oh dear,,, where to start......
first, schnitzel is simply meat pounded flat, typically breaded, and sauted.
done it with chicken, beef / veal, lamb, pork. the taste / seasoning is all in the basic meat plus the breading. std methods apply - eggwash or milk wash followed by breading - double dip for company, high fast saute. the meat has to be thin enough to cook before the breading burns - if you need a knife, it was not done right.
Wiener Schnitzel = Vienna Schnitzel - is typically veal. but all the other meat proteins work as well and in fact I've done it 'faux' with polenta for guests of the vegetarian persuasion.
salads:
German potato salad is typically an oil&vinegar dressing, usually hot/warm. mayo type potato salad is an unknown entity in Germany.
"green salad" - the Ami "mixed salad" is unknown in Germany. there's
"Feld Salat" - field salad - greens typically with o/v dressing; not much else
"Kraut Salat" - Kraut = Weed or Herb = depending on syntax or the klassik "cabbage" salad, and kin. sorta' similar to cole slaw but not really. kind of a garden salad based on raw cabbage vs lettuce type products - including many many different julienne root crops ala celeriac, etc.
rather a lot of stuff served as "salad" in Germany will appear to the USAer as "some kinda cole slaw"
spaetzle - a/the recipe is dead simple: boiling water, flour, water, eggs, salt, dash of nutmeg for authenticity; more in the north, less in the south.
the problem with spaetzle is not what to put in the bowl, but how to "make" it - technique is _everything_ many times spaetzle gets translated as a "dumpling" -
frankly methinks it's more like "really fresh undried pasta" - there's at least two major camps: the extruded cheese doodle style and the thin almost spaghetti/linguine shaped knife-cut off the plate style ("Black Forest")
past that, there's the "served fresh" (ie right out of the boiling water) or "re-fried in butter" - if you go to a German restaurant in Germany and see "homemade fresh spaetzle" you will not actually "know" that definition is unless you ask or establish by ordering. some places insist 'homemade fresh' is re-fried, some insist it's right off the strainer.
I do both; I prefer the re-fried spaetzle with about a 50% light-brown crust "on the batch" - personal preferences and habits will affect your mileage.
other "classic" German food -
- fried carp, whole, with head - heh, it's fish, but not many USA buyers....
- whole roasted suckling pig - call me if you go there . . . can drive most anywhere....
- sauerbraten - beef roast marinated in vinegar - careful with the acid content - the "sour" bit can be easily overdone.
Eisbein - "IceLeg" - roasted pork shank / knuckle - multiple names; also available in boiled format
BeefTartar - raw beef, double ground, served with raw egg yolk in the depressed middle, rye crackers & onion; oh, double vodkas, if you're counting. can be had in NYC been there, done that, lived to tell the tale - but as a habit I do this only at home where I have control over "freshness" and "handling"
"Ein Topf" entries - "one pot" aka casseroles - can be virtually anything but usually a success due to the sauce and additives. had pork, rabbit, wild game, it's all there - but the bottom line is slow wet cooking with really tasty stuff added - mushrooms, sauce - Germans have a mean sauce repertoire.
"Pfferling" - went to a restaurant for lunch. they had (fresh, in season, yadda yadda) Pfferling mushrooms. ordered a double portion. "What?" exclaimed the waiter - "Kein "Fleisch? / No meat?" - no said I; mushrooms are all I want to see.
I'm sure I've missed a whole bunch of stuff - but frankly what I have seen of German food, and "Europe" in general, is just that the ingredients are fresh, locally prepared, no frozen pre-portioned anything (WienerWald / McDonalds / Wimpys excepted)
breads - well - Germans have a veddy long history of breads. totally new topic, but you can find some decent 'dinner rolls' at local eateries and yeh - heresy accepted, in the frozen food aisle. not the best, but passable.