GERMANY: Despite living 24 years in Rome amid some of the best Italian cuisine in the world, Pope Benedict was eating home food.
"We must have half of all the different types of German liverwurst and sausage in the refrigerator," his host, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper during the World Youth Day festival.
"There's German food the whole time - just look at all the different types of bread," said Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls.
"There hasn't been a single meal with pasta."
The pope, whose home state of Bavaria is known for its hearty food and frothy beer, did not want beer or wine at Cardinal Meisner's residence where he is staying. "He prefers Fanta," Bild wrote.
All his years in Rome have left some traces though."We rented an Italian espresso machine especially for him," Cardinal Meisner said.