The French aperitif is perhaps the only thing that does not vary from region to region.
The French react instantly when they hear this word with an interrogative tone: “aperitif?? »
And here we go, it always happens the same way: friends are told to come and have a drink around 7 p.m. (they will arrive at 8 p.m.!).
On the table, there will be dozens of different bottles but almost everyone will take a beer.
Appetizers are mandatory (it’s a word that raises the eyebrows of Germans who speak French), guests will stuff themselves with…: in summer, the aperitif often serves as the main course.
Among our neighbors, the aperitif as in France does not exist
Moreover, there is no equivalent to this word.
In Germany, the closest thing to it is the “Feierabendbier”, in other words “beer after work”.
It is done between colleagues after work and almost always in a café, rarely at one or the other.
It often happens between 5 and 6 p.m. and then we go home.
Summer drinks but not necessarily aperitifs that go on forever!
During a summer meal, the Germans will still offer you a few typical drinks to drink before eating… but quickly, it’s out of the question for it to drag on, you have to eat afterwards.
In Germany, you will be offered a little rhubarb syrup to start with.
To be mixed with white wine or Sekt (the German champagne), it is well known throughout the country as a kind of kir.
Another typical summer drink with the neighbors: the Erdbeerbowl, a sort of marinated strawberry punch or the Waldmeisterbowl, marinated wine with fragrant woodruff that we know well in the Bitche region, we call it the Waldi , with us.
To snack, you will be entitled to Erdnussflips (better known as Curly in France)… and basta!
So why do the French like aperitifs so much and not the Germans?
It’s historic.
It dates back to 1846 thanks to a certain Joseph Dubonnet, you know this name which has become a brand.
In 1846, Dubonnet invented his famous drink, which is a quinine medicine against malaria!
It was so bitter that he camouflaged the taste with wine.
The foreign legion in Africa, in the middle of the swamps infested with mosquitoes, will get into the habit of tasting it every evening before eating.
Helping alcohol, the legionnaires will come back to it every day with more and more pleasure… and transform taking the medicine into a moment of conviviality. It then spread throughout society simply by word of mouth.
Know this, when you have an aperitif, dear French people, it means that you unconsciously continue to fight against malaria!