(All photos by me, except last photo, by Bartek)
The Depanneur’s first-ever Novemberfest was successful on almost a disturbing level. The amounts of sausage and sauerkraut consumed, for one; the abundance of genuine lederhosen and dirndls worn by dining patrons, for another. (Those in costume received a generous discount).
I had never considered making pretzels from scratch before, and I was surprised at how easy and fun it was. Our Bavarian chef insisted we make them the authentic Bavarian way — raw dough dipped in a toxic bath of lye. We handled the solution with trepidation (wearing protective eyewear and gloves at one point), soaking the pretzels in the chemical bath and finishing them with a quick eight minute turn in a very hot oven. They emerged from the oven salty, yeasty, and perfectly pliant, with a handsomely mahogany-hued exterior. We served them piping hot, with a thick Bavarian cheese spread spiked with butter, scallions, and paprika.
And dudes. I also made my first-ever apple strudel. This is major. I had (a lot of) help from my friend and pastry chef Camilla Wynne, but I had to make the second strudel without her guidance. My brain insisted that I had no idea what I was doing, and panic and total intimidation gnawed away at my insides. But the pressure-cooker situation of needing to feed people in three hours made me steamroll through my own self-doubt and just get it done. (I think the best compliment I received all night was when someone described my strudel as tasting like ’those tiny deep-fried apple pies you buy at McDonalds.’) This is why people cook for others, I think.
