05 October 2010
 
The Student Prince


(Bar at The Student Prince, 8 Fort Street, Springfield, Mass. Photo Marv Carey)

Bonds and Donna were on the other side of the booth at The Student Prince, the coolest rathskeller I have been to outside on the Fatherland. Maybe the Dakota, back in the old German district of Detroit could rival it, but this place is still alive and vibrant, and the Motor City, bless its wild and vibrant history, is not.
 
I arrived in Springfield to stay the night after a highly emotional day. It had begun in Newport, where my son climbed out of the Bluesmobile, grabbed his bag, sighed, and walked toward a young man in wash khakis and a squared-away combination cover holding a clip-board.
 
I was holding my breath as I drove away, a little light-headed. It would not be the first time that day. I had to remind myself to breath. My son’s decision was not precisely like Richard Gears in the movie Officer and a Gentleman- I mean, my son does have a place to go. But it was close enough for government work.
 
I drove west out of the Ocean State and into Massachusetts. The P-71 Crown Vic is a fine ride in the fall, and as the ground rose in up in low hills I could see the colors were just on the verge of turning, and the sky had thin white clouds painted over pale blue.
 
It was cool and crisp, right on the tipping point of heading down to sweater weather.
 
There was something I had been meaning to do, and I had an associate in Northampton who had some specific recommendations on how to do it.
 
Later, I rolled down to Springfield, where The Mansion, added to the List of American Historic Places, sits proudly on the bluff above the Connecticut River. Spectacular does not do the place justice. It is a story in itself, a classic that could be used to shoot a  period piece about the Roaring Twenties.
 
The house had been built in 1921, to meet the specifics of a bakery magnate, but had changed hands and got some lavish attention from the subsequent owners. The public rooms are elegant, laid out side by side, so that every room has a breathtaking view of the valley and the sunset in the evening.
 
Donna has filled it with treasures she collected in the old East Block, where they lived in the time immediately before and after the Fall of the Wall. Ukraine was wild and wooly then, not that it isn’t now, but then it was truly surreal. She is a woman of great beauty and impeccable taste, and wandering through the place felt a little like walking through he pages of Architectural Digest.
 
“Gotta show you the German place,” said Bonds. “I think you will like it.” Minutes later, down the hill, he parked the car on Fort Street, and guided us down an alley to the entrance of the restaurant. We were ushered to a booth by a man with waxed moustache and red vest.
 
Donna ordered the Oktoberfest trout, crusted in almonds, and it came with all the trimmings. “That is the Prince’s way of celebrating the season,” said Bonds. “You oughtta see what they do at Christmas.”
 
Donna nodded. “They have a gigantic bowl of egg nog on the bar, and the place is decorated within an inch of its life.”
 
Her fish arrived with the pretzel, kraut, thinly shaved radish, soup and rote cabbage. Bonds and I tucked into the weiner schnitzel. It was dynamite, even if our dirndled waitress seemed a little distracted.
 
“Sunday night staff,” said Bonds, taking a sip of his weissenbier. “They have been in business here since 1935. Not the best time to open a German theme place, what with what was happening back in the Fatherland. But Prohibition was done, and people wanted to drink beer.”
 
I looked around at the wild assortment of drinking steins around the wall, the game heads and rich paneled wood. The fine-print on the placemat in front of me said that The Student Prince was the second longest-running Broadway show of the 1920's, after Show Boat and that the "Drink! Drink! Drink!" chorus from its signature "Drinking Song" was a big hit with Broadway theater-goers during the dark days of Prohibition.
 
“I have been watching Boardwalk Empire on HBO,” I said. “Interesting take on how a bizarre sociological experiment produced the Sopranos a generation later.” I reminded myself not to scratch the sensitive patch of skin under the bandage on my upper arm.
 
“So you did it,” said Bonds.
 
I smiled a little ruefully. I had not seen what had been done to my arm since Kevin got done, wiped up the blood, and applied the bandage. “Yeah. I did. Wonder if I will have buyer’s remorse in the morning?”
 
Bonds smiled. “Little late for that now. What does it look like?”
 
“I will show you when we get back to the house,” I said, taking a fork full of schnitzel and cabbage. “Damn, this rote kraut is good. Do you think they could spare the recipe?”
 
“Donno. You can try. I would ask the guy with the crazy moustach. What’s up with Germans and moustaches?”
 
I asked on the way over to the other side of the bar, where they proudly display one of the largest collections of corkscrews in central Massachusetts. “Could you share the recipe for the red cabbage,” I asked. “It is dynamite.”
 
The man smiled, the edges of his mouth arcing up under the waxy hairs of his moustache. Definitely more Kaiser than National Socialist, I thought.
 
“We make it in large quantities, but it is simple enough. The key is bacon grease, and nice tart apples and a little onion.”
 
I thanked him, and tried to puzzle it out. This is what I came up with.

Rote Kraut (Red Cabbage) a la Student Prince:
 

Ingredients
 
    * 4 tablespoons bacon grease
    * 1 small onion
    * 2 1/2 pound head of red cabbage
    * 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    * 1/4 cup water
    * 2 tablespoons sugar
    * sea salt to taste
    * freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 large pared and cored Grannie Smith apple
 
Instructions
 
Place the bacon grease in skillet, then fine chop the onion and sauté in grease to golden brown. Veggies can substitute extra virgin olive oil, but this is a guilty pleasure anyway. Sauté the onion to golden brown. Shred the red cabbage. Mix the vinegar with the water and sugar, then place cabbage in onion and grease. Pour mixture of vinegar and sugar on cabbage. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix lightly. Quarter the apple and place on top of cabbage. Cooking time is about twenty minutes at home, though you can cook slower and let the kitchen fill up with the delicious aroma. The Prince uses a pressure cooker and can do a mess of it in four flat. Makes about ten portions, as a side along with wurst and mustard and rich rye bread. Five it you are serving real Germans.



Copyright 2010 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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