With ticket demand for Pope Benedict’s XVI’s appearances far outpacing the actual supply, it’s a given that the vast majority of folks will be watching his appearances on television.

Making the best of such a situation is a skill one group of church friends from Brick, Lakewood, Toms River, Spring Lake and Point Pleasant Beach has honed over the years with something they named “Popefest.”

The event harks back to the failed papal visit of 1994 when Pope John Paul II’s ill health forced him to cancel. To get over the disappointment, the group rallied with “Popefest” which consisted of gathering to eat a lot of Polish food at a dinner punctuated exclusively with conversation devoted to the pope.

Roughly speaking, “Popefest” remains pretty much the same though it usually focuses these days on the broadcast of a papal event on EWTN – World Youth Day is an example.

During Pope John Paul II’s lifetime, the “Popefest” potluck largely featured Polish fare – pierogi, borsht, kielbasa and the like.

With the advent of Benedict XVI, the focus shifted to German food and drink. The internet had yet to become popularized when John Paul II was elected pope, so information about his dining choices came from the print media. Reports of his food preferences were decidedly limited.

Benedict rode in on the crest of an internet wave detailing everything from his taste in clothing, music, watches Keeping the feast with Pope Benedict XVI and sunglasses to the food he was said to appreciate. Food writers noted that his tastes were simple. He was said to have a fondness for schnitzel and weiss (wheat) beer and to favor strudel mit schlagg (with cream).

One Italian company did reveal his taste for buffalo mozzarella which comes from the Campania region in southern Italy. The Internet tittle-tattle included the tidbit that the cheese is given to Benedict’s (policemen) who convey it with great discretion to the papal kitchen.

With the overwhelming majority of the Popefest group destined to watch the upcoming papal visit on television, another potluck meal is in the making. The menu will feature schnitzel – just plain with a squeeze of lemon in keeping with the pope’s preference for simple fare.

Sides of spicy, sweet and sour red cabbage and spaetzle (noodles) will be on the table. Folks are bringing their favorite beer which will surely run the gamut of German lagers and strudel is defi nitely on the menu.

Since we’re not especially adept at preparing German cuisine, I turned Fritz Honauer, proprietor of Fritzy’s German American Restaurant, 2200 Route 9 South, Howell, for tips on putting together a platter fi t for the pope.

Were he cooking for the pontiff, Honauer, whose Catholic family hails from Southern Bavaria near the Czech border, said sauerbrauten would be on the menu along with potato dumplings and home made sauerkraut.

“Sauerbrauten was the most popular dish in Bavaria when I was a youngster,” he said.

But, since this is a gathering of novices where German cooking is concerned, he agreed that schnitzel would be the easier alternative.

Honauer encourages everyone to focus on the concept of German food as “meat and gravy” cooking. “I’ve tried lighter versions of the classics,” he said. ‘But it’s rib sticking food and that’s the way (Germans) like it.

Though all of the food at Fritzy’s is homemade, Honauer said these days even Bavarians turn to supermarket products for side dishes such as red cabbage and even spaetzle and potato pancakes.

“We’re strictly home made here but if people need to use packaged foods at home to make the cooking faster and easier, its acceptable these days,” he said. “My mother and father went back to Germany a couple of years ago and found that was the case even there.”

Honauer’s homemade schnitzel, red cabbage, spaetzle and strudel are featured in The Monitor photo by Jeanne Scarpato, on page 2.

His recipe for schnitzel – thin slices of meat, bread crumbed and fried is featured. Honauer notes that though many people think veal when they think schnitzel, pork and chicken cutlets make perfectly acceptable, far less expensive alternatives.

Schnitzel with lemon

Ingredients:

Directions: Prepare three deep plates. Put flour in one, beaten eggs in another and breadcrumbs in the third. Start with moderate amounts; you can always top up quantities as needed. Pound the slices of meat with a mallet to make them thinner. Put a schnitzel on the plate with flour, cover both sides and shake off the excess, then dip it in the egg making sure it is covered with egg. Lift and let the excess fall off and then lay it in the breadcrumbs again making sure the surface is covered.

For the deep frying, put oil in a large frying pan ½-inch deep and heat. The oil should be so hot that it sizzles when the schnitzels are dropped in. When it turns brown, turn it over. The schnitzels are cooked in two or three minutes.

Serve hot with lemon wedges, red cabbage and spaetzle and German beer if you like. Fruit strudel with cream makes a perfect dessert.