Filderkrautfest

I went to the  Filderkrautfest  in Leinfelden-Echterdingen on Sunday with some friends.  No one from my house was able to go -- either homework, sore throats or sniffly noses kept them at home. 

These cabbages are the pointy cabbages -- and they have their very own festival.  I learned that they've been growing in this part of Germany for 400 years.  That impressed me.   I also learned that my impulse to call this cabbage "Spitzkohl" comes from my Northern Roots -- while I am corrected by locals here to say "Spitzkraut" --  a friend from Niedersachsen told me that in the north they say Spitzkohl.  It's no secret I'm loyal to the north......  ;-)


Here is some kind of competition in front of the City Hall....slicing cabbages, I think....

.....we didn't stop for long.  The children in our party had seen a carousel, and our group was moving quickly in the direction of more fun than watching someone make sauerkraut....  ;-)

Like always, my favorite part of any festival what I get to taste:

A thin, flat pizza with a cream base and chives -- called Deie.  There may have been cabbage in here;  I was only sure about the first two ingredients.   But, it was very tasty.

My friend recommended that I buy a small piece to eat there, and buy some larger pieces to take home & share.  They wrapped my pastries in paper at the stand... :-)   Ian took half of one in his school lunch today.

Schupfnudeln with Sauerkraut.  This was  e-x-t-r-a-o-r-d-i-n-a-r-i-l-y  delicious. 

Finished in a gigantic skillet with a wall down the center, the schupfnudeln had been sauteed after boiling, leaving browned, caramel-ly bits on the sides, and the sauerkraut had little pieces of ham mixed through.  It makes my mouth water just to remember it...... 

Kinderpunsch -- this is a little like mulled wine or cider, but child-friendly.  There were, of course, grown-up alternatives being offered.  You could SMELL the beer along much of the festival route.

Bread -- shaped like the famous Spitzkohl itself.  I bought a loaf to take home and am using it this week for our lunches.  I'm pretty sure it's a plain rye......man, they just had me at "hello" with it all stacked in the cart like that...!!  Bread Still Life.  

I also liked the old Church towering over the middle of it all --  

-- where the children showed me secret pathways winding around the outside...

....and stone gates leading to and from the 800 year old building.

 Which turned out to be at least as good as a carousel for all of us.  :-)   

These cabbages really ARE pretty.....