Enjoy in Hof
Pleasure region Upper Franconia
If you come to Hof, it won't take you long to realize that you are in the Genussregion Oberfranken. Because no matter which butcher or baker you buy from or where you go out to eat: You will never be disappointed - on the contrary! And the selection is also huge: For a population of about one million people in all of Upper Franconia, there are 400 bakeries, 500 butcher shops and 170 breweries - that is the highest density (in terms of population) of bakers, butchers and brewers in Germany.
In 2007, Christian Herpich, a master butcher from Hof, was a founding member of the association, which now has 335 members and aims to promote the quality, diversity and culture of regional specialties in Upper Franconia. The association has developed an overarching service network for suppliers of high-quality regional specialties and conducted a comprehensive inventory of the diversity of Upper Franconian delicacies.
A flagship of the Genussregion Oberfranken is the Hofer beef sausage. It is particularly lean and low in calories and is smoked in a cold smoking process over beech wood. The beef sausage as a trademark of the city of Hof is a European-wide protected speciality, which may be offered only in a geographically delimited area under the designation "Hofer Rindfleischwurst". Each butcher uses his own special recipe - but the regionality is common to all: The Hofer Rindfleischwurst is made from slaughtered animals from the region, and it is of course preferably sold in and around Hof, but you can also find it at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich. By the way, the raw sausage should not be stored in the refrigerator, because otherwise it loses its color, consistency and taste. Trying it is a must for all Hof guests!
Also not to be forgotten is the immeasurably large variety of bratwursts available in the Genussregion Oberfranken. The bratwursts taste very different, depending on whether they come from Coburg, Bamberg, Hof or Kulmbach. Coarse and fine ones are offered, refined with egg, beaten egg whites, nutmeg or marjoram, eaten individually or in pairs, roasted on charcoal or over the open flame of burning pine cones. But exotic varieties such as cheese, pizza or merguez bratwursts, bratwursts without pork, veal, bear's garlic or chili bratwursts are also produced in Upper Franconia and enjoy great popularity, especially among young customers. By the way: Usually there are fine bratwursts in Catholic areas and coarse bratwursts in Protestant areas - but Hof is an exception: Despite the Protestant character of the Saale city, the typical Hof bratwurst, which is roasted over charcoal and eaten in pairs, is a fine bratwurst.
Another speciality of Hof - in addition to mildly smoked country ham, meat loaf and liver loaf, meat sausage and home-made pressed sack - are, of course, the wieners from the Hofer Wärschtlamo. These typical "Hofer Wärscht" made of pork and beef differ from other Wieners in that they are somewhat thinner in caliber and hot-smoked in sheep intestines (Saitling). Often they are a little longer in the cauldron of the Wärschtlamänner, and they must be up to this challenge! Of course, each butcher's shop has its own well-kept recipe for the Hofer Wärscht as well, which is why it is worth trying the sausages of different butchers.
But Upper Franconia not only has the greatest density of butcher shops, bakeries and breweries and the widest variety of bratwurst. Upper Franconia is also home to the largest closed sweet cherry growing area in Central Europe, which provides the raw material for nearly 300 distilleries and a huge variety of liqueurs, fruit waters and brandies. A large part of the summer barley grown in the district of Hof also serves as raw material for Upper Franconian beer specialties. Thus, everyone is sure to find his or her personal favorite beer in Upper Franconia. But the choice is not easy: If you were to try all of the nearly 1,000 beers from Pils and Märzen to the dark beers, cellar beers and wheat beers to the special, seasonal and festival beers such as Schlappenbier, Weizenbock or Absolvinator, you would need almost three years for one variety every day!
The women's beers of the young brewmasters Moni and Gisi Meinel-Hansen, who continue the family-owned traditional brewery with great success, are also becoming increasingly popular. Just like Michaela Fleischer from the Reinel bakery and Christina Rädlein from the Max butcher's shop, the two belong to the "Junge Wilden" (Young Wild Ones), a group of creative young master craftsmen and entrepreneurs who meet regularly, exchange ideas and work together to promote the gourmet craft in the Upper Franconia region.
But it is not only within the city that the Junge Wilden, the butchers and bakers and the friends of the Hof beef sausage, who have even joined forces in their own association since 2002, exchange ideas. Also on national and international fairs, for example the Green Week in Berlin the benefit region Upper Franconia is present again and again - and always a public magnet.
What the Genussregion Oberfranken has to suffer from, however, is the population's strong desire for academization: Hardly anyone wants to take up an apprenticeship in the skilled trades anymore, which is why there are ever greater problems in recruiting young talent in the Genuss-Handwerk businesses.
"I can only speak for the skilled trades: I love my job, I enjoy it every day anew, and I would like to encourage young people to think about an apprenticeship in the skilled trades. Vacant apprenticeship positions are easy to find via apps and other portals - and you should keep in mind: The opportunities in the skilled trades are very diverse today. After the normal apprenticeship, you can do your master's degree or even go on to university" - Christian Herpich (master butcher and deputy chairman of the Genussregion Oberfranken).
