October 20, 2021
HAPPY OKTOBERFEST!
While the real Oktoberfest in Germany may have been cancelled, we were still able to continue with one of our favorite traditions of hosting our annual Oktoberfest party at home (pictured above).
Some of my favorite childhood memories are visiting my German grandmother who lived in Cleveland, Ohio. She would always be cooking and baking up a storm when we came to visit and singing & humming while she did so. She would make sure to visit the local German butcher for our favorite deli meats and sausages. Then she would always have a huge batch of German potato salad that I would simply devour. She even dedicated an entire room of her house to the revolving pastries and cookies…I can still smell the anise now.
One thing my grandmother never did was write down a recipe. As she aged, my dad & I were determined to get the recipe just right for her German potato salad because, it is still to this day, the best one that we have ever had. We would watch her and take diligent notes and then try to recreate it and it was never as good. Then time passed and sadly, so did my grandmother. When my dad came to visit me and my family in October about 10 years ago, I was determined for us to get it right. I dug up all of my notes and he brought his and together we were able to re-create a pretty darn close replica of my grandma’s potato salad.
Today, I make a huge batch of her German potato salad to serve at our annual Oktoberfest where we invite a bunch of friends to come eat, drink & be merry!
May the traditions live on!
THE REAL DEAL: OKTOBERFEST – MUNICH, GERMANY
The Annual Fall Festival of Oktoberfest started in 1810 as the celebration of marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria (King Louis I) to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen…aka the most German name we have ever heard!
As most things German do, it gradually evolved into a festival centered around food & beer and brings in over 6 million attendees (pre-pandemic).
It is steeped in tradition with parades featuring beer wagons & floats, folk costumes, beer halls galore, music, rides and lots of jovial singing and dancing.
Every year, the German breweries create a temporary ‘tent’ for the festivities. Now ‘tent’ does not even begin to do these justice as they are meticulously decorated, each with a theme congruent with their brand and they are huge…most holding over 5,000 people!
The setup typically starts three months in advance of the festivities and there were 17 of the large beer tents at the last Oktoberfest…this is serious business folks!
Now, we couldn’t talk about Oktoberfest without talking about the beer! Germany has only 2 rules when it comes to the beer served at Oktoberfest:
1) Each beer served must follow the Reinheitsgebot, a minimum of 6% alcohol and must be brewed with only pure ingredients
2) All Oktoberfest beer must be brewed within the Munich city limits and brewed by one of the Big Six breweries:
Augustiner
Hacker-Pschor
Lowenbrau
Paulaner
Spaten
Hofbrauhaus
And no, there is no US beer equivalent…you must head to Munich for the real deal!
Prost!!!
