Oom-Pah-Pah Party

If October makes you think of Oktoberfest, there's a good chance that Oktoberfest makes you think of beer, since the 200-year-old festival in Munich is widely known as the biggest beer garden in the world.

But Oktoberfest is all about food, too. At the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas, 60 percent of total revenue is in food, said Stefan Gastager, president of the restaurant at 4510 Paradise Road.

"That shows people come in for food," Gastager said. "Of course, also for beer -- because we're a beer hall -- but we're so authentic for food that people look for it."

Most popular is Wiener schnitzel, "because most people know it," he said. While Wiener schnitzel traditionally was made with veal, the Hofbrauhaus uses pork, just as many restaurants in Germany and Austria do these days.

Second in popularity, he said, is Schweinebraten, pork roast served with gravy and dumplings.

Some 80 percent of the Hofbrauhaus' food is produced on site, because they aren't the sort of things carried by most purveyors, he noted.

"It's really like Grandmother" in the kitchen, Gastager said.

Tanya Brandl, owner of Cafe Heidelberg at 610 E. Sahara Ave. -- which has been in business for more than 40 years -- said she thinks people like German food because "it's a hearty meal. Because it's traditional fare, it just appeals. It's almost a rarity to find these days."

Indeed, Cafe Heidelberg and the Hofbrauhaus are the only remaining German restaurants in Las Vegas.

Brandl agreed that schnitzels are popular with her customers, as well as bratwurst. She also carries traditional weisswurst, which she said is patented in Munich; if it doesn't come from Munich, it has to be called bockwurst.

To celebrate Oktoberfest, she's offering a combination platter for two for $29.95 (with a coupon in the R-J's Friday Neon), which includes soup, schnitzel, bratwurst, schweinebraten, sauerkraut, red cabbage, spatzle and dessert. Live table-harp, or zither, music also will be featured.

The German-American Social Club also is having an Oktoberfest celebration, from 2 to 10 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St.

"We'll have brats, Polish sausage, potato pancakes, sauerkraut, hot potato salad and apple strudel," said Erika Gries, a former club board member who handles the cooking with her husband, Eugen. Members will be in traditional dress, and there will be activities for children.

Gries said people come not only for the traditional German food, but "I think they like the German atmosphere. So many Americans were stationed there, and they bring it back here to the United States and their families. It really spread out in the last years, especially in Las Vegas."

The club's Oktoberfest drew 700 to 800 people last year, and members expect a few more this year, she said. Admission is free.

And even though it's Oktoberfest every day at the Hofbrauhaus, it, too, offers special features through the end of the month. There are celebrity keg-tappings every Friday and most Saturdays, plus parades, drumrolls and other pageantry and performances by a band brought over from Germany. And a roasted-nut booth.

"When you come in, you smell the roasted nuts to give you the experience of Oktoberfest," Gastager said. "The four-piece band really creates this atmosphere that normally you can only get in Munich, Germany."

Oh, and there's beer, too.

SAUERKRAUT

1 medium onion, chopped

3 tablespoons shortening

16 ounces canned sauerkraut, drained

½ cup white wine

1 medium apple, chopped

1 potato, grated

1 bay leaf

3 cloves

Salt, pepper and sugar, to taste

Saute onion in shortening until golden brown; add sauerkraut and remaining ingredients. Simmer to blend flavors.

Serves 4.

-- Recipe from Erika Gries of Las Vegas

WIENER SCHNITZEL

4 veal or pork cutlets

Lemon juice

Salt

All-purpose flour

1 egg

3 tablespoons water

Fine dry breadcrumbs

Butter

4 lemon slices

4 anchovy fillets (optional)

Pound cutlets lightly; trim as needed. Clip or slash edges to prevent curling during cooking. Sprinkle each cutlet lightly with lemon juice and salt; coat with flour.

In a small shallow bowl, beat together egg and water. Dip cutlets in egg mixture; coat with breadcrumbs. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Fry cutlets in butter until golden brown. Garnish with lemon slices and anchovy fillets, if desired.

Serve immediately with potatoes, lettuce and tomato wedges.

Serves 4.

-- Recipe from "Best of German Cooking" by Edda Meyer-Berkhout

HOMEMADE BRATWURST BITES WITH BEER AND HORSERADISH MUSTARD

1¼ pounds boneless country-style pork spareribs, cut into ¾-inch cubes

1/3 pound pork fat, cut into ¾-inch cubes

1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

1¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt

¾ teaspoon ground mace

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon sugar

¾ cup lager beer, divided

Beer and horseradish mustard (recipe follows)

Purchased soft pretzels, pretzel rolls or rye bread

Place pork sparerib cubes and pork fat in freezer until partially frozen, about 30 minutes. Place half of pork and half of pork fat in processor. Using on/off turns, blend mixture until finely ground. Transfer mixture to bowl. Repeat with remaining pork and pork fat. Gently mix sage and next 5 ingredients into ground pork mixture. Stir in ¼ cup beer. Cover and chill overnight.

Form pork mixture by tablespoonfuls into 1¼- to 1½-inch-diameter patties; place on baking sheet. (Can be made about 6 hours ahead; cover and chill.)

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches if necessary, add sausage patties to skillet and cook until browned on bottom, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ½ cup beer to skillet; cover with lid slightly ajar and cook until beer evaporates, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn patties over and cook until brown on bottom and cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.

Transfer sausage patties to platter. Serve with beer and horseradish mustard and soft pretzels.

Makes 12 appetizer servings.

Beer and horseradish mustard:

1 cup lager beer, divided

2/3 cup malt vinegar or red wine vinegar

1/3 cup whole brown mustard seeds (see note), about 2.2 ounces

2 tablespoons dry mustard, such as Colman's

¼ cup prepared white horseradish

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon honey

¼ teaspoon caraway seeds, finely ground in mortar with pestle or in spice mill

2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Whisk ½ cup beer, malt vinegar, mustard seeds and dry mustard to blend in small bowl. Let mixture stand at room temperature 3 hours.

Transfer beer-and-mustard-seed mixture to blender; add remaining ½ cup beer, horseradish, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, honey and ground caraway seeds; blend until coarse puree forms. Transfer mixture to medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and whisk often until mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes (mixture will be thinner and more saucelike than store-bought mustard).

Transfer mustard to small saucepan and add cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water; whisk over medium-high heat until mustard thickens and boils, about 2 minutes. Transfer mustard to airtight container. Cover and chill until cold.

(Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.)

Note: Brown mustard seeds are sold in specialty foods stores, Indian and Asian markets and online at TheSpiceHouse.com. If unavailable, use yellow mustard seeds instead.

Makes about 1 cup.

-- Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine

SCHWEINEBRATEN

3-pound boned pork loin

Dash caraway seeds

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

Dash thyme and marjoram

1 cup soup stock

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.