Photo by Brenda Godinez. Take the quiz and find out what kind of eater you are!
1. Where do you shop for groceries?
A) Markthalle IX for small-batch kimchi, Lafayette Gourmet for raw-milk cheeses, Rogacki for smoked fish, Metro for everything else! ▲
B) LPG, Bio Company, Denn’s – no icky pesticide residue for me! ■
C) When I’m not raiding the bulk bins at Original Unverpackt, I’m going through the only-sorta-expired supermarket leftovers at SirPlus. ●
D) Let me check this week’s Supermarkt flyers to see what’s on sale... ◆
2. What do you order at the bar?
A) A fresh turmeric-ginger shot. Alcohol really messes with my skin tone. ■
B) A glass of natural, vegan Riesling vetted by Weinmoral. ●
C) A large Rollberg on tap, or an Aperol Spritz if I’m feeling fancy. ◆
D) A fatwashed Negroni with Earl Grey-infused gin, or a simple glass of GG Pinot Gris from Baden. ▲
3. Your biggest food-related peeve?
A) Tomatoes in winter. I don’t care if they come from an urban farm if they’re tasteless! ▲
B) When cashiers ignore my stainless-steel bento and throw my veggie stir-fry in an ocean-killing plastic box. ●
C) Lattes made with soy milk instead of oat milk. Soy causes cancer! ■
D) When I order a currywurst only to find out it’s vegan. WTF? ◆
4. How do you like your bananas?
A) Grown at Berlin’s Stadtfarm, sustainably fertilised with catfish waste! ●
B) Cheap! Lidl went back on their promise to stock only fair trade bananas, more savings for me! ◆
C) As an amazing slice of banana bread from Black Apron Bakery. ▲
D) Mixed with spirulina in a green smoothie from Daluma. ■
5. Where do you get your bread?
A) I join the queue for fresh Schrippen at my local Bäckerei. ◆
B) I’m gluten-free, but Aera in Charlottenburg makes a killer rice-flour sourdough. ■
C) I make my own with the starter I’ve been nurturing for years – and use the leftovers for vegan panzanella. ●
D) Albatross in Graefekiez, or Zeit für Brot in Mitte. I might snag an apple Danish or cinnamon roll while I’m at it. ▲
6. Choose your last blowout meal of 2019?
A) A three-course vegetarian dinner at Frea. All the resulting waste will be composted! ●
B) Wild boar tartare and house-made pickles at the just-opened Otto. ▲
C) An orgy of salads, bowls and summer rolls at 1990 Vegan Living. ■
D) A huge festive plate of parmesan truffle pasta at my local Trattoria. Same procedure as every year! ◆
7. Which workshop strikes your fancy?
A) A culinary evening with ZoomFresh, where I can learn Korean home-cooking and exchange tips with my new foodie friends. ▲
B) DIY kombucha at Roy in Weißensee. My gut bacteria’s in need of an overhaul. ■
C) Christmas Baking at Goldhahn & Sampson, so I can get a jump on this year’s batch of cookies before my neighbour Mechthild outdoes me again. ◆
D) An urban permaculture course with CityPlot – learning how to upend our unsustainable industrial farming system is well worth the €300. ●
8. Choose a new food app!
A) Too Good To Go. Rescue food waste from local restaurants and get a cheap meal – love it! ●
B) DiscoEat. I heard I can get 30 percent off at Schwarze Heidi if I go at 6pm – that’s my normal dinnertime anyway! ◆
C) Does Michelin have their guide in app form yet? ▲
D) 8Fit. Perfect to get meal plans tailored to my ever-changing dietary needs. ■
9. Do you eat avocados?
A) Why not? With some mayo, it actually tastes okay. ◆
B) Yes, if they’re perfectly ripe and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. ▲
C) Are you kidding? It’s the best source of monounsaturated fatty acids ever! The servers at Avocado Club all know me by name! ■
D) I’d love to, if it weren’t for the cartels in Mexico, the water theft in Chile, the droughts in Spain… ●
10. Your food-related New Year’s resolution?
A) Cut out caffeine (CBD-infused coffee doesn’t count). ■
B) Start throwing out my Biomüll wrapped in newspaper instead of fake “biodegradable” bags that can’t be recycled. ●
C) Limit my meat intake to my morning Mettstulle and Sunday Kasselerbraten. ◆
D) Finally get into Georgian cuisine – it’s about time I knew my khinkali from my khachapuri. ▲
11. Your favourite museum food?
A) Café Babette at Kindl, where I can indulge in a raw, vegan, gluten-free slice of chocolate cake. ■
B) At Gropius Bau’s Beba they grow their greens in-house, right in the dining room – how cool is that? ●
C) Sarah Wiener lunch at Hamburger Bahnhof. I’m still dreaming about those fluffy spinach dumplings with frothy alpine cheese and meaty porcini. ▲
D) The Museum for Communication’s all-you-can-eat Thursdays are an awesome deal! ◆
Mostly ▲ : You’re a Feinschmecker!
With a finely tuned palate and a budget to boot, the world is your Fine de Claire ready to be slurped up. You spend every free moment scouring Berlin for its best eats, from locavore fine dining to regional Chinese specialties even China doesn’t know about yet. You prefer it local and organic, but you won’t say no to any meat if it’s pressed into the service of a truly transcendent meal.
Mostly ■ : You’re a Wellness Freak!
Your body is a temple, and you defend it with the vigilance of the Peruvian tribe in Raiders of the Lost Ark. You’ve gone from vegan to keto and back again while mainlining mushroom supplements and keeping up your strict yoga regimen. You wish you could have a cheat day, but just thinking about a Bergkäse sandwich makes you feel bloated and cranky – at least until some guru can convince you cheese is healthy again.
Mostly ● : You’re an Öko-Warrior!
There’s only so much one person can do against the global capitalist forces responsible for the climate crisis, right? Wrong! You know the fight to save the planet begins on your plate, and you’re happy your fellow Berliners are starting to see the light. Your friends might call you sanctimonious, but you won’t give up your single-minded pursuit of the zero-waste, zero-carbon way of life. After all, Greta wouldn’t, would she?
Mostly ◆ : You’re a German Normie!
Forget all this fancy food – you’re part of the silent majority who likes their meals cheap, practical and honest. You don’t really care where your food comes from, but you don’t eat anything your Oma wouldn’t recognise. When it comes to eating out, any place with huge portions and rock-bottom prices gets your vote. Someone’s got to keep the Eckkneipen and currywurst stands in business around here!