🇩🇪Cologne, Germany
The Himmel un Ääd Pilgrimage
'Heaven and Earth' - black pudding on a bed of mashed potato and apple, served with a thumb-sized glass of Kölsch that never seems to empty.
Why this dish?
The name is a small poem: 'Himmel' (heaven) for the apples that grow up high, 'Ääd' (earth) for the potatoes from below. On the plate it's crisp-fried Flönz (Cologne's blood sausage), mashed potato, apple sauce or stewed apple, and a heap of fried onions. Sweet, savoury, rich, grounding - the Rhineland in one forkful.
The catch is that this is brewery food, and Cologne's breweries are an experience in themselves. The Köbes (waiters) in blue aprons whisk away your empty 0.2l Kölsch and replace it without asking, marking your coaster, until you put the coaster on top of the glass to surrender. You haven't really had Himmel un Ääd until you've had it under a vaulted brewery ceiling with the cathedral two minutes' walk away.
Our Picks
Brauhaus Früh am Dom
- Address
- Am Hof 12-18, Cologne (beside the cathedral)
- What to order
- Himmel un Ääd with extra fried onions; Früh Kölsch on rotation.
- Book ahead
- Big and busy - book for groups, otherwise share a long table.
- Pro tip
- Coaster on top of the glass = no more beer. Forget this and the Köbes will keep you here all day.
Päffgen
Friesenstraße 64-66, Cologne
A smaller, fiercely traditional brewery beloved by locals, with the Kölsch poured straight from the wooden barrel.
- What to order
- Flönz with onions if Himmel un Ääd isn't on; Päffgen Kölsch in 0.2l glasses, one after the other.
Good to know
Kölsch is served only in 0.2l glasses and only in Cologne - locals are proud and slightly absurd about it. Don't order a 'pint'. Cologne and Düsseldorf have a beer rivalry; never praise Alt beer here. The cathedral is right by the station, so the brewery district is a five-minute walk on landing.
Your day plan
Wheels up to wheels down.
Flight goals - what you're aiming for
- 07:30Depart London
- 09:50Land Cologne/Bonn
- 10:30Train to Köln Hauptbahnhof (15 min)
- 10:50Stand under the cathedral and feel small
- 12:30Himmel un Ääd and Kölsch at Früh am Dom
- 14:00Walk the Rhine promenade and the Altstadt
- 15:30Coffee and cake, or more Kölsch at Päffgen
- 17:00Chocolate Museum or one last brewery
- 18:00Train back to the airport
- 19:30Depart Cologne
- —Leave well-fed and ready for the journey
