Bavaria brings native food to Jakarta

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It is unthinkable to imagine Oktoberfest without a free flow of beer, tapped directly from the keg, and ample servings of Bavaria's calorific, home-cooked dishes.

In their hometown, Muncheners set up huge tents, each large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, in the Theresienweisse (or the fields of Therese), located in heart of the city.

Townsfolk, wearing traditional costumes -- dirndls for women and lederhosen for the men -- sit elbow to elbow along long wooden tables in the tents, enjoying Bavarian cuisine and beer.

The annual festival, one of the largest folk festivals in the world, began in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Bavaria's Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. As a tribute, the festival site was named after Princess Therese.

The festival is always exuberant and boisterous, especially when imbibed residents rise up in drinking songs.

Though Oktoberfest was originally held in October, as the name suggests, to avoid the icy cold and an early snowfall the three- week-long folk festival is now held in September.

This famous annual festival is also held outside Munich by Bavarian and German communities around the world, including in Jakarta where the German community recently celebrated at the Aryaduta Hotel in Central Jakarta.

The event, jointly sponsored by German flag-carrier Lufthansa Airlines, took place in the hotel's ballroom, which was transformed into a huge tent surrounded by pine trees to give it an Alps-like atmosphere.

The tent was decorated with blue-and-white checked banners, the official colors of Bavaria. There were also long, bare wooden tables and a stage, especially set up for a four-member semi- professional Bavarian band, Schliersee Almmusi.

For the food, the hotel invited German chef Sven Tressel from the Grand Hyatt Mainz to prepare Bavarian dishes (and other German dishes) commonly served during Oktoberfest. These included Weisswurst (veal sausage with parsley, served with sweet mustard) and Bretzen (pretzels), as well as chef Tressel's signature dish, Schweins Haxen (succulent pork leg, roasted until golden brown and served with sauerkraut). There were also different kinds of heavy sausages, hams, cheeses and breads, mostly imported from Germany.

But what would Oktoberfest be without beer. This 98 percent pure water drink is considered by Bavarians to be a staple food, a sort of "liquid bread". Bavarians are proud of their beers, whose supreme standard can be traced back to 1516 when Duke Wilhelm IV ruled that beer could only be brewed from malted barley, hops and pure water, with no additives or preservatives.

For the event, guests were given the choice of three beers -- Erdinger Hefeweizen, Kristallklar and Dunkel, which the hotel's food and beverage director, Roger Habermacher, said sold like hotcakes.

The hotel's three-day-long Oktoberfest event, which ended on Sept. 29, is being followed by a 14-day Bavarian food promotion, which lasts until Oct. 13. The promotion, called Bavarian Delights, is being held at the hotel's Bar Tavern, and features a la carte dishes priced between Rp 30,000++ and Rp 80,000++.

Chef Tressel will prepare about 30 down-to-earth, straight- forward dishes that can be classified as gut burgerliche Kuche, or good home cooking.

Among the dishes are Bayrische Leberknodel Suppe (typical Austro-Bavarian liver dumplings in beef consomme); Kasseler Braten mit Kohlgemuse und Kartoffelbrei (smoked pork loin with creamy cabbage and potato puree); Rheinischer Sauerbraten mit geschmortem Rotkohl und Serviettenknodel (braised beef knuckle in red wine with red cabbage and potato dumplings); Konigsberger Klopse mit Salzkartoffeln (famous German veal dumplings with capers and steamed potatoes); and assorted Bavarian sausages, cabbage and dumplings.

Various traditional treats are offered for dessert, such as Bavarian cream (a smooth mixture of egg, cream and sugar), Gefullter schmorapfel mit vanillaschaumsosse (braised apple with marzipan stuffing and vanilla sauce) and Rote grutze (semi-liquid red berry mixed fruit with vanilla ice cream).