Delicatessens

“Delicatessen” is a German word meaning “to eat delicacies”; in Germany it referred to a retail store selling specialty food items. Nineteenth-century German delicatessens sold raw, pickled, roasted, spiced, and smoked hams, sausages, fowl, fish, and venison, as well as the heads and feet of calves, sheep, and swine. They also offered prepared salads made from chicken, herring, or potatoes, as well as raw and cooked sauerkraut and pickles of all descriptions. Frequently, a wild boar’s head, the quintessential symbol of the feast, was placed in the window of the shop to symbolize the abundance within.