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FijiFlavors · Baviera
Paste of camembert or brie cheese mashed with butter, paprika and, depending on the recipe, onion, cumin or beer; eaten with bread or a pretzel. A beer‑garden dish from Bavaria, with protected geographical indication since 2015.
Traditional dish from Baviera
Also known as: Obazda, Obatzter, Obatzda, Obazder
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Bayerischer Obazda — Baviera, Germany
Obazda is a seasoned Bavarian spread, served as a cold dish in beer gardens and at Bavarian picnics. The name, in the local dialect, means something like “that which was mashed”: soft, ripe cheeses such as camembert or brie are mashed with butter until they form a spread, seasoned with paprika, salt and pepper. Depending on the establishment, chopped onion, cumin, a little beer or cream may be added.
Obazda is the creamy part of the Brotzeit, the Bavarian picnic of breads, sausages, radishes and pretzels. It typically arrives at the table with onion rings and paprika on top, alongside rye bread or a pretzel, and often sliced radish. It is also a classic in taverns and at large beer festivals.
Since June 2015, the name has been a protected geographical indication of the European Union, requested by the Bavarian dairy industry association. The Bavarian government called it a beer‑garden snack and part of Bavarian lifestyle. The protection sets a basic recipe, with at least 40% soft cheese, and also protects various spellings of the name, such as Obatzter, Obatzda and Obazder. Production must take place in Bavaria; ingredients may come from elsewhere.
The recipe varies by region. Some places also use washed‑rind cheeses with stronger flavor, and there are milder or spicier versions. The origin is often attributed to a Bavarian tavern from the early 20th century, but that story lacks a secure source. What is documented is Obazda’s place on the beer‑garden table.
Baviera
Bayerischer Obazda is a protected geographical indication for all of Bavaria, a typical dish of the state’s beer gardens.
Ripe soft cheeses (camembert, brie and, in some recipes, romadur or limburger), butter, paprika, salt and pepper; depending on the recipe, onion, cumin, beer or cream.
Cold, spread on rye bread or a pretzel, topped with onion rings and often sliced radish, as part of the Bavarian picnic (Brotzeit).
Year‑round; especially common during the beer‑garden season, from spring to autumn, and at beer festivals.
Your questions
From ripe soft cheeses such as camembert or brie, mashed with butter and seasoned with paprika; depending on the recipe, onion, cumin or a little beer may be added.
Cold, spread on rye bread or a pretzel, topped with onion rings and often radishes, as part of the Bavarian picnic (Brotzeit).
Yes. Since 2015 it is a protected geographical indication of the European Union: under that name, the spread must be produced in Bavaria and follow a basic recipe.
Flavors of Germany
Aachen spice cookie, sweetened with syrup and with small pieces of brown candi sugar that crackle when you bite them. It can be hard or soft, plain, with almonds or coated in chocolate. It has a protected geographical indication from the European Union.
Fresh pasta dough filled with ground meat, spinach, soaked bread, onion and herbs, served in broth, browned with onions, or sliced and fried with egg. A Swabian dish with protected geographical indication since 2009, traditional at Easter week.
Layered chocolate sponge cake soaked in Kirschwasser, the cherry brandy of the Black Forest, with cherries and whipped cream, topped with chocolate shavings. Black Forest tourism presents it as the region’s most famous sweet specialty.
Dark beer with a smoky flavor, made with malt dried in the smoke of beech firewood. Bamberg tourism presents it as part of the city’s identity, and the traditional preparation is listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
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Kale slowly cooked with bacon, served with the smoked sausage Pinkel, smoked pork and potatoes. Bremen’s official portal presents it as the city’s best-known specialty, a winter dish of the Kohlfahrt.
Light, pale beer with top fermentation, served in a thin cylindrical 0.2‑liter glass by the breweries’ waiter, the Köbes. It is a protected geographical indication and may only be made in Cologne and in a few breweries in the region.
Sweet Christmas bread with raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, almonds and plenty of butter, coated with powdered sugar. Mentioned in Dresden since 1474, it has had protected geographical indication status since 2010.
Amber-colored beer, top-fermented with a pronounced bitterness, brewed in Düsseldorf’s brewery-taverns from a mid-19th-century recipe. The city’s tourism promotion presents it as the typical drink of the Altstadt.
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Sweet made from fermented, laminated dough with butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled and pressed until it takes its characteristic flattened shape. Hamburg’s official portal presents it as a specialty of the city.
Dry, acidic apple wine, fully fermented, served in the Bembel ceramic jug and in the diamond-patterned glass called the Gerippte. It is a protected geographical indication of Hesse, and the apple wine culture of the state is listed in the German inventory of intangible heritage.
Little tart of shortcrust pastry filled with marzipan, almonds and a touch of jam or a cherry, with two strips of pastry crossed on top. It replaced the roasted lark, a Leipzig dish until the hunting ban in 1876.
White veal sausage with bacon and parsley, warmed in hot water and served with sweet mustard and a pretzel, traditionally before midday. It is one of Munich’s best-known specialties.
Honey cake with spices, walnuts and almonds, often baked on a thin wafer and covered with chocolate or icing. It has a protected geographical indication since 1996 and may only be made within Nuremberg.
Pork sausages 7 to 9 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram and grilled, served by the dozen with sauerkraut or inside a roll. They have protected geographical indication since 2003 and may only be made in Nuremberg.
Ball of strips of shortcrust pastry, fried and dusted with confectioners’ sugar, resembling a snowball. Rothenburg ob der Tauber tourism presents it as the city’s regional specialty.
Cake baked in thin layers on a spit that turns in front of a fire; when sliced it shows rings like those of a tree trunk. Made in Salzwedel since the early 19th century, it has been a protected geographical indication since 2010.
Long, thin pork sausage, 15 to 20 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram, cumin and garlic, grilled over charcoal and eaten in a small roll with mustard. The earliest known mention dates from 1404, and the name has protected geographical indication status since 2004.
