Essen 2

I stumbled upon Essen 2 innocently enough. I am an American student spending the summer at Universität Bremen, in Bremen, Germany. I don't speak German. On July 2, the first day of my summer fellowship, I went for lunch at the Mensa, the cafeteria on campus. I stood in the longest line I could find, which happened to be Essen 2. There are many lunch stations at the Mensa, including a salad bar, au gratin station, vegetarische, and Essen 1 and 2, which have different entrees everyday. That first day, when I got to the front of the line, I was given a margarhita pizza and a small salad.


Essen 2, I found out, is the cheapest meal at the Mensa. Every day it is just 1€ for a meal. (The other options are between 3 and 5 € .) It is usually vegetarian. But it wasn't until later that I discovered that Essen 2 is sometimes... unusual. Because I don't speak German, I can't read the posted menu. Lunch is a surprise every time. Essen 2 entrees I have witnesses and/or eaten:

• pizza and salad
• vegetable soup and pretzel bread
• mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs
• hash browns and applesauce
• ham salad with a roll
  
• ravioli with marinara sauce

Some days, lunch is fairly typical and unremarkable. Other days, it not only warrants remark, but a blog post. When I got my entree today, I knew I had to tell the world about the wondrous culinary inventiveness that is Essen 2. For my remaining six weeks in Bremen, I will get Essen 2 for lunch each day, and henceforth expand my palette to food combinations I never imagined possible.