The Gulaschsuppe at Hof Brauhaus Hatz

Wednesday, November 1, was a holiday in France. November 1 is the traditional Catholic feast of Toussaints, or All Saints Day. It is a holiday in Italy, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Mexico as well. In the US we have no such holiday. In fact, it is strange that nearly everyone in the US celebrates the Eve of All Saints Day - Halloween - but very few know that the day after is one of the most solemn holidays for the much of the world.

Anyway, since we had the day off Theresa and Mindy decided that they wanted to go to the spa at Baden Baden. But this posting is not about Baden Baden....but rather is about the food we ate on the way.

Rastatt is a small town in Germany that is about 30 minutes away from Strasbourg and is conveniently located on the way to Baden Baden or to Karlsruhe. Over the past 3 or 4 months we have stopped in Rastatt several times to take lunch at the Hof Brauhaus Hatz. The Brauhaus is a local brewery founded by the Hatz family back in the 1860s. Like many brewhouses, it offers its own restaurant as an outlet for its beers.Theresa likes to stop at the Hof Brauhaus Hatz because of the Gulaschsuppe. The gulaschsuppe is a a soup that is related to Hungarian Goulash, but is thoroughly German. Most all the restaurants in Germany will have their version. The version at the Hauf Brauhaus Hatz is the best version that we've found.The intro photo shows the gulaschsuppe as severed, in a classy little china terrine. The rest of the menu is not too bad either. Traditional German food, of course. Above is a photo of the Wienerschnitzel. Below is a picture of the German Farmer Lunch...which is basically some brown bread smothered with ham, cheese and eggs. (Yes...it is in the process of being eaten. I did not think to get a picture until after Theresa had started on it.)Mindy opted for the plate of the day, which was mussels in cream sauce. This was a very good call on her part, as the mussels were fantastic and the sauce was even better when used as a dip for the German brown bread.