Wiesn Hendl (Oktoberfest Roast Chicken)

Bavaria (Munich). Bavaria, in Germany's southeast with Munich at its heart, is the source of the food the wider world pictures as German: soft lye pretzels, roast pork knuckle with crackling, white sausages, and litre steins of beer in vast timber halls and shady beer gardens.

Germany. Sauerbraten is a category rather than a recipe, and the regional versions really do differ: the Rhineland one is thickened with crumbled Lebkuchen and sweetened with raisins and beet syrup, the Swabian with flour, the Franconian with soured cream. The Bavarian brewing rule of 1516 is likewise narrower than its reputation, being Bavarian, not the first of its kind, and named Reinheitsgebot only in the twentieth century.

Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.