Hallo, Germany, Part 1: Vegan Currywurst With Pommes Frites.

Now, I have to admit, nobody played along last week when I polled the audience as to my location.  This hurt me for a minute, there.  But still we press on here within these pages!  (Only teasing about being hurt, by the way.)

We visited Berlin, friends!  And we had a wonderful time.  LeeLee was in Germany on business, and with the hotel and his airfare paid for, we had only my flight to cough up the money for, making the trip almost reasonable (if not entirely Recessionista).  Who could pass up a trip to Germany – a country, I should add, I have never visited?

Let me tell you: I am now a fan.  Berlin was fantastic – the culture, the people, the sights, and, yes, the food were all just wonderful!  I’ll regale you with stories about our adventures in pieces and parts over the upcoming weeks, but I will share now that seeing sights like Checkpoint Charlie in the flesh (so to speak) was something I’ll never forget.  It was just an amazing week, from beginning to end.

Yes, I did pack a beer stein in my carry-on for the flight home.  And on the food front, I brought some ideas home with me as souvenirs!

Tonight we embarked on our Germany Reminiscences series with a hearty helping of vegan currywurst, complete with pommes frites.

I took the easy route with the frites and used a bag of frozen steak fries from Safeway; while they baked, I prepared the currywurst!  Tonight was cool and rainy, so no outside grilling for us.  Instead, I pan-fried four Tofurky beer brats, turning them over every so often to warm up evenly.  Near the end of the cooking process (with about five minutes left) I added a hearty helping of sauerkraut over the top for extra flavor, which I feel helped the dish significantly!

As the brats and frites cooked, I prepared my currywurst sauce!  I poured a generous serving (about a quarter to a half a cup) of spicy ketchup into a shallow serving dish, then added a spoonful of Just Mayo for creaminess, and, finally, the spices: pepper, onion powder, and, of course, curry powder to taste!  I was pretty heavy-handed in my spice additions, but the sauce was all the better for it.  Then I mixed the sauce thoroughly and waited for the rest of dinner to be ready.

In short order, it was, and I began the final preparations!  I sliced the beer brats into coins like I saw the food carts do in Germany, then added a generous spoonful (or two, or three) of curry sauce on top of each brat.  Then I arranged my frites to accompany the meal – dolloping a bit of sauce atop them, as well, for good measure!  And then we feasted.

What an amazing dish!  It warmed our spirits on a cool damp night, and more importantly it made us remember our wonderful trip to Germany, a country we both fell in love with.  The best part?  We’ve got two brats (and plenty of frites) left over!  I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow, when I can go back on vacation right there at my desk.

Hooray for Deutschland!

:)