The regional cuisine is renowned for offering a wide variety of fresh fish as well as specialities such as kale with raisins, honey spare ribs and apples in dripping.

Herring is available off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as early as spring, when the fishing season begins. This is celebrated on the island of Rügen with the Herring Festival, which starts with the 'herring mile' on the beach promenade in Sassnitz. To kick off the event, a cutter chugs into the harbour and a fisherman hands over his catch to the Rügen island cookery club, which then serves herring cooked in a variety of ways (fried, smoked, pickled or in beer batter) from a number of different stalls.

Another regional speciality is 'Himmel und Erde', a dish consisting of mashed potato and apple sauce.

The garfish is usually found in the Mediterranean. But in May it comes to spawn in the Baltic where it is caught and consumed with great fervour. This scaly creature with green bones is traditionally served with mashed potato and stewed rhubarb.