Festivals: Auer Dult

One of my favorite aspects of living in Germany is the numerous festivals.  We're trying to visit as many as we can, but just the ones in the Munich area keep us quite busy.  We haven't begun to explore those in the Stuttgart and Rhine Valley area!

Munich has beer festivals, dancing festivals, streetlife festivals, and many others. One of the oldest festivals, Auer Dult (there are 3 per year) are more about handicrafts, though they also come with the standard carnival rides and food stalls and games. This fair dates back to the early 1300s!

The name Dult refers to old traditional church festivals that were held as part of religious observances and the Auer refers to the location, at Mariahilfsplatz in the Au district.  As with the old Dults, this one is set up around a church, the Mariahilfskirche.

Around the church they've set up a small midway, flea market, and of course food stalls.  While there are a couple of places to buy beer, this isn't a beer festival. It's mostly about the 300 or so vendors selling their wares.

In the early days, when trade was difficult, slow, and dangerous, this was a market showcasing imports such as pots, porcelain, spices, silverware, and even snake oil type "remedies".  Today it's known still as one of the biggest crockery markets in Europe.

And while you're browsing the stalls, there are fun rides, shooting galleries, and food and drink to entertain the whole family.

While there are plenty of fun games and rides and tasty treats, what sets the Auer Dult apart are the stalls selling crafts, kitchen wares, antiques, and random trash and treasure (depending on your perspective).  I especially liked this vendor, with the boar's head! 

Next year I need to stop in the ribbon stand and stock up on dirndl trimmings! 

It's usually sunny and hot during the summer Jacobi Dult, so Herr J cools off with a slushie. 

We'll have to do a post one day of all the funny decorative statues at the various fairs. I liked this guy at the french fry stand: 

And no festival (or beer garden) is complete without Steckerlfisch! 

As the Auer Dult is held in Spring, Summer, and Fall, we'll soon have another chance to visit in mid October. The "Kirchweihdult" is held from 15-23 October.  Next year's spring "Maidult" will be from 28 April to 6 May and the summer "Jacobidult" will run from 27 July to 3 August.  You can find the schedule online at the Auerdult site.

The Auer Dult in Munich is not the only Dult in Germany.  Many towns large and small across southern Germany have them at least once or twice per year. Hop on over to the Regensblog to see Cliff and Sarah's visits to the semi-annual Dult in Regensberg.  Or check out Servus München for some great pictures from the other Munich Dults.

Radler Tournament - Warsteiner

We've felt a little lost without a beer tournament, so we decided to test out the radlers, including the radler-style flavored beers. 

For the first competition, we tried four of Warsteiner's radlers: Radler, Grapefruit Radler, Lemon, and Orange.  

Since the Lemon and the Radler seemed closest, we matched them up for the first competition.   

We expected they would be quite similar, but were surprised with the outcome. The Radler, not surprisingly, has the classic radler taste of light, sweet, crisp, and with hints of beer and lemon-soda. The Lemon Warsteiner, on the other hand, tasted more like lemon flavor (rather than like Sprite), though it was not bitter.  It was not sweet, though, and we barely tasted the beer. 

We unanimously chose the Radler, since it was crisper and still maintained a little beer taste.

Next up were the Grapefruit Radler and the Orange. We really had no idea what to expect.  I was somehow surprised, though, to find that the Grapefruit had actual grapefruit taste, rather than some artificial flavor that was called "grapefruit." I love grapefruit juice and will eat them plain, but the grapefruit in my beer was just a little odd.  But, big points for authentic taste...it tastes exactly as described!

The Orange, on the other hand, had an orange taste that was closer to a sweet creamsicle-y orange rather than a citrus fruit. It was light and refreshing, and clean and sweet with the orange taste coming as a very light taste at the end. 

We wouldn't say the Grapefruit Radler is bad, but the Orange is much better and refreshing.

So, then we have a final taste-off for the first spot in the Radler Final Four (yes, this really is an abbreviated tournament!):  Warsteiner Radler vs Warsteiner Orange.

It was a really close call - both the Radler and the Orange tasted very similar at the beginning of each sip.  They were crisp, light, and refreshing.  But at the end of the sip, the tastes diverged.  The Radler had the classic Sprite taste and the Orange had a light creamsicle taste.  I just found the Orange to be more enjoyable tasting, but Herr J voted for it because he could still taste a little bit of beer in there.  And even though it is a flavored summer beer, he still wanted it to be a beer.

Next up, we'll taste some of Beck's many offerings and some classic Munich radlers.  We'll also compare bottled radlers to home-made.

September at Schnitzelbahn

Hard to believe we're almost at Oktoberfest time again! Before we know it the Christmas markets will be up.

While we managed to fit in a short weekend trip or two (can't wait to show you the pictures from the Hopfenland!), Herr J and I have mostly have had our heads down, focused on work.  He's in the final stretches of a multi-year project and I've had meetings around Germany for 2 weeks, and am headed to New York for a couple of weeks of work. 

So, the dirndl sits unfinished (the skirt is made, but not yet attached to the bodice), we have hundreds of photos to sort through, and many great German goods awaiting a taste test. But we did just finish packing and cleaning, and capped it off with a quick radler tasting. Few things taste better after a hot day's work than a cold beer!

A couple of those trips were to Frankfurt, where we had a beautiful sunset.  One thing I do like about Frankfurt are the old villas - most now are hotels or offices - and the greenery. This view was out of my hotel window.

Wishing you all a good start to the school year, a good jump back into work after summer holidays, an escape from the heat, or just a really great September!

Munich Hamburgers: Zum Goldenen Kalb

After reading Emily of Servus München's New Food Options in Munich article, we decided to try a restaurant we had often seen, but passed by on our route to tried and true options Pizza Nero, Yum, or Milagros.  We're always on the hunt for good burgers in Munich, and she recommended the Wagyu burger as one of the best burgers in Munich.

Zum Goldenen Kalb ("The Golden Calf").  We were always amused by the name but thought it was another typical Bavarian restaurant. Not true, at all.  This, folks, is the closest thing we've found in Munich to a real steakhouse.  It's relatively casual but upscale, and seemed to be popular with the business dinner crowd (always good for a steakhouse!).  There definitely is an Italian influence, but the menu is typical good steakhouse fare - meat, seafood, potatos, and more meat (there's even a Tartare menu, if you like it that way).  And the service begins with a trip to check out the cuts in the meat fridge (which they age themselves).  Always a good sign that they're serious about their beef!

We went for the normal burger (comes standard with cheese and bacon) and fries, rather than the Wagyu burger.  It's served on butcher paper on a huge tray, with the condiments on the side (yay!!) and a pile of perfectly fried and salted fries.  

I opted for one without the bacon.  They're HUGE, by the way....

The beef was clearly top quality beef and the toppings all were fresh and crisp.  First of all, you'll definitely enjoy this burger.  We would have preferred a little more seasoning (a bit of the sea salt from the table made a huge difference) and the burger-to-bun ratio was a tiny bit bun-heavy.  However, it's a really good burger and one you shouldn't hesitate to order.  But on the Munich Burger Rating Scale, we have to put it as a second to Hard Rock's burgers due to the light seasoning, burger-to-bun ratio, and the fact that Hard Rock really cooks it medium, with a little pink in the middle.  It's really a preference, and if you enjoy the pure taste the beef, you'll probably prefer this one to Hard Rock's.  But in terms of atmosphere and just being a nicer, less chaotic restaurant in general, Zum Goldenen Kalb wins by a mile.  And we rank it ahead of other burgers, such as MC Mueller, Feuerberg, and Killian's.

We'll definitely go back and try the Wagyu burger. It looked really good, and appeared to be thicker and smaller...normal hamburger diameter....I wasn't able to finish this huge one!  Then we'll see if the rankings change.

Forgetting about hamburgers for a minute, we'd definitely recommend this as a good option for a nice dinner out.  The caesar salad was by far the best we've had in Munich.  The lettuce is perfectly cut to fit on the fork, the dressing is excellent (lemony, not too fishy), everything is well-mixed, and it's an incredibly well balanced mix of tastes.  Nothing stands out too much; instead you get a forkfull of many great flavors. And did I mention there's BACON??!!

(One word of warning - either get the salad as your meal, or share it as an appetizer...it's large!)

Zum Goldenen Kalb is on Utzschneiderstr. 1, across from the Schrannenhalle. There are daily specials, but the menu can be found here:  

Texas and Bavaria - Part 2

When we wrote about Bavaria being the Texas of Germany, we knew that we weren't the only ones to draw these parallels. 

In this month's MUH magazine, we're thrilled to be referenced in Martin Karaffa's column "The Lone Star Freistaat."

Though the article is in German, luckily Marty maintains an English version of his columns online (and also writes the wonderful blog Deutschland Über Elvis, a name we wish we could have invented)

In this column, he covers the many similarities in size, religious influence, dialect, patriotism, and folk fashion (boots and hats and trachten).  But he brings up one very important factor we had overlooked - vast riches.  Texas benefits from black gold (oil); Bavaria benefitted from white gold (the salt trade). 

As we thought more about the Texas - Bavaria connection, we realized that there are further economic similarities. One of the popular debates in the US is the Texas vs California model, i.e., why is California insolvent and Texas booming? 

Driven by Munich, Bavaria similarly is bucking the overall economic and demographic trends.  Despite relatively strong growth nationally, Germany has great regional disparity and is facing major population shifts. Germany as a whole is shrinking (but that's a story for another day) and there's a major population shift from rural to urban areas. 

This Der Spiegel chart shows Munich as the one area with significant positive growth. And we often see the newstand headlines proclaiming record high rents on apartments and job growth.  We're seeing Help Wanted signs on many store windows in Munich, and Bavaria's unemployment rate in April was and incredible 3.9%!! Versus Germany's overall (and relatively low) 7.3% rate. 

While we think some of this disparity is that it's just too expensive to live in Munich unless you have a good job, the bottom line is that there is job growth here and the jobs and the lifestyle are attracting people to move here. Texas has different factors at work (including low cost of living), but it's in a similar economic position relative to the rest of its nation.

Source: Der Spiegel

Dirndl Update

I have been working on the dirndl in sporadic bursts, but it finally is starting to take shape. I think the top is 80% of the work!!

Both layers of the bodice are complete and I've pinned them together.  I need to make a few adjustments but am almost ready to attach the pieces and put on the skirt.  So far, so good...

This weekend we stumbled upon a great trachten outlet just outside of Munich and I picked up a fun trachten hat. 

I hope to make some further progress this week, but have a couple of work trips planned.

Cooking Thai Food: Pomelo Salad

It's hard to name a favorite Thai dish, but I'm pretty certain that Pomelo Salad (yam som-o) gets my vote for #1.  Unfortunately it isn't one that is served widely outside of Thailand. Sad, because it's one of those dishes that blends together all of the flavors and textures into a well-balanced delicious dish.

If you want to try the real thing, Baan Khanitha in Bangkok makes the best one I've ever had. Then again, they make almost everything incredibly well. I highly recommend a feast there!

As with other Thai "salads," this is a main dish that you enjoy with your other dishes family style, not a side salad in the US/European style. It's great with some satay and a fish dish.

These days pomelos are available throughout the US and Europe, and the other ingredients all are readily available at any Asian grocery store.  When it's just Herr J and I eating it, I take a few shortcuts, since peeling the pomelo is enough work: buy roasted chicken from the deli counter and buy the fried garlic and shallots rather than cooking them anew each time. You could also fry up batches and store them, which is what I do with roasted peanuts and toasted coconut.  Except for the meat, fruit, and herbs, you can keep most of the ingredients on hand in the pantry.  Unless I'm going to use a whole can of coconut cream cooking something else, I usually cheat a little and mix up some from powdered coconut milk.  It works fine where used as a flavoring, but I would recommend using the liquid for curries and other coconut milk-based dishes.

Though it's an impressive tasting dish and a daunting ingredient list, it's a surprisingly simple dish to make and one that requires no real cooking.

The first step is finding and peeling the pomelo.  You can find them in Munich at the Semmel (Edeka) on Einsteinstrasse or at Galleria Kaufhof, as well as in many Asian markets.  In the US they'll be in most Asian or Hispanic markets.  They're a bit larger than grapefruit and usually slightly oblong.  This one was green, but they often are yellow and wrapped in orange netting like this:

If we were in Thailand, we could just buy the peeled pomelo sections in the store. I'm ashamed to admit that about 3 years into living in Bangkok I asked, "What kind of fruit is that?" because I had never seen pomelo in its natural state. Once you try to peel one for the first time, you'll understand why someone does the work for you.....  But I've found a pretty efficient method for peeling them (I do the same with grapefruits):

1) Slice pomelo in half:

2) See how thick the peel is?  

3) Now slice off the bottom, just to the beginning of the meat:

4) Trim off the sides

5) Trim most of the remaining white stuff off the bottom (so that the sections are all open at the bottom)
You'll be left with two cores of meat and a big pile of peel.  The peel makes one of the best deodorizers in existence (much better than baking soda).  Take a few of the bigger pieces and stick them in your fridge for a couple of days. 

6) I often use a regular or butter knife to help with this part.  Split the pomelo in half and then start pulling the sections of meat out from their sections.  Pomelos usually come apart pretty easily, but the knife can help slip in between the membrane and the meat.

7) And finally you'll have a bowl of pomelo meat (and the dividers to throw away). The hard work is done!

Pomelo Salad (Yam Som-O):
(adapted from David Thompson's Classic Thai Cuisine)  

Salad
1 pomelo
5-10 (depending on size) cooked, shelled shrimp
shredded, cooked meat from 1 large chicken breast 
3 Tbsp roasted, shredded coconut
1 tsp fried, sliced garlic (or 2 cloves, if you slice thinly and fry yourself)
2 Tbsp fried, sliced shallots (or 3 shallots, if you slice thinly and fry yourself)
1-2 Tbsp coarsely ground roasted peanuts (unsalted)
2-5 fresh small chilies, thinly sliced (start with 1 or 2 if using prik kii noo or other really hot ones. And be careful with the cutting! Serrano chilies also work well)
4-6 mint leaves, torn
2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Dressing

1.5 Tbsp fish sauce (can substitute light soy sauce) 
4 tsp palm sugar
2.5 tsp lime juice
2 Tbsp chili jam (nam prik pao - I recommend Pantainorasingh brand, which is widely available in US and Europe) 
4 Tbsp coconut cream

Put all the salad ingredients in a bowl with the pomelo chunks. Stir together the dressing ingredients, adjusting as necessary to have a salty/sweet dressing.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix well.  Be careful not to break up the pomelo too much.  As with most Thai dishes, you can adjust the spiciness to fit your tastes.  The sugar and coconut will help reduce spiciness, the lime will add sour, and the fish sauce will add salt.  There will be a little spice to the chili jam, but your real heat will come from the chilies, so choose them (and the quantity) according to your tastes. 

Serve immediately after assembling. This dish is best served fresh while the textures and flavors all play off one another.

Sit back and enjoy, possibly with some cold Singha beer.

You can play around a bit and make it artistically beautiful by cooking the shrimp with the tails on and carefully sprinkling the herbs and shallots.  In this case, we couldn't wait to eat it!

As a little bonus, pomelos on the tree in My Tho, Vietnam. Sometimes it's really cool to see something in its natural state!