We often have the folks from the Deutsches Haus on the Food Show (airs 2-4pm weekdays on WGSO 990AM. They have periodic celebrations there, as well as regular hours to get German Food and enjoy German history.
The Deutsches Haus has a long history in this city, and it is wonderful that the German culture is kept alive for future generations. It was sad when they had to tear down the original building on Galvez, but the new one on Bayou St. John is beautiful, and the people are so welcoming. We love visiting.
When we had them on the show to talk about Oktoberfest, they mentioned doing a German Christmas Market. I have been obsessed with these European Christmas Markets, many of them dating back to the Middle Ages since I first read about them in Traveler Magazine in 2011. I’m still trying to get there. I’m not going anywhere these days so I loved the idea of experiencing one closer to home. Besides, any excuse to visit The Deutsches Haus is good enough for me.
The weather was not cooperative for them this year. It rained a lot on Friday night, and even more on Saturday. Sunday was nice weather. But we had nothing to do that weekend so we waited for a break in the rain Saturday evening to take advantage of lesser crowds and better parking, figuring the weather would deter many. Good call.
We walked right in and there was a buzz inside. The camaraderie of strangers is heartwarming. Outside was a little sad, because there was still a bit of a mist and puddles everywhere, but a few braver souls were meandering about. Two of them were Gunter and Evelyn Preuss, and they knew a thing or two about Christmas Markets. They come every year, and their enthusiasm is contagious. A pretzel was their goal this evening. Gunter and I have talked before about Berlin Currywurst, which I am obsessed with but see nowhere in the States. I had to get some.
Currywurst is a Brat served with fries and spicy ketchup. It is the modern street food everywhere in Berlin and has since spread across Germany. We discovered it standing behind some Japanese tourists at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. I didn’t get any that day but had it in Berlin a few days later. In the States, I have only seen it in Los Angeles at a stall at Central Market downtown in a tiny walk-up simply called Berlin Currywurst. It was a better version than any in the Mother Country at least in my experience.
Here at the festival, it was the mediocre festival version, but who expects gourmet in such a situation? It satisfied my curiosity.
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I also had to get the Nuremberg sausages that we talked about on The Food Show. These are longer snd skinnier than typical Central European sausages because in battle they had to be slipped through holes in the fortress. I loved that tale so much I had to try them. These were a little sweeter than regular sausages, and I thought they were delicious. They came as three on the most mundane roll but I imagine with some coarse mustard these would be delicious.
What we really went to the food tent for was the Goulash, something I love but again, never see in the States. This was served over spaetzle. The meat was definitely not braised enough but the spaetzle here is pretty good. They get a lot of practice making it.
We looked at the strudel but decided not to get it, heading over instead to the stollen tent.
They also had blueberry banana bread. The stollen did nothing for us, and even though the banana blueberry bread was beautiful, each of the fruits canceled each other out.
After walking around to some of the craft tents we decided to get something to eat at a restaurant. Instead of making it complicated, I opted to get Tom a fried oyster platter at Acme Oyster in Metairie on the way home. There was no way to sit down here for over an hour.
We called in the platter and picked it up at the bar. The bill was $29 for some fried oysters and two sides, although hush puppies are considered a side.
When I opened this in the car I was shocked to see how greasy it was, and how small the oysters were. Why the place has an hour's wait is a great mystery to me.
It was not a day of great eating, but it was a nice day for doing something interesting, as this was.
