Saarland, Germany

Germany

The Saarland is Germany's smallest state after the city-states, wedged between France and Luxembourg on the west bank of the Rhine. The food here borrows from both sides of the border. French technique shows up in the sauces and the pastry; German volume shows up in the portions. Lyoner is the region's staple sausage, a smooth emulsified pork-and-beef ring eaten cold in sandwiches, fried in thick slices with potatoes, or diced into a vinegar-dressed Wurstsalat that every Saarland pub serves. The name comes from Lyon, where a similar sausage originated, but the Saarland version is its own thing: coarser than French cervelas, milder than Bavarian Leberkäse, and consumed in quantities that make it the most-eaten processed meat per capita in Germany. Saarbrücken's Markthalle and the butcher shops along Bahnhofstraße are where locals buy theirs.