During my time in the lockdown, I couldn't physically travel so I decided to travel on my plate. This excursion was my trip to Germany. I think I had a layover in Russia because my appetizer plate was a mix of the 2 countries.
Octoberfest is actually celebrated in September. The festival started back in 1810 to celebrate the prince and princess' marriage. Over time it grew into a two week long festival. It starts the in September and ends the first Sunday in October. In Munich, Germany, the festival highlights the regions agriculture and beer. There are parades, concerts, and traditional clothes. In America the celebration usually involves German food and lots of beer. I indulged on the German food.
During my "research" for my German meal, I visited a small deli in a shopping center in town. I walked into this deli and the deli counter ran about 3/4 of the store. It was full of delicious meats, cheeses, smoked fish, and freshly made salads. The people there were so nice and were very patient with all my questions. They even let me taste all the different meats, cheeses, and salads I wanted. I definitely left out of there with more than was necessary, but I didn't even get everything that looked so interesting. I'm going to go there again.
I ended up with so many new things that I made a board of fun things. It started off as an appetizer but ended up being a whole meal. I made soft pretzels and beer cheese from scratch. I've made soft pretzels before and still need more practice but I think it's a fun activity for the family.
Here's everything labeled so you can find all the fun things.
They had a porchetta that was so yummy. When I return, this will be the first thing I go back to. I got my porchetta sliced so very thin so I literally snacked on it. I'm thinking of all the great sandwiches I will make with that porchetta (if I don't eat it first). I liked mostly everything. The one thing that I didn't care for was the smoked turbot. It was entirely too fishy for me. The veal bologna was different from the pork or turkey bologna that I easily find but was tasty.
I tried a cold smoked salmon which was extra delicious. I don't know if I've ever had cold smoked salmon before but I may turn into a smoked salmon snob. The cold smoked sturgeon is something that I can add to my brunch menu. I really enjoyed tasting everything this way because I could get just a little because everything was weighed by the pound so I could try more things.
Because I got so excited with trying out the deli items and making a whole German menu, I stayed in Germany for a few days. I had meat and cheese snacks and dinners, I made pretzels and beer cheese dip, and trout schnitzel and spaetzle with braised red cabbage.
During my time in the lockdown, I couldn't physically travel so I decided to travel on my plate. This excursion was my trip to Germany. I think I had a layover in Russia because my appetizer plate was a mix of the 2 countries.
My German Menu Consisted of:
A variety of meats, cheeses, and smoked fish
Soft Pretzels
Beer Cheese
Trout Schnitzel
Spaetzle
Mustard Caper Cream Sauce
Braised Red Cabbage
Spaetzle is a short egg pasta. It's made from dropping the dough through small holes into boiling water. Many people will use their colander, but mine doesn't work out that well. I found a spaetzle maker on Amazon and it worked out perfectly. This pasta was so easy to make, I really do believe that I'll make it again. I knew I liked it since visiting a friend's family in Pennsylvania. Her aunt made us spaetzle and I've been trying to get the recipe right ever since. I don't know if it was the spaetzle or the mustard caper sauce I made to go with it and the trout but both are something that was mighty delicious. The pops of briny saltiness was perfect to go along with the fish and spaetzle. There was a lot of sauce for the dish so I was looking for more things to add this sauce to.
Recipes can be found here: