As everyone knows, 2020 has been a rough year for festivals and travel alike. If it hasn’t been cancelled, it’s gone the virtual route, and really, what fun is that?. Perhaps beer lovers worldwide will agree that one of the most tragic victims of 2020 has been Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world. With no planes to board and no place to go, we decided to bring the festivities to us. There were no dirndls in attendance, but with enough lager, food, and German tunes filling the travel holes in our hearts, the essence of Oktoberfest lived on.
Brief History of Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest was first held on October 12th, 1810 as a way to celebrate the marriage of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. The celebration was held over a two week period, which still holds true today. The festival has since moved to September with hopes of a more promising weather forecast. Over time, food stalls and beer booths were added to the event. By the 20th century, temporary beer halls were erected to accommodate up to 12,000 visitors at a time. In 1985, the festival celebrated its 175th anniversary with roughly 7.1 millions visitors in attendance.
Nectar of the Gods
You can’t have Oktoberfest without beer, so we headed to our local Total Wine to pick up a mix of singles to sample and do a little comparison tasting. We purchased three Oktoberfest beers from American breweries and three from German ones. More often than not, American-style Oktoberfest beers tend to be more amber in color, malty and sweeter; these are known as marzen. German-style Oktoberfest beers tend to be brewed with paler hops creating beers closer to a pilsner or helles, much like what you will find at the German festival today.
American brewers, however, are not producing the more amber and sweeter beers just for the heck of it. The styles and recipes are based on the original beers that were served at Oktoberfest in the 1800s. In 1810, beers in Munich were dark lagers and dunkles. By the late 1800s they were the amber beers that American brewers today tend to brew for their Oktoberfest releases.
Tasty Oktoberfest Bites
We did our best to compose a well-rounded menu, which posed its own set of challenges. We found a lot of the traditional offerings to be similar in that they were mostly comprised of meats and fried or starchy food. Turns out, these are the best things to pair with a beer, so we relegated the day to be an indulgent one. All of the items we selected are very easy to scale up or down to accommodate any party size.
For more ideas, head on over to craftbeering as they have a long list of traditional Oktoberfest faire and it’s where we found a number of our recipes. Click the links to find the recipes.
Pickled Vegetables
These pickled vegetables were an easy way to add a bit of brightness and acidity to our otherwise mostly brown and heavy cuisine. They complement the fried foods perfectly. If you’re short on time you can just pick up some jarred pickles from the store. If you have the time and the energy, pickle whatever you already have in your fridge! We used carrots, peppers, radish, and cucumber to color up our meal.
To quick pickle the veg you have on hand, combine equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water, along with 1tbsp each of sugar and salt for every cup of vinegar. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Then pour over your cut vegetables and cover, allowing the hot liquid to do its job. If you’re using carrots like we did, it’s nice to give them a quick blanch before starting this process. Just boil them for one minute and then rinse with cold water before starting the pickle.
Sauerkraut & Bratwurst Balls
You can never go wrong with fried balls. They are perfectly poppable and bursting with flavor from the sauerkraut. We dipped ours in a spicy sour cream sauce, but they would also taste great dredged through your preferred mustard.
Soft Pretzels
We couldn’t embrace the German spirit without including soft pretzels on our menu. This recipe came together very quickly. As the original poster mentioned, they would pair very nicely with a beer cheese dip, but we stuck to the basics and coupled them with a few different Bavarian mustards. Fresh from the oven, it would be all too easy to fill up on these pillow-y treats sent from the heavens. Try to show some restraint and save room for the rest of your menu items.
Pork Schnitzel
Boneless pork chops pounded thin, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried to a perfect golden hue. Freshened up with a squeeze of lemon and washed down with a glug – or 10 – of beer. Welcome to Germany.
Cheese Spätzle (KÄSESPÄTZLE)
If you make one thing to pair with your Oktoberfest beers – let it be this. It took a little bit of effort but our stand mixer did the heavy lifting. Our biggest mistake was waiting until the last minute to prepare the dough. It requires a 16-20 minute spin in the mixer, so plan accordingly. The results are definitely worth the effort and the leftovers prove to be equally divine.
Braised Red Cabbage
We don’t have any German Oma’s living in our house, but from the aroma this braised cabbage was filling our kitchen with, you’d never know it.
Sausage
Germany = sausages. Bratwursts. Knackwursts. Weisswurst. For better or wurst (ha?), they must be included on your Oktoberfest menu.
We’ve been raving about Aldi for years now, and with good reason. One of our favorite Aldi qualities is its themed, seasonal items. Every September they roll out their line of German products; So if you’re less inclined in the kitchen, this is a good place to pick up already prepared food items. We are big fans of their German cookies and mustards and stock up annually. This year, we tossed some of the German beer brats in our cart and were very pleased with the results.
German Apple Cake
Every good meal deserves a sweet ending. We were debating between apple cake and apple strudel, which is also a very popular dessert in Germany. In the end, the cake won. It was even more beautiful before we cut into it, but whole cakes don’t last long enough for photo ops around here.
Final Thoughts
2020 has been a real pain in the ass, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit on yours. Check out the recipes we’ve included on this list, or create your own German-inspired menu and get to work in your kitchen. Travel is as much a state of mind as it is a state of being. So throw on some regional music, crack open a Bavarian beer, and see how many bratwursts you can tackle this Oktoberfest season.
Cheers friends,
Matt & Megan
