''Strammer Max'' (; English: roughly "Strapping Max") is a

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

dish in

German cuisine The cuisine of Germany consists of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbouring c ...

German dish

The original is a slice of bread, sometimes fried in butter, covered with ham and fried egg. The ham may also be pan-fried; it is also possible to replace the ham with a slice of

roast beef Roast beef is a dish of beef that is roasted, generally served as the main dish of meal. In the Anglosphere, roast beef is one of the meats often served at Sunday lunch or dinner. Yorkshire pudding is a standard side dish. Sliced roast beef ...

, in which case the dish is sometimes called . Cheese and tomato are sometimes used, but these are later additions to the original recipe. Outside of the Berlin region, the term is also used for several other dishes. Regional variations of the term are not set in stone, and it is not always possible to tell in advance what dish will be served after ordering in a restaurant. In

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, a is usually a slice of

Leberkäse (German, literally 'liver-cheese'; sometimes also ''Leberkäs'' or ''Lebaka(a)s'') in Austria and the Swabian, Bavarian and Franconian parts of Germany, 'leverkaas' in Netherlands, the Netherlands and ''Fleischkäse'' ("meat-cheese") in Saarlan ...

accompanied by fried egg and

potato salad Potato salad is a salad dish made from boiled potatoes, usually containing a dressing and a variety of other ingredients such as boiled eggs and raw vegetables. It is usually served as a side dish. History and varieties Potato salad is foun ...

Dutch ''uitsmijter''

In the Netherlands and Belgium, the equivalent dish is known as an , , which is also the Dutch word for a door bouncer. The uitsmijter most traditionally uses a minimum of two eggs, white bread and a Dutch cheese such as Gouda, in place of the Strammer Max's single egg, rye bread and either Tilsiter or Swiss cheese respectively.

References

*Heinz Küpper, ''Illustriertes Lexikon der deutschen Umgangssprache'' (Stuttgart 1982), Vol. 5 *''Wörterbuch der obersächsischen Mundarten'' (Leipzig 1994), Vol. 3

External links

''Strammer Max''
entry in the

Duden The Duden () is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH, which was merged into Cornelsen Verlag in 2022. The Duden is updated regularly with ...

dictionary
A traditional recipe
{{Sandwiches Belgian sandwiches German sandwiches Egg sandwiches Dutch cuisine