroir, Alsatian cuisine is one of the most distinctive and flavourful in France. Fermented cabbage and smoked meats, golden pastries and pungent cheeses, mineral white wines and fragrant spirits - a cuisine that feeds the body as much as it delights the soul.

The unmissable savoury dishes

Choucroute garnie - the queen of the Alsatian table

It is the emblematic dish par excellence. Choucroute garnie - white cabbage fermented in salt and slow-cooked with smoked meats, knack sausages, bacon, kassler, potatoes and a splash of riesling - is far more than a winter dish : it is a symbol. Its preparation, often a family and communal affair, is passed down from generation to generation. Fish choucroute (salmon, haddock, prawns) is a more modern variant, born in Strasbourg's great restaurants in the 1970s. Discover our traditional Alsatian choucroute recipe.

Flammekueche - Alsace's ultimate sharing dish

Born on the farms of the Kochersberg north of Strasbourg, flammekueche (tarte flambée in French) was originally used by bakers to test the temperature of their wood-fired ovens. Thin bread dough, thick crème fraîche, smoked lardons and sliced onions - the basic recipe is deceptively simple. It now comes in dozens of variations : with forest mushrooms, gratinated with munster, or sweet with apples and cinnamon. Find our Alsatian flammekueche recipe.

Baeckeoffe - the baker's oven

The name literally means "baker's oven". Baeckeoffe is a gratin of marinated meats (lamb, beef, pork), potatoes, onions and carrots, slow-cooked in a hermetically sealed Soufflenheim stoneware terrine. In the old days, housewives would prepare this dish on Sunday morning before church and leave it at the baker's to cook slowly in the bread oven. Discover our traditional baeckeoffe recipe.

Bibeleskaes - peasant simplicity

Bibeleskaes - literally "chick's cheese" - is a whipped fresh white cheese seasoned with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper, served with steamed potatoes and raw ham. A quintessential peasant dish, refreshing and light, it embodies Alsatian cuisine in its simplest and most authentic form. Find our Alsatian bibeleskaes recipe.

Grumbeerekiechle - potato fritters

Grumbeerekiechle - grated potato fritters, crispy outside and soft inside - are one of Alsace's most popular bistro dishes. Served with green salad or apple sauce, they also accompany smoked meats in farm inns. Discover our grumbeerekiechle recipe.

Presskopf - waste nothing

Presskopf - head cheese in aspic - is a traditional Alsatian charcuterie made from pork (cheek, tongue, ear), cooked, pressed and moulded in its natural aspic. Served cold with a shallot vinaigrette, it is one of the emblems of regional charcuterie. Find our Alsatian presskopf recipe.

The bretzel - the emblem of a region

Unmistakable with its characteristic twisted shape, the Alsatian bretzel is far more than a snack. Crispy outside, soft inside, sprinkled with coarse salt, it is enjoyed plain, with butter, cheese, or - in its festive version - gratinated with lardons. Discover our gratinated bretzel with lardons recipe.

Alsatian pastries and sweet treats

Kougelhopf - the Alsatian brioche par excellence

Baked in its characteristic fluted pottery mould with a central chimney, kougelhopf is Alsace's most iconic pastry. Soft brioche with raisins macerated in kirsch, scattered with flaked almonds, golden and dusted with icing sugar - it is enjoyed at breakfast, as a savoury aperitif version, or as a dessert. Legend attributes its creation to the Three Kings passing through Ribeauvillé. Find our Alsatian kougelhopf recipe.

Lammele - the Easter lamb

At Easter, Alsatian bakers and pastry chefs bring out their terracotta lamb-shaped moulds and prepare lammele - a soft biscuit dusted with icing sugar and decorated with a ribbon in Alsatian colours. A symbol of resurrection in the Christian tradition, it is inseparable from Alsatian Easter celebrations. Discover our lammele recipe.

Bouchée à la reine - Alsatian elegance

Bouchée à la reine is a fine and generous starter : a puff pastry shell filled with a fricassee of veal, sweetbreads, mushrooms and a velvety riesling sauce. A celebratory dish, emblematic of great Alsatian tables at weddings and festivities. Find our Alsatian bouchée à la reine recipe.

Festive and seasonal specialities

Mulled wine - the Glühwein of Christmas markets

From late November, Alsatian Christmas markets fill the air with the scent of mulled wine (Glühwein) - Alsatian white or red wine heated with citrus, spices (cinnamon, star anise, cloves) and cane sugar. The Obernai recipe, with white wine and citrus, is particularly prized. Find our Obernai mulled white wine recipe.

Artisanal Black Forest cake

Black Forest cake - cocoa sponge, whipped cream, cherries and kirsch - is a dessert whose tradition Alsace shares with neighbouring Baden-Württemberg. In its artisanal version, it is finer, less sweet and more fragrant than industrial versions. Discover our artisanal Black Forest cake recipe.

The winstub - the heart of Alsatian conviviality

No discussion of Alsatian gastronomy is complete without mentioning the winstub - literally "wine room". This typically Alsatian place, with its wooden tables, checked tablecloths, beer mugs and daily specials on a chalkboard, is where regional dishes are enjoyed in their natural habitat. The winstub is Alsatian conviviality at its purest - good food, local drinks, long evenings.

Alsatian terroir products

Alsatian gastronomy rests on exceptional local products : Munster AOP, a soft cheese with a strong character ; Alsatian mustard in a variety of flavours (horseradish, violet, honey) ; pain d'épices from Gertwiller, the world capital of gingerbread just a few kilometres from Obernai ; the eaux-de-vie of mirabelle plum, quetsch and raspberry from Vosges distilleries ; and of course the Alsatian wines - riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot gris, crémant - that accompany every dish.

Find our complete Alsatian recipes, culinary specialities and regional kitchenware on decoalsace.fr - delivery across Europe.