Deutsches Essen

{A page from my Germany scrapbook}

I recently had a disturbing revelation:  I have never cooked German food for Cole.  I decided I needed to remedy the situation post-haste.  I'm planning a serious feast von dem Vaterland this weekend (well, as serious as it can get, being vegetarian and all).

{part of Spaetzle recipe from class}

In order to properly plan this meal, I had to unearth my stock of tried and true German recipes from my archives, which are housed in a few blue plastic tubs and contain my childhood-through-college papers, drawings, report cards, photos and mementos (those that have survived several rounds of ruthless cuts due to many moves, that is).  Most of the stuff from my German program made it into these boxes, including the first and only recipe I've ever used for Spaetzle.  Making Spaetzle was actually an activity we did as part of class one day in Tuebingen and I remember quickly realizing that cooking, i.e. reading recipes, was a great way to learn a language.

{Some of the Plaetzchen we made in Germany}

I also picked up some delish cookie recipes while in Germany as a result of a big Weihnachts (Christmas) project I did with my friends.  So I was on the lookout for those recipes too.

I knew I'd hit the motherload, though, when I found the recipes I used for what I'll call the Great Shira Cook-off of 1998.  That summer, my sisters and I each brainstormed a culinary experience for guests (i.e., Dad, Grandpa, and the odd boyfriend/best friend/person we could cajole into coming over) to take place in a competitive setting.  It was every sister for herself.  I had only been back from Deutschland for about 9 months, so I chose to whip up a German feast.  Sam decided on a Mexican fiesta, while Karie envisioned an elaborate New Orleans-style dinner.  Each of us also dressed the part (thank God this was before digital photography--very little of it was captured on film), created menus and table settings, decorated the dining room, and handpicked music to help set the scene.

{Some of the recipes I used for my meal--note the grease stains}

The way that the Great Shira Cook-off turned out is a matter of controversy to this day.  We forced Dad and Grandpa and whomever the guest was to cast a vote about everything they'd experienced each evening:  food, ambience, costume, etc.  Dad and Grandpa, those smarties, gave each of us perfect marks.  As I recall, I don't think our guests really knew what to do--be honest, or vote loyally?  To this day I'm not sure who won.  All I know is that we spent a lot of Dad's money on cooking supplies, picked up a few culinary skills, and laughed a LOT.

The vocabulary list above is the one memento (aside from the recipes themselves) that I still have from my German meal.  Clearly I thought it was critical that I teach my sisters how to ask for another beer.

Here's the menu I executed for the Cook-off in 1998:

• Angemachter Muensterkaese mit schnittlauch (Muenster cheese spread with fresh chives (served on black bread))
• Gurkensalat (Cucumber relish salad)
• Bayrischer Kartoffelsalat (Bavarian potato salad)
• Kaesspaetzle (Cheese Spaetzle)
• Kalbsschnitzel in currysosse (Veal steaks with lemon and curry)

And for dessert...of course...Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Torte)!

I've made this Black Forest Cherry Torte several times now and it is always delicious.

Obviously, I won't be serving Cole veal, but otherwise I could recreate my 1998 feast just about perfectly.  I also don't think I'll be making the torte, as it is ridiculously time consuming (everything about it is from scratch) and serves about 20 people.

{German grocery store ad from my scrapbook}

Bis bald!  Tschuessi!