Sausage Salad photo: Jamie Manser
You know those days, something cosmic must be in retrograde when people just can’t seem to get along or get it right or be nice. Maybe it’s the planet Mercury, or perhaps it’s the mercury rising in the thermostat. Whatever was going on last month, my husband Dan and I were both having one of those completely frustrating days.
We sought calming relief at 4th Avenue’s Café Passe. Owner Sabine Blaese provided us with a sneak peek of the café's Oktoberfest menu, set to be served the weekends of Sept. 17-18, 24-25 and October 1 from noon to 9 p.m.
Dan and I knew we were in for a real treat when she dropped off the goods and said, “This is some of my favorite food in the world, I hope you enjoy it too.”
We dove right in and both dishes - sausage salad and sweet onion pie (zwiebelkuchen) - were delicious. The sausage salad was cool and satisfying without being heavy. It included a mellow Swiss cheese, white onions, baby dill pickles, drizzled with canola oil, topped with fresh ground pepper and parsley. I had never experienced these ingredients together and my taste buds were delighted by the complementary, yet distinct, flavors.
The sausage (called Lyoner and mixed with Fleischkaese) is from The German Sausage Company in Phoenix. Dan asked Blaese if the sausage was a bologna. She grimaced a bit, but indulged his observation by saying, “You might call Lyoner a really, really good bologna.” I concur; the quality of this sausage is definitely in a different league from Oscar Meyer’s sandwich bologna. Accompanying the sausage salad was a slice of Bauernbrot, a hearty, medium-dense farmer’s bread from the Old Heidelberg German Bakery in Phoenix.
The zwiebelkuchen, plated up with the café’s fresh salad (mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions), looked like a slice of cheese pizza – but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. While I love a good slice o’ za, this is nothing in comparison. The crust was pastry-like; Blaese said the crust is called Quarkteig, made with sour cream. I erroneously thought that there was cheese in there, it’s not so – it is simply comprised of “sautéed white onions, lots of caraway seeds, some cream and eggs,” Blaese clarified. I call it melt-in-your-mouth heaven.
It was obvious these Oktoberfest menu items were made with loving consideration; this food is from her German homeland. Originally from the southwestern region of Deutschland (Swabia), Blaese explained that “The Swabian kitchen is very unique; it has many distinct dishes such as the sausage salad and sweet onion pie. My mom is a great cook and most of the recipes I’m using are hers, of course, and it’s growing up in her kitchen that made me love food, I think.”
Celebrating their first Oktoberfest (coinciding with their recent liquor license acquisition), Café Passe is offering the above authentic German selections along with plates of bratwurst and German potato salad, and weisswurst with pretzels. A German Oktoberfest beer shall also be on tap, clearly brewed in compliance with the Reinheitsgebot!
Entertainment during the weekend celebrations includes Tucson polka band, The Bouncing Czechs, from 6:30pm-8:30pm on Sat., Sept. 17 and Oct. 1; Jimmy Carr and the Awkward Moments perform on Sat., Sept. 24 and Sun, Sept. 25 from 2pm-4pm.
Be sure to wish Café Passe early birthday wishes, as their five year mark comes up in October. They are located at 415 N. 4th Ave., online at CafePasse.com or by calling 624-4411.
