Posting photos of what you eat on Instagram is so common that there’s even a word for it: foodstagramming. In Germany, the most famous follower of this practice is neither a star chef nor an influencer, but a political leader: Markus Söder, president of the very conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria and possible candidate for the Federal Chancellery in 2025.
Aged 56, this doctor of law briefly worked in journalism and has always loved images, especially his own. For almost a decade, he delighted the media during the popular Franconian Carnival, not far from his native Nuremberg, where he was seen dressing up in turn as a polar bear, as Gandhi, as Shrek, as Homer Simpson and even Marilyn Monroe. Since his election as head of the Bavarian government in 2018, he has calmed down, now preferring a tuxedo, and it is in another way that he has decided to satisfy his taste for self-preservation. on stage: by posting on Instagram – where he has nearly 400,000 subscribers – a scrupulous chronicle on the contents of his plate.
As a good regional president, Markus Söder is obviously keen to put his own in the spotlight. He has no complexes about this. Convinced that “Bavarian cuisine is the best in all of Germany”he regularly celebrates its specialties, from Schäufele (pork shoulder) with Weisswurst (white sausage), passing through the Saures Lüngerl (veal lung stew) that his mother liked to prepare for him when he came home from school.
The Greens in the viewfinder
Bavarian before being German (“If Germany succeeds, it is only because there is Bavaria”, he has often repeated), Markus Söder is, however, disloyal to his beloved region. In recent months, he has made it known that he has enjoyed pizzas, hamburgers, doner kebabs, Mexican enchiladas, Russian shashliks, Romanian mici and oriental pastries. He even created a hashtag: #Söderisst (“Söder eats”). With its variations: “Söder eats Lebanese”, “Söder eats Turkish”, “Söder eats Greek”…
This eclecticism, however, has its limits. Whether they come from Bavaria or elsewhere, the dishes that the president of the CSU likes have in common that they are always hearty, most often rich in meat and often full of sauce and fat. As for the portions, they are very generous: where others would be satisfied with a chicken fillet, Markus Söder does not hesitate to be served half a chicken; the same goes for fish, which he likes to have whole on his plate, and preferably fried or breaded rather than steamed.
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