The University of Houston’s Dining Services hosted an Oktoberfest-inspired celebration in Moody Dining Commons in October as part of its Culturally Inspired Event Series, and by all accounts, the campus community enjoyed every second of it.
“Feedback regarding cuisine, décor, entertainment, and education pieces was overwhelmingly positive and came from a variety of guests, including new students, returning students, visiting students, faculty, staff, our associates, and our partnering departments,” said UH Dining Services and Chartwells District Marketing Manager Alexcis Mendoza.
The Oktoberfest celebration, in partnership with musical performers Das Ist Lustig, UH’s Institue of Global Engagement, and the Modern and Classical Language Department, is a first for UH Dining Services and joins other cultural events, held throughout the year.
“We added Oktoberfest this semester to continue our tradition of offering a variety of culturally enriching events and menu takeovers to the UH Community,” said Mendoza. “A large part of this commitment is ensuring we sprinkle in new experiences that we may not have hosted in the past.”
Executive Chef Demetrios Pias wanted authenticity on the plate and admits German cuisine was not in his cooking repertoire prior to leading menu creation for this event.
“I realized, although I’ve been to Dusseldorf a dozen times, purposely on layover, I know nothing,” said Pias on his knowledge of German cuisine.
So, he sought help from a German native and current German Studies lecturer, Tanya Bandmann. Bandmann helped Pias select German dishes and specifically those menu options that can also be found in the Oktoberfest celebration.
Items on the menu included a large pretzel with cheese sauce; Wienerschnitzel, a thin breaded pan-fried veal cutlet; reibekuchen, weisswurst; and rouladen.
Despite not having much experience cooking German cuisine, Pias and the rest of the cooking staff outdid themselves, with Bandmann saying, “It’s absolutely authentic.”
“My favorite dishes they recreated with so much authenticity was hochzeitssuppe, rouladen, rotkohl, and spätzle,” said the German language professor.
Bandmann added that her last visit to Germany was the last time she ate German food as authentic as the one served at Moody Dining Commons.
One of Bandmann’s students, Matthias Rodriguez, jumped at the chance to try the cuisine, and the Computer Science major loved every bite of it.
“Far exceeded my expectations,” said Rodriguez. “The food was phenomenal.”
Psychology student Arkady de Castro said she loved trying new cuisine and getting exposed to its flavors.
Christiana Chang, instructional associate professor of mechanical engineering, loves German food and was glad to see it being served on campus. Chang particularly enjoyed eating the food while listening to Das Ist Lustig.
The Oktoberfest celebration opened the eyes, and taste, of the attendees to German cuisine and all signs point to it coming back next year.