Home. It is not just a house in which we are raised. It is a feeling. For me this feeling is comfort. I can travel by plane, train or automobile and physically reach this destination. I can also travel there in my mind with the arousal of one or more of my senses--a smell, a taste, a touch or a noise.Growing up it was a summertime ritual to wake up very early in the morning and go to a flea market/farmers market/auction in a nearby town. As a little girl this meant a lot of walking, a lot of shopping, and most importantly a delicious meal on the way home. Our destination was in the heart of Amish country. The Amish are known for many things--one being their cooking.
A couple of weeks ago I was back in my hometown and wanted to take a stroll down memory lane so I decided to go to back to Amish country. Following tradition, I visited the flea market/farmers market/auction and walked a lot and shopped a lot. But the food that was to come was running through my head all day. Finally I was home. I was at Das Dutchman Essenhaus. The Essenhaus, as I call it, serves some of the best food I have ever experienced. It is standard practice by me and every member of my family to eat a meal...a BIG meal and then eat a piece of pie. For my meal that day I ate beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and rolls with homemade Amish peanut and apple butters. For the first time I had to ask for a box. I knew my limits and I knew that I HAD to save room for pie.
The pie. The Essenhaus offers 29 varieties of pie. Just to make your mouth water I have to list them. They offer: Butterscotch, Apple, Rhubarb Custard, Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb, German Chocolate, Red Raspberry Chocolate Cream, Fresh Peach, Peach, Banana Cream, Old Fashioned Cream, Cherry, Raisin Cream, Custard, Coconut Cream, Fresh Strawberry, Pumpkin, Fresh Blueberry, Blueberry, Praline Pecan, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dutch Apple, Mincemeat, Chocolate Peanut-Butter-Banana, Red Raspberry Cream, Shoofly, Lemon, Black Raspberry, Chocolate Cream, Pecan. I chose fresh peach. It was melt in your mouth, to die-for, delicious. I have never tasted a dessert made of peaches where the peaches tasted so fresh. The texture of the peach tasted like it had just been sliced minutes before I ate it. The whipped topping was also extremely yummy but I have to admit that I took a lot of it off because the pie was so good that I did not want to "ruin" it with any other taste.
Das Dutchman Essenhaus--a taste sensation like no other. Proving Dorothy right once again that, "there's no place like home".
***To visit the Essenhaus online click here
