Just a few years ago, the CEO of a large Munich brewery said quite confidentially on the subject of salad at the Oktoberfest: “I’m actually fine with the Bädasui from the chicken!” Translated from the quote from the south, this means: “The parsley from the grilled chicken is actually enough for me.” For a long time, this was the last word at the Bavarian national festival when it came to greenery. The Wiesn was last perceived by the public as a folk festival, at which 7.5 million liters of beer, 435,000 roast chickens and 124 oxen were consumed. Since then, in 2019, the Oktoberfest has had to pause twice because of Corona. And suddenly it seems that the landlords have now discovered vegans as a new target group.
The Ochsenbraterei has brought a vegan chef to the team
Strictly speaking, it is actually the Wiesn landlords who form the vanguard here. First and foremost is Antje Haberl – the landlady of the Ochsenbraterei, of all people. The tent with its 7640 places is known for the fact that its oxen come from the municipal Karlshof model farm and are presented by name on a plaque while they are grilled for consumption on an open rotisserie. This year, however, Antje Haberl brought the vegan chef Sebastian Copien, known for numerous relevant cookbooks, into her kitchen team. “Vegetarian and vegan nutrition is not a trend,” says Haberl, “but has been proven to be good for people and nature.” Copien is now intended to get the people of Munich and their guests from outside of Munich enthusiastic about purely plant-based nutrition in the beer tent. For the first time, there are three dishes on the menu at prices between 14.80 and 15.80 euros – vegan patties with potato salad, vegan bratwurst with sauerkraut and a “mushroom goulash with pulled”, i.e. mushrooms in a sauce with plucked meat substitutes based on peas and protein. If beer is not vegan enough for you, you can also get a vegan cappuccino a few steps further in the small tent Café Theres from Katharina Wiemes. “Frothed by hand,” says the landlady, “the vegan milk doesn’t work in the coffee machine.”
It all started with the vegan Oktoberfest delicacies from Munich’s delicatessen king, Michael Käfer. His wife Clarissa encouraged him to do so, as he freely admits. Two years ago, when there was no Oktoberfest for the first time, he presented his vegan “Wiesn-Pflanzerl”, i.e. meatless meatballs, from the Munich start-up Greenforce, in which Bayern striker Thomas Müller also has a financial stake in addition to Käfer. This year, Käfer’s Wiesn-Schänke, the declared headquarters of Munich’s chic crowd on the festival grounds, will be offering a vegan savoy cabbage and tofu roulade and a “Global Food Salad” with a vegan herb for the first time.
The Hofbräufestzelt by landlady Silja Steinberg offers a special feature. In addition to a vegan currywurst, she has a vegan white sausage on the menu for the first time this year. The Hofbräuzelt is very popular with tourists from overseas, who, due to their lack of experience, will hardly be able to tell the difference to the traditional white sausage. And even the brewery board from the competition will probably be satisfied: The vegan variant also contains traces of parsley, as befits a Munich white sausage.