Robert Mueller
In addition to its French based heritage, Ste. Genevieve's culinary scene is also influenced by the traditional recipes brought by German immigrants. Blutwurst, leberwurst, bratwurst, and smoked pork sausage are locally produced as is the well known Oberle Sausage, a sausage which can trace its roots to the Black Forest region of Germany. Traditional holiday treats such as lebkuchen, pffernusse, and hutzlbrod (a type of fruit cake) are made from recipes passed down through the generations.
One of the more unique German dishes found in local restaurants, at wedding receptions, and at church picnics are liver knaefly or liver dumplings. These little dumplings have their origin in the cooking of Baden - Württemberg in southern Germany. The word knaefly is an Americanization of the German word knöpfli which means "little button". Ground pork, beef, chicken, or veal liver can be used in preparing the dish which is generally made up of flour, eggs, herbs, spices, and the ground liver. Each cook has his or her own special recipe and many variations can be found around the community.
The liver dumpling dough is dropped into boiling water using a spätzle press (shown below) or cut off the edge of a plate with a knife. When cooked, they rise to the top and are removed and drained. They can be served as-is or pan-fried in a little butter and garnished with chopped parsley. Brown gravy is the usual accompaniment.
Visitors may sample this unique Ste. Genevieve German dish at the Anvil, the Hotel Ste. Genevieve and the Old Brick House restaurants.
Spätzle, another type of German dumpling, are made from flour, egg, water, salt, and nutmeg, are also served at the Old Brick on Fridays as part of what the locals call the "White Meal" - but that's another story.