Hot Dish Review

Grab your Lederhosen….it’s that time of year again!

Last weekend’s amazing weather provided the perfect backdrop for a visit to Helen, the faux Bavarian village near Dahlonega that gives locals a taste of Germany, in a redneck sort of way.

Their Oktoberfest celebration is actually rather fun. Me, LC and his awesome parents hit the road to check out the Festhalle, dance the polka, and drink a lot of beer!

Since my parents are part-time residents of Helen, it is a frequent destination for me. However, this was their first visit to the quaint and somewhat cheesy North Georgia town. We started off with lunch at Old Heidelberg. My Mom joined us.

We chose a table on the tiny balcony, me and Mom’s new favorite spot. Ice cold beers, Warsteiner draft for me, cooled us off in the blazing Oktober sun. An appetizer described as sauerkraut and bacon rolled in dough sounded both weird and delicious. And it was.

Mom ordered her usual goulash soup while the rest of us split various kinds of wurst. LC and I tried the trio which included bauernwurst, bratwurst, and knockwurst. Served with sauerkraut and whipped potatoes with gravy it was a hearty portion, certainly enough for two.

Old Heidelberg serves some of the best German fare in Helen. A note of trivia: the restaurant is the most photographed building in Georgia. Another beer to wash it down and we were ready to walk around town and see the sights on our way to the Festhalle.

LC’s parents are really cool and laid back. His Dad, KC, shares my birthday so that gives him an automatic advantage where I’m concerned. And his Mom, FC, must be a saint to put up with them both.

At the Festhalle we ordered a pitcher of beer and the parents picked up three bags of candied beer nuts somewhere when we weren’t looking. Soon they were up on the dancefloor doing the polka!

On the drive back to Atlanta we stopped at one of the many farmer’s stands, this one specializing in all kinds of sauces, jams, and condiments….they had a whole room of them. We got some hot boiled peanuts to snack on.

There are only two weeks left of Oktoberfest. This weekend will most likely be the busiest, as the leaves finally begin to change to Fall hues. The weather promises to be stunning once again so hop in the car and head North to enjoy beer and brats in Helen!

Without Omi to make schweinebraten, me and my Mom had to be creative when it came to food. Meal times are reversed in Germany. They eat the bigger, hot meal for lunch and have a simple supper of bread, meats, and cheeses in the evening.

Having stocked up on camembert, schinken, und brot for dinner, we spotted a stack of prepared meals in the cupboard. Everything from beef rouladen to goulash. My Mom called them “fertig Gerichte”, which translates to “finished meal”. They weren’t exactly diet food, ranging from 430 to 520 calories each. So, we decided to split them on the days we were not eating out with family or friends.

The first one we tried was the sauerbraten. It was served with red cabbage and spaetzle. Leftover red cabbage from the day before made the meal complete. Although our overall opinion of the prepared meal was pretty good, we agreed the red cabbage contained too much nutmeg.

Schlemmergulasch was next, beef and onions in gravy served with spaetzle, peas and carrots. I bought a head of frissee at the market…I had never seen a whole head of frissee before! I made a big salad to go with the goulash. Again, pretty good.

Omi had one entree with fish, but we chose the rinderroulade as our final lunch at home. Similar to the first meal, it was beef slices with spaetzle and red cabbage.

At that point, we were running low on provisions so we split a yogurt for dessert. In Germany, the yogurt flavors are similar to the gelato flavors, with tempting options like “nuss”. There are actual bits of hazelnut in it, making for an interesting textural combo with the smooth yogurt. Why don’t we have hazelnut yogurt here? Not to mention my very favorite snack, quark, a whipped dairy dessert in between yogurt and sour cream that I have been wanting to import to the U.S. for years! I always get maracuja, which I just found out is passion fruit. Love it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Last weekend I made the scenic drive to Helen to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. I love dining outdoors on beautiful sunny days. The Troll Tavern, located by the river, offers the best patio setting, but we wanted to try something different. Old Heidelberg, nestled in the back of the square on N. Main Street has a tiny balcony off their upstairs dining room with four picnic tables and umbrellas. Perfect!

We ordered two different glasses of riesling, both semi-sweet spaetlase style. As we perused the menu and discussed lunch options the sky grew increasingly dark. Ignoring the menacing clouds I decided on the grilled bratwurst with sauerkraut, served on a bun with potato chips. I requested the bun be left off and substituted red cabbage for the chips to create a small wurst platter.

Mom ordered the goulash, a stew made with beef, peppers, onions, and potatoes, in a tomato based broth. It says SPICY on the menu.

As soon as our server delivered our food the rain started! We dashed inside. My Mom said “that’s alright, we’re not made of paper”….awesome quote!

In the frenzy I forgot to photograph the food. I tasted my Mom’s goulash and thought it was too tomato-y, and definitely not spicy. She seemed to like it OK.

Our server came by to inform us that the gentlemen at the neighboring table, who had just paid and left, had paid for our lunch as well. Thanks fellas! I ordered another glass of riesling.

My bratwurst and sauerkraut were very tasty, however, their red cabbage was a tad too sweet, overly spiced with cloves.

Old Heidelberg offered a complete selection of German favorites, from schnitzels to schweinebraten. I had dinner here years ago with a German friend and thought the food was solid.

I am curious about one of their dessert selections, homemade “Kaiserschmarrn”. Mom wasn’t familiar with it, perhaps it’s a Bavarian specialty? Made with eggs, flour, sugar, milk, almonds, and raisins, and served with applesauce, she thought it might be a sort of bread pudding. That settles it…..I will be trying it on an upcoming visit.

But first, I must have a totally-not-German, totally-white-trash funnel cake!

8660 North Main Street, Helen GA 30545 706-878-3273