The week of Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati, we devote our section to everything German.

        Best to wash it down

        What goes down best with German food? German beer and wine, of course. Here are recommendations from columnists John Vankat and Ed Westemeier.

        Selbach-Oster 1998 “Kabinett, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer” ($12.99): A lovely riesling light in color and aroma, but medium-bodied and medium-dry in flavor. The excellent balance of ripe fruit and bracing acidity carries through a long finish. High quality at a reasonable price.

German Food Festivals
        The largest German celebration this side of Munich is this weekend at Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati (11 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday) on Fifth Street, from Race to Broadway, downtown. Information: www.oktoberfest-zinzinnati. Here are more German celebrations:

        • Oktoberfest, noon-11 p.m., Sept. 29. German music, food and games. Main and Mulberry streets, Wilmington. (877) 428-4748.

        • Schlachtfest, 2-7 p.m., Sept. 30. Roasted pork stuffed with sauerkraut. Kolping Center, 10235 Mill Road, Springfield Township. 922-4574.

        • Schwaben Oktoberfest, 6 p.m.-midnight Oct. 5, 1 p.m.-midnight Oct. 6, noon-8 p.m. Oct. 7. Authentic German food and entertainment. Donauschwaben Park, 4290 Dry Ridge Road, Colerain Township. 863-3636.

        • Ohio Sauerkraut Festival, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 14. Everything made with sauerkraut. Downtown Waynesville. (513) 897-8855.

Wurst Glossary
        • Bockwurst: Small white sausage made during late winter or early spring, served with bock beer. (See weisswurst.)

        • Bratwurst (fry wurst): Stuffed with coarsely ground filling made of pork, seasoned with nutmeg, caraway, marjoram, pepper, salt and sometimes mace. Usually grilled.

        • Frankfurter: Made from beef, pork or combination, smoked and cooked, and usually seasoned with pepper and garlic. Steamed or grilled.

        • Jagerwurst (hunter's sausage): Smoked, cooked and dried salami-like sausage.

        • Knockwurst: Short, stubby wurst made of beef and pork or beef alone and well-seasoned with pepper and garlic. Knockwurst can be steamed but generally is split and grilled or cooked with lentils or sauerkraut.

        • Mettwurst: Most German versions are uncooked and smoked pork sausage seasoned with coriander and white pepper and soft enough to spread. Hamburger mettwurst is cooked and served sliced. Cincinnati and other domestic mettwurst is usually smoked and cooked.

        • Tea wurst: Short sausage stuffed with cooked, high-fat pork. Tea wurst is spread on bread — never sliced.

        • Weisswurst (white sausage): Like bratwurst, a delicate sausage made of veal, sometimes with a little pork, seasoned with salt, pepper and fresh parsley. A specialty of Munich, weisswurst is traditionally served in a casserole of hot water, along with rye rolls, sometimes a white radish and pretzels.

        — Sources: The German Cookbook (Random House; $34.95), Food Lover's Companion (Barron's; $14.95)

A Chinese Favorite?
        The table was set, and I have found the good old German flavor.

        You greeted me, my Sauerkraut, with your most charming savor.

        — Heinrich Heine

        Although most think of sauerkraut (German for “sour cabbage”) as a German creation, the Chinese ate it more than 2,000 years ago while building the Great Wall. The Chinese version, made with shredded cabbage and rice wine, eventually migrated to Europe where the Alsatians and Germans adopted it. In Germany, sauerkraut often is slow-cooked with wursts, smoked pork, apples and sometimes spaetzle.

Best places to buy German groceries
        • German Cuisine, 6417 Dixie Highway, Florence; (859) 746-1200.

        German beer, convenience foods, prepared schnitzel and potato pancakes “to go,” and 25 store-made sausages, including a coarse-ground bratwurst dubbed “The Big Dog.” Open: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

        • Krause's of Findlay Market, Over-the-Rhine; 421-0024.

        Imported wursts, Westphalian ham, blood tongue, headcheese and other cold cuts, wein sauerkraut, German sweet butter and cookies. Open: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

        Chef's Challenge

        For our “Schnitzel Challenge,” we asked three chefs — not a speck of German blood among them — to go into the kitchen to dream up new twists on the classic pounded and fried veal dish. Here's what they served us:

        Ron Wise, Iron Horse Inn, Glendale

Chilled, Marinated Turkey Schnitzel with German Potato Salad

        Julie Francis, Aioli, downtown

Eggplant Schnitzel with Tomato, Portabella, Goat Cheese and Poblano-Tomato Chutney

        Henry Warman, Cafe Cin-Cin, downtown

Latino Pork Schnitzel with Fried Plantains, Black Bean Mashed Potatoes and Chayote-Mango Salsa

A Rye Taste and A Sweet Tooth
        Germans love to smear butter or rich liverwurst on the dark, dense and chewy holzofen brot (wood-oven) rye bread. Krause's of Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine brings in 11-pound loaves of the bread from Dimpflmeiers Backhaus in Toronto and sells it for $1.95 per pound.

        Even non-Germans adore schnecken — a sticky, buttery German sweet roll topped with cinnamon and sometimes raisins and/or nuts. Legendary schnecken-maker Virginia Bakery in Clifton only sells the pastries around major holidays. But Shadeau Breads (1336 Main St., Over-the-Rhine; 665-9270) and Just Desserts (6964 Plainfield Road, Silverton; 793-6627) can satisfy a serious schnecken craving.

Gutes Essen, gute Laune!
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