The hefty regional kitchen was never designed to please calorie counters. A traditional local diet includes much meat, thick sauces, potatoes and vegetables. However, late spring sees the arrival of locally grown healthy and light white Asparagus, Spargel, on the markets.

When in season, Rhenish mussels, Muscheln rheinischer Art, prove highly popular in Düsseldorf. They are cooked in white wine and served with typical German black bread, Schwarzbrot.