Leistadt - Closest to the Sun!

It’s the journey, not just the destination that counts.  Sometimes, on the way to doing something else, you do something you never expected, and it changes you.  You learn things, your mood changes, and you see everything around you in a new light.

So it was for us, on the way from something else, to something else, that we happened upon Leistadt in Germany’s Rhine wine valley.  It was a perfectly beautiful Sunday morning, just at the beginning of the “new wine” time of year and at the end of summer.  We were driving along the narrow main street, craning our necks, dodging the other cars and longing to stop and look at each house in the village.  And because we had the time, and it was a lovely morning, we parked at the other end, and walked nearly every street, marveling and photographing.

Leistadt is a very old town surrounded by vineyards in the southern Rhine valley, about an hour’s drive from our home in Karlsruhe.  This part of the Rhine valley, also known as the Palatinate or Pfalz region, is blessed with the nicest weather in Germany, and Leistadt is believed to be one of the sunniest towns there.  The Pfalz region was occupied long ago by Roman soldiers who planted grape vines on the gently sloping hillsides.  Leistadt is said to date back to the 6^th century, but the evidence must be purely archeological because the village first appears in written records in the 13^th century, and none of the buildings dates back before the village was completely sacked by the French in 1689. 

But then it was rebuilt, and today many of its 300-year-old houses are summer and weekend retreats for the wealthy of western Germany’s larger cities.  The homes are generally courtyard style, built directly off the sidewalk but sheltering a private garden and patio area within their walls.  Most houses were impeccably painted, planted, and maintained.  And it seems everyone in Leistadt has grapevines flourishing out of even the smallest bit of dirt available. 

Several passersby made the mistake of asking us (in German) for directions to a local site: the Bismarck Tower, or the hiking paths.  As soon as I opened my mouth to say that I had no idea, they knew me for a foreigner and clearly wanted to kick themselves for picking me to ask for directions.  Leistadt, like many small towns in the Rhine valley, is surrounded by paths to give hikers and cyclists access to the surrounding Palatinate hills.  The trails lead past Celtic and Roman ruins, to ruined castles, through areas of geological interest, and always amidst areas of great natural beauty.  The vistas from many hiking paths are said to be breathtaking.  A wonderful month or two could be spent hiking the Rhine valley trails.

Vineyard vista, from the edge of Leistadt.

Above is the Leistadt Rathaus, or Town Hall, built in 1730.

Small rustic cafes along the way are a part of the hikers’ goal.  Naturally, they serve some local white wines, often as a “schoerle” (which we would call a wine cooler or spritzer), and local delicacies such as Winzersteak ( or “wine-makers steak”, a boneless pork chop marinated in Riesling and grilled with onions) or Leberknoedel (liver dumplings) with sauce or sauerkraut.   Fortified with such filling treats, a hiker would have strength to complete the loop trail, whether it’s 2 miles or 20.

However, we were not to see any vistas yet, and were content with the views we got of the charming homes and courtyards of tiny Leistadt.   Having walked from one end to the other, and worked up a little sweat, we were happy to get into our air-conditioned rental car and continue on our way, changed by the unexpected.

Winzersteak

4 boneless pork shoulder chops

½ cup Riesling wine to marinate

¼ cup oil

4 tsps Grill seasoning, or just salt and lots of black pepper

1 tbsp oil or butter for frying

4 onions, quartered

Lightly pound each pork chop to about ¼” thickness.  Marinate in wine overnight, remove from marinade and pat dry.  Heat pan on high and sear chops for one minute on both sides; reduce heat to medium-high and cook another 4 minutes per side.  Remove to serving platter.  Add more oil or butter to pan if needed, and brown onions quickly over high heat.  You may deglaze the pan with additional wine if desired.  Serve with crusty bread or German potato salad. 

Karlsruhe Welcomes You!!

Who knew?  We, exhausted from our economy class flight from Boston to Frankfurt, thought we’d muddle around Karlsruhe, scraping together enough food for Monday breakfast, and trying to stay awake long enough to beat jet lag.  But Karlsruhe knew better.  It planned a beer and food festival for the day of our arrival, and situated it in our backyard, the grounds of the Schloss Karlsruhe.

After unpacking, and taking an all-too-short nap, we set out to walk with some non-essential goal, mostly to keep from sleeping away the whole day.   Music we could not avoid identifying as a live band drew us towards the grounds of the Schloss, just to see what kind of a party the locals were throwing there.  Stunned, as we entered the greenspace, we saw tents—and more tents—dispensing such beloved German treats as flavored almonds, lebkuchen with sayings like “My Sweetest” or “World’s Best Grandma”, smoked sausages—and yes, beer.  As we strolled among the tents, we realized it wasn’t just a tent or two selling beer, it was dozens, selling beers not just from the big local brewhouses, but also beautifully crafted small batch brewers, and also such exotic lands as Scotland, and the Czech Republic.  And Poland.  We’d entered Beer and Pork Wonderland.

You could buy a cute little one-ounce glass, curvaceously shaped like a wheat beer glass, and bring it to any beer vendor for a low-cost taste of one of their offerings.  What a way for a couple of jet-lagged, stressed-out Americans to readjust to life in Germany!  We were able to sample several offerings before exhaustion took over.

We couldn’t help noticing that many of the food and beverage tents used a medieval décor theme.  Eventually, even my jet-lagged brain realized that there was a simple reason for this:  many of Germany’s breweries date back to the Middle Ages, when monks developed recipes still used today.  Many beers are called “Klosterbrau” (or “Monastery Brew”), boast of origins several centuries back, and term their product “heavenly”!  Such a long and proud tradition may in part explain Germany’s comfort with public drinking.  After all, if the monks made it, it seems at least endorsed by the Church.

All summer in the US, we’ve tried to eat foods we’d be hard-pressed to find or prepare in Germany.  We must have succeeded because we now discovered we had a craving for exactly the pork specialties we encountered today!  There were many varieties of sausages, with curry sauce and without, but best of all the hams, delicately smoked, skin sizzling from the rotisserie, tender and juicy.  The lines were longest at the ham vendor, but the meat was well worth the wait.

There were also bands playing at either end of the lawn, so that their styles didn’t conflict.  Grandparents, parents, children and teenagers, all danced to the same music.  Therein lies a key to the European enjoyment of food and drink festivals:  if you dance, you burn calories!  You also get pretty tired, and before nightfall, we strolled back to our little apartment, and slept well for our first night back in Germany.

Potato Salad German Style

What a hectic summer I've had!  With practically everyone living in my home at one point during the summer (excepting the Aged Parents, whom I traveled regularly to visit), it seemed like one long party!  Picnics and parties in the summer always mean, to me, German Potato Salad.  My mother’s family passed down this recipe to me and my sisters:

     A few potatoes, boiled whole and peeled while hot, then sliced bite-size

     An onion or two, chopped quite small

     A few celery stalks, chopped quite small

     Some bacon, fried till crispy, drained on paper towels and crumbled

    Whisk vinegar into the hot bacon fat, and pour over the mixed vegetables.  Stir well, salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm.

You can go pretty far wrong with that recipe, unless you know how it should taste!  But once you get a feel for the proportions, you can make this in different quantities.  A word of warning: Ten pounds of boiled potatoes really warm up your kitchen if you prepare this for the Fourth of July picnic.  And in the photo above, the accompanying pork chop is topped with a dollop of fresh herb-butter.

I’ve tried making some variations on this basic recipe, such as replacing the bacon fat with olive oil (too strongly Italian flavored) or canola oil (too bland).  It works pretty well to drain away the bacon fat down to just the darkest portion, and then add canola oil to achieve the desired quantity of fat.

Also, I’ve used different vinegars, notably balsamic, with varying results.  I still think cider vinegar works best, but maybe that’s because it gets that childhood-comfort-food taste.

You can also add other vegetables.  Parboiled green beans and shredded Savoy cabbage were my favorites, and both improved the nutrition quotient.  Spinach also works well.

But no matter how I play with this recipe, I always get rave reviews.  Many Americans have only ever had a potato salad made with mayo, and if you don’t like mayo, you’ve written off potato salad.

Living in Germany, I’ve discovered that my family’s recipe is different from the traditional one in its use of celery.  Germans seem to prefer cooking with the rootball, rather than the stalks of celery’s.  Most servings of Warm Kartoffelsalat in Germany come topped with chopped parsley, dill or chives.  Chopped fresh herbs may have been outside my German ancestors’ capability.

I’ve also learned that potato salads are not served only during hot weather in Germany, but year-round.  Another mayo-free German Potato Salad, known as Cold Potato Salad, is often served as a side dish year-round.  Simply, one boils the potatoes in their skins, then peels and slices them while hot.  Mix in a finely chopped onion, and some chopped bacon if you wish. Mix together two cups of broth (beef is delicious here) with vinegar to taste, and pour over the potatoes and onions while hot.  Mix and leave to sit for half an hour, and pour off any excess liquid.  Drizzle with olive oil, and season to taste with salt and white pepper, sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve cool. 

Again, in Germany I’ve encountered variations on this recipe, some including capers, or mustard for flavor, or using beer in the liquid, or thickening the liquid with flour.  This last measure is unnecessary if you use a starchy potato or one like Yukon Gold, which is only slightly starchy.  Waxy potatoes such as new potatoes don’t work well in either hot or cold German Potato Salads.

Both of these German Potato Salads are served at moderate temperatures, neither hot nor ice-cold.   The flavors develop more fully at a moderate temperature, and are less of a shock to the palate.

At home in the US over the summer, my husband and I wanted to eat foods we couldn’t get easily or inexpensively in Germany (Mexican!  Barbeque!  Fish!), but the family required some German food to make up for their not being able to join us in Germany.  A few servings of either hot or cold German Potato Salad went a long way towards compensating them.  And if a few pork chops or sausages also came their way, all the better!