A whipped cream-cheese spread shaped like a barrel bung, dusted with paprika and eaten with pretzels or dark bread. A wine-country snack the apfelwein taverns adopted as their own.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Spundekäs comes from the Rheinhessen wine villages across the river, where cellar masters whipped fresh cheese with butter and paprika into a shape recalling the Spund, the bung of a wine barrel. Frankfurt's taverns and festival stands absorbed it decades ago as a partner for both Riesling and Ebbelwoi, and it now sits beside Handkäs on menus like Apfelwein Wagner's as the milder, richer of the city's two cheese rituals. At the Rheingauer Weinmarkt on the Fressgass it is practically the official food.
Common allergens: Milk, Gluten
Tip from the editors. The butter must be genuinely soft or the spread turns grainy; season boldly, as chilling mutes both salt and paprika.
Apfelwein Wagner proves Frankfurt tradition is a budget cuisine: Handkäs at €5.10 and Rippchen with kraut under €15 on Schweizer Strasse every day.
Try: Handkäs mit Musik at €5.10, Grüne Soße at €14.50
Tip: Order Handkäs and a Schoppen for the cheapest authentic Frankfurt dinner going; bread comes with it, and nobody hurries you out.
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