Thuringian ways of Rostbrätel

Another typical Thuringian-style meat I love is the Rostbrätel. So it was that I found myself at Augustiner: Bräumünchen by the famous Krämerbrücke here in Erfurt. 

Translated Rostbrätel means "pork steak", but seriously it is so much more than that. When you say pork steak, you envision a slice of meat, exactly as a piece of steak, except that it's pork. Well, the Rostbrätel is that, and so much more. 

The Thuringian Rostbrätel always comes adorned with a generous portion of fried onions in, I suspect, lard and seasoned, so it is naturally oily, which is then spread thickly over the Rostbrätel. Here at Augustiner, it's served with a potato salad and fresh salad greens. Un-typically, the Rostbrätel here is garnished with sliced spring onions. I say, un-typically, because this is the first Rostbrätel  I've had that has this as a garnish (and yes, I've eaten plenty Rostbrätel in the last 18 months that I've been here  ). Spoiler alert: there's another Rostbrätel served differently featured further down this blog. 

So, I would say my Rostbrätel today was pretty high-classed. Very chi-chi, if I had to describe it accurately. Meaning, it was all dressed up and ready to go to the ball. The Rostbrätel was cooked well - well-done but tender so it was really easy to cut through, which is very important to me. I don't like it when I have to saw through my meat with my knife the way a woodcutter saws through timber - that hee-haw motion is just ... unappetizing, don't you think? So, yes, no sawing motion for my Rostbrätel means it gets a thumbs-up from me  

The fried onions on top were pretty good, too. Here's the thing about serving the Rostbrätel this way, you must never be stingy with the onions. Where I come from, any fried onions are "just for taste", as we used to say. They are not in the leading role, and it's not their job to be. With the exception of a few dishes, onions are often in the background. With the Rostbrätel, it is not so. Onions in oil on the top are supplements to the meat, so if there's too little, the Rostbrätel loses its oomph. It is the onions that give the Rostbrätel its added appeal. 

 Augustiner knows this and does it well - plenty of onions on the top, in one thick spread, with some even on the side, for effect. The end result? Pretty fantastic. 

The potato salad on the side was also good, nicely sour-ish as all potato salads go with dashes of dill and herbs. From the flavouring, I would say it didn't come out from a bottle. If it did, the chef in the kitchen did quite a bit of modification and done it well. There was a little bit more vinegar or apple cider sourness than can be normally found in generic brands. 

My Rostbrätel also had fresh salad greens, with cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, celery and slices of carrots. Fresh, crispy and minty, which made a lovely backdrop against the heavier meat texture. Eaten in turns, it makes a nice bed against the saltier Rostbrätel and onions, and against the sour-ish potato salad. 

Going back to what I said earlier about Augustiner un-typically garnishing the dish with spring onions, here's another Rostbrätel I've had at Alstadtkneipe Noah, a restaurant that prides itself on serving everything the typical Thuringia way. 

As you can see, no spring onion garnish, and at Altstadtkneipe Noah, it comes with your choice of boiled or fried potatoes (I chose fried), which had a dash of dill and herbs, and the salad was a three-dollop of diced carrots, red cabbage and radishes. 

They look different but the signature fried onions on the pork steak is evident, and is just as generous. I can surmise that for this Thuringian dish, the onions are just as much in the starring role as the Rostbrätel itself. Being the fried onion-lover than I am, this Thuringian way of pork steak suits me just fine (yes, I'm happy). 

The Rostbrätel was also very tender and juicy, and the onion on the top were seasoned well, giving the meat the oomph without stealing its thunder. 

What I love about Altstadtkneipe Noah's presentation is that all the food are served on medieval-style tin plates, living up to its name (Altstadtkneipe literally translated means "old city pub") and promise of doing everything as tradition requires. 

Of these two, each had its own charms. Noah featured the Rostbrätel in its original form (or as original as it is known to be) while Augustiner show it in its dressed-up evolution. Much like the (grand)father and the (grand)son of the Rostbrätel. Just like everything else, the Rostbrätel got Darwin-ed. 

So, the showdown - whose Rostbrätel tickled my fancy more? I love food, and asking me to choose is like asking me which sibling or child I love most in my family (which is a totally unfair thing to do, by the way). But if I were to have a craving for a really good, satisfying Rostbrätel, it would be at the Altstadtkneipe Noah. Call me old-fashioned, but I love things original.