What should such a menu feature? Sauerkraut, pork, Brezeln, Beer should be the basics, and that's what we'll deal with here:
The Oktoberfest staples
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THE one major veggie item on the Oktoberfest menu has to be Sauerkraut!
Do I need to comment on this? Maybe a little - there are big differences in how much Sauerkraut one eats, and how it is prepared, across Germany. Actually, germans do not eat it a whole lot to begin with. A few times in the winter, and that's it. I've never seen Sauerkraut being eaten in spring or summer until I came to the US, and never ever on a sausage.
Making it involves frying bacon, and adding the Kraut, adding spices (cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves, pepper, salt), and, according to one's preference, mellowing agents to reduce the acidity of the Sauerkraut. This almost always is butter, and can be in addition pieces of apple. Some people throw uncountable numbers of butter sticks into the pot (after it is cooked well and almost ready, the butter should not be heated up too high), others just add a little spoonful, almost as a spice. This choice also instantly changes the way this dish behaves as either a side or center of the meal.
If you are into do-it yourself the whole way, here's a link to make Sauerkraut yourself. It is very healthy - I'm not sure if I would trust it for dealing with birdflu though as that site claims...
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Depending on which kind of meat is available, you can find Kloesse on your Oktoberfest menu, or Knoedel, dumplings made either from potatoes or bread. A real staple food of Oktoberfest, unthinkable of not being present, and also commonly served in beer gardens all over Germany, however, are Brezeln, or, in bavaria, "Brezen", specifically Laugenbrezeln.These on the picture were actually made by me and found lots of old and new friends at the Oktoberfest. They are based on a recipe from a book ( "Das Kochbuch aus dem Saarland") I keep referring to a lot - here is how they are made:
make a yeast dough from 500 g flour, 40 g yeast (or 1 pack of dry yeast), 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/8 l milk, 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, 125 g butter (unsalted, please).
Let the dough rise and be happy, and then take little pieces, roll them into long finger-thick snakes and tie them into the Brezel-shape.
Let them sit again to rise a little and prepare the 'Lauge' that gives the Laugen-Brezel its name & special flavor: boil 1l water with 100g baking soda. When the water is clear, let it be simmering or just lightly boiling. Carefully slide the brezeln individually into the water (they sometimes like to unwind if you're not careful enough..), let them float in the water for about 30 seconds.
Take them out, put them on a baking sheet, let them cool down a little, brush with egg yolk (I mix it with a little water to make it easier to brush on), sprinkle coarse sea salt on, and bake at 220 deg C (425 deg F) about 10-20 minutes. Check back early to see how brown they look - when they look great, they taste great - eat them as fresh as possible, still warm they are really addictive.
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I failed. Miserably. There was Bratwurst, and I did not even try it!
Yes, shame on me. But, honestly, I wasn't in the mood. The Nashville-Oktoberfest Bratwurst got many good reviews, though, and looked alright, and can be bought at Publix, so I heard. Go, try it.
Anyhow, in the context of german food, I need a different thing than what you can get at Publix - here's my Bratwurst concept:
You go to a little takeaway. A very heavy elderly lady with bleached curly hair that appears a little on the greasy side after a day of hanging out in that little fryer-world, in a white work-dress, almost like a labcoat, grabs a couple of those long, slender sausages, clear casing, filled with white, finely ground meat, with very small speckles from parsley. She throws them on the grill, rolls a few previously started ones around to get nicely brown outside. She takes a white wheat bun, soft inside, with a lightly crunchy crust, that makes a crackling sound as she cuts it half open with that huge knife, picks one of those beautifully browned, partly broken up sausages for me, and shoves it into the bun, so sausage looks out on both ends. She hands it to me, I use the mustard-push-device to cover the sausage along its whole length - there it is. Not even just Bratwurst. It is Rostwurst.
So, yes, I haven't had Bratwurst at the Oktoberfest. Don't blame me, I'm spoiled. :)
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Beer - beer? Yes, well.. I'm not big on bavarian Weissbier. Sorry. The Oktoberfest in Nashville actually did not feature that either - there was some good stuff from the local Blackstone brewery, something a little on the malty side, I forgot which one.. Nashville is actually a really nice city for beer drinkers - there are several small breweries, each with distinct specialties that one can get seriously used to. If you get the chance, get a sampling set and an appetizing cheese plate & roasted nuts at hidden special treat Yazoo, then go to Big River on Broadway, have a heavy southern dinner, like Magnolia ribs with your magnolia brown ale, watch cowboy hats in horse carts passing by and listen to the distant noise of the downtown music scene, then move up-town to Boscos on 21st for another sample set & apple crisp for dessert...
and if you don't have enough yet, join me at 12th South Taproom to find more beers to select from then you can count at that point..
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