5 Zesty Recipes to add ZING! to your Oktoberfest Celebrations
Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival held every year in the German city of Munich. The first ever Oktoberfest was held in 1810 and it was in celebration of Prince Ludwig's marriage. Fast forward a couple of hundred years later and the celebrations are still going strong -- with plenty of beer and traditional German (Bavarian style) food, of course.
The name of the festival, Oktoberfest, when phonetically pronounced sounds like october-fest. To those of use that do not speak German the name of the festival sounds just like the English word for the month of October. In fact, Oktober is the German word for the eleventh month of the year. The obvious conclusion would be to think that the festival takes place in October, right? Actually, it doesn't. Not entirely anyways. Oktoberfest begins in the middle of September and concludes the first Sunday of October. Though originally the festival was celebrated in the month of October it was later moved to September. The official Oktoberfest website gives the the reason for changing the festival’s days as follows, "By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over "die Wiesen" or the fields much longer without feeling chilly.”
While most of us will not be able to hop on a plane and head to Munich for this year's celebrations, there's no reason we can't throw a mini-Oktoberfest at home. German food isn't know for being spicy, but there ingredients such as horseradish and spicy mustards do add a zing, and different kind of heat, to German cuisine. Below are some delectable recipes with piquant German ingredients that you can serve at your mini-Oktoberfest.
(This year, 2015, the festivities run from September 19th through the 4th of October.)
Nothing goes better than a German beer and a bratwurst loaded with sauerkraut, and so much horseradish that it makes your nose and back of your head tingle. More »
Sticking with the horseradish theme, these broiled pork chops will delight you. They may not be a traditional German meal, but I promise that you’ll love them More »
These mini vegetarian casseroles, by Lora Wiley-Lennartz, sounds like a fantastic combination of flavours. She has sweet, creamy flavours working with the spiciness of horseradish -- delicious! More »
Currywurst is a pork sausage that is grilled, served sliced into small pieces then topped with a special (curry) spiced ketchup sauce, and lastly, dusted with yellow curry powder. You can have your option of having it served without or with french fries, or pommes frites. When you travel to Berlin you will see stands and fast food stalls selling currywurst all over the city. (There’s even a currywurst museum.) It is a must try. But in the meantime you can cook this recipe and enjoy it at home with an ice-cold German beer. More »
While pretzels come from Germany, this way of eating them is definitely not the German way. Just because they're not traditional doesn't mean that they wouldn't taste great at your homemade Oktoberfest.
The pretzels you see pictured here are stuffed with smoked turkey and shredded Edam cheese. I did this as a fun experiment and loved it, but you can do plain pretzels too. For the dipping sauce I prepared a peach and jalapeño flavoured one from this recipe. The recipe for the pretzels is based on this one, and all you have to do is add the smoked turkey to the process.
The name of the festival, Oktoberfest, when phonetically pronounced sounds like october-fest. To those of use that do not speak German the name of the festival sounds just like the English word for the month of October. In fact, Oktober is the German word for the eleventh month of the year. The obvious conclusion would be to think that the festival takes place in October, right? Actually, it doesn't. Not entirely anyways. Oktoberfest begins in the middle of September and concludes the first Sunday of October. Though originally the festival was celebrated in the month of October it was later moved to September. The official Oktoberfest website gives the the reason for changing the festival’s days as follows, "By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over "die Wiesen" or the fields much longer without feeling chilly.”
While most of us will not be able to hop on a plane and head to Munich for this year's celebrations, there's no reason we can't throw a mini-Oktoberfest at home. German food isn't know for being spicy, but there ingredients such as horseradish and spicy mustards do add a zing, and different kind of heat, to German cuisine. Below are some delectable recipes with piquant German ingredients that you can serve at your mini-Oktoberfest.
(This year, 2015, the festivities run from September 19th through the 4th of October.)
1. Beer, Bratwurst and Horseradish
Nothing goes better than a German beer and a bratwurst loaded with sauerkraut, and so much horseradish that it makes your nose and back of your head tingle. More »
2. Broiled Pork Chops Topped with Charred Horseradish
Sticking with the horseradish theme, these broiled pork chops will delight you. They may not be a traditional German meal, but I promise that you’ll love them More »
3. Potato, Apple, Gouda, Nut Mini Casseroles in Horseradish Cream
These mini vegetarian casseroles, by Lora Wiley-Lennartz, sounds like a fantastic combination of flavours. She has sweet, creamy flavours working with the spiciness of horseradish -- delicious! More »
4. Currywurst
Currywurst is a pork sausage that is grilled, served sliced into small pieces then topped with a special (curry) spiced ketchup sauce, and lastly, dusted with yellow curry powder. You can have your option of having it served without or with french fries, or pommes frites. When you travel to Berlin you will see stands and fast food stalls selling currywurst all over the city. (There’s even a currywurst museum.) It is a must try. But in the meantime you can cook this recipe and enjoy it at home with an ice-cold German beer. More »
5. Soft Pretzels with Spicy Dipping Sauce
While pretzels come from Germany, this way of eating them is definitely not the German way. Just because they're not traditional doesn't mean that they wouldn't taste great at your homemade Oktoberfest.
The pretzels you see pictured here are stuffed with smoked turkey and shredded Edam cheese. I did this as a fun experiment and loved it, but you can do plain pretzels too. For the dipping sauce I prepared a peach and jalapeño flavoured one from this recipe. The recipe for the pretzels is based on this one, and all you have to do is add the smoked turkey to the process.
