Schnitzel is the most stereotypical of Austrian/German food items. Not that a lot of Americans know what it is, but we know who eats it. As it turns out, this food is stereotypical because it’s very, very popular. Restaurateur Gerhard Kaltscheuer estimates he sells about 70 schnitzel dishes a day at his restaurant in Hammerbruecke in the German state of Saxony because he makes an extra-large schnitzel for an extra-hungry working man. However, his extra-large schnitzels are getting him in trouble with tax officials.
Apparently, German officials charge you by the portion, not by the actual plate of food, so his 70 schnitzels may well be 200 normal-sized portions of food, and they’re expecting him to tax accordingly. However, Gerhard is planning on fighting this law, saying that if he shrank his plates, he’d lose business. “If I served the customers smaller portions at the normal price like that, I wouldn’t have any customers because that wouldn’t fill them up,” he protested, adding that his customers are hungry working men who need a big meal.
Tags: giant schnitzel, jumbo schnitzels, Gerhard Kaltscheuer, Hammerbruecke, Saxony, Germany, taxes, restaurant in trouble over large portions, extra-large schnitzel, unusual food, tax laws, unusual crimes, law and order