A taste of Germany

German potato salad

Jordan spent a weekend in Fredericksburg recently, and I asked her to bring home some authentic German food. She brought brats and sauerkraut. I decided we needed a German dinner. Coincidentally Mary, who values her German heritage, had a birthday this week. So we had a German birthday meal. On the menu were herring salad as an appetizer, brats and onions cooked in beer, German potato salad, sauerkraut (heated), and carrot salad. Es schmeckt lecker! (In case your German is as bad as mine, that means “It is tasty!” Sorry, I can’t manage the past tense.)

Herring salad

1 12-oz. jar herring in wine sauce with onion

¼ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 green onions, sliced

½ tsp. sugar

½ green bell pepper, diced (optional: I did not use)

1 small red apple, diced (Optional: I used slices as garnish but did not stir in)

1 Tbsp. celery seed (optional: I did not use)

Mix it all together, chill, and serve with rye or pumpernickel bread, cut into small triangles. If you can find cocktail rye, it’s perfect.

Brats

1 onion, sliced

1 brat per person

Beer

Put onion slices and beer in skillet; pour in beer to cover; put the lid on the skillet and cook on medium until the brats are done (15-20 minutes); take the lid off and cook until the beer evaporates, brats are brown, and onions are golden.

German potato salad

The thing that makes this German is the sweet/sour dressing and the fact that it is served hot. I found the basic recipe in an old cookbook a lifetime ago and over the years have made it mine. It’s one of Christian’s favorite dishes.

3-4 slices bacon, fried and crumbled; reserve grease

3 stalks celery, chopped fine (I string them first)

4 green onions, sliced

1 heaping Tbsp. flour

½ c. each water and cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. prepared mustard

2 cans sliced white potatoes (The original recipe called for fresh cooked potatoes, of course, but this is one of the few places where I think canned does just fine and is actually better—they don’t crumble like fresh-cooked potatoes.)

After you fry the bacon, if there’s too much grease in the skillet, drain some, but you want at least a Tbsp. to cook this. Sauté celery and green onions in bacon grease. Add flour and stir. Add water and vinegar—more of each as needed until sauce is a good consistency. Add mustard. Add potatoes. Crumble bacon and stir in. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving to add color.

Sauerkraut

Heat until just warm and serve, or serve it cold. It’s a matter of personal taste. My mother came from a German family—Peterman—and loved German food, except sauerkraut which she claimed to have been forced to eat as a child. The results was I never tasted sauerkraut until I was grown and out of my childhood home. Now I love it. But never buy it in a can. Buy a brand in a glass jar. If you can get authentic German kraut, it’s better.

Carrot salad

This was the least successful dish. Grating carrots is harder than I thought (but fresh taste better than pre-grated from the store). I doubled the recipe, which proved to be way too much, and I got too much pepper in it. Leftover salad was increasingly peppery. If you can adjust for those things, it’s a nice touch on the plate.

10 oz. shredded carrots

2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pepper to taste

Another note on salads: I found a recipe for Gemischter Salat which was really a salad buffet, and in addition to the carrot salad had recipes for beet salad, corn salad, cucumber salad, and baby green salad. Given more time and a bigger kitchen, I would have made one or more additional salads.

You really ought to top this meal off with a German chocolate cake. Gutes essen!

Dinner plate