There were some guest chefs in the kitchen of United Hospital Center’s Garden View Café Thursday morning, The Pierpont Food Service Management students were on a mission – a German-inspired mission. The result of their labor was Obatzda and Bavarian potato salad. Those who purchased baskets for UHC Oktoberfest Presented by Antero Resources will get to sample the specialties.

 

Obatzda is a German beer cheese spread, a blend of Brie, Swiss, butter, beer, and spices.

 

“Obatzda is traditional for Oktoberfest, but isn't commercially available, so we had to make it ourselves,” said Oktoberfest campaign chair Jennifer Lopez. “It's so simple and it's a nice change from the more processed beer cheese we serve with pretzels here in the states.”

 

The Bavarian potato salad is made from familiar ingredients - bacon, onion, potatoes, and a vinegar dressing.

 

“But you put it all together and it becomes a fresh take on potato salad - no mayo and no hard-boiled egg.  It's served warm and goes great with grilled sausages,” Lopez said.

 

Natalie Feltz, Culinary Arts Program Coordinator,said Lopez provided the recipes, which she had tested and tweaked.

 

"Then I worked with the students to scale it up, using the percentage method. It’s great hands-on learning to prepare for the real world,” she said.

 

The students who brought the recipes to life Thursday volunteered for the project, Feltz said.

 

The Pierpont Food Service Management program accommodates those seeking degrees in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Arts, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Hospitality and Tourism.

 

A graduate of the program, Feltz also serves as Associate Professor of Culinary Arts. She said it’s been fun to partner with UHC for its inaugural Oktoberfest fundraiser.

 

“As a community college, we are really interested in community involvement,” she said.

 

Lopez said Feltz and her program were a great fit for the Oktoberfest project.

 

“Natalie has been great to work with and we appreciate the students pitching in to make the fundraiser a success,” she said. “We hope that people love the basket. It's a fundraiser, so people participate because they want to help the hospital, but we also want people to enjoy the food so much that they come back for the take-home experience year after year.”

 

Oktoberfest commiittee members are assembling the baskets today and those who have pre-ordered them can pick them up at the Mountaineer Medical Building parking lot on the UHC campus between 3 and 6 p.m. In addition to Bavarian potato salad and Obatzda, the baskets include weisswurst, bratwurst, stone ground and spicy sweet mustards, hand-twisted pretzels, candied almonds, honey, pickled onions, West Virginia apples, snickerdoodle and classic vanilla bundt cakes, and German beer. Proceeds from basket sales benefit UHC's Pediatric and Maternal/Child - Compassion, Caring & Comfort Funds. 

 

Those from Pierpont participating were instructors Sara Feltz and Tony Anobile, as well as culinary students Matthew Walker and William Greenly. 

 

Editor's Note: Culinary Students are shown top/cover with Feltz and Lopez also pictured