Schnitzel Heaven

If you are a foodie heading to Germany, there are a few national favorites you need to try. Naturally you'll want to have a pretzel, a pastry, a beer and something that ends in -wurst, but the most important dish to try is schnitzel.

What is schnitzel? Well, it's not a hot dog, despite what Weinerschnitzel would lead you to believe. Like many, I referred to it as a hot dog, and my local Heidelberg guide Nina shot me a look that would make Lord Voldemort cry (come on, you know you're going this weekend). In actuality, schnitzel is a thin slice of veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried. And it's delicious!

Now if you're in Germany and want to try this classic meat dish, there's no better place than Heidelberger Schnitzelhaus, home to over a 100 different variations of the famed hot dog ... I mean veal. Several of us went there my second day in Heidelberg so we could try several different types. My schnitzel was stuffed with ham and gorgonzola cheese and covered in gravy, while my friend Casey had the top choice — called Los Amigos — featuring a cheddar cheese sauce and lots of sliced jalepenos. The other meat filets, including one that featured a raspberry sauce, weren't quite up to par.

Naturally, this is the issue with having over 100 types of schnitzel — some of them are bound to be nasty. The menu featured some combinations that were questionable at best, including spinach and fried eggs, spicy red curry sauce and rice, sweet & sour sauce with Chinese vegetables, sheep cheese and pepperoni, curry fruit sauce and rice, bitter chocolate sauce, cornflakes and cream sauce and the trio of butter, shrimp and bacon. Any takers? Equally vexing is why they named one of their salads Quer Beet.

And, in case you were wondering, none of the schnitzel options came with ketchup or mustard.

If you are going to Germany and stopping through Heidelberg, this is the place to get your schnitzel fix. Sure, you could have the meat dish anywhere, but why not have it at a place that cared enough to find over 100 different ways to make it.