Reliving childhood tales with the family

For this Halloween weekend, columnist Philip Potempa teamed with his parents to use the farm landmark bridge as the scene setting to recreate a favorite storybook yarn from his youth.

With our family heritage dating back to “the old country” of Poland, I join my other family members with beliefs steeped in legend and lore.

Growing up, like my older siblings, I enjoyed storybooks, bedtime reading and the odd assortment of characters described in fairy tales. I’ve written in my own books and columns about the footbridge my dad Chester constructed for me in 1983, and, most recently, the May 2019 storm that toppled the grand oak tree rooted beside the bridge. Always a man of ingenuity, my dad salvaged the tree stump and made it into a large flower planter for my mom to enjoy.

For this Halloween weekend, I teamed with Mom and Dad to use our farm landmark bridge as the scene setting to recreate a favorite storybook yarn from my youth.

By moving to the footbridge two concrete garden statues in the yard — a decorative goat, usually anchored in the cutting herb garden outside the kitchen window, paired with a small grimacing troll sporting a belladorned hat sewn by my mom — the “Three Billy Goats Gruff” and their tormentor living under a bridge seemed to emerge from the pages of the book.

Dad, an amazing and spry 91 years old, treaded the water and mud below the bridge to anchor the troll from Norway, who wields a small club and for some reason goes by the name of “Doug.” The identifying description that he came with reads: “Doug grew up in northern Norway, the birthplace of trolls and a land of long, cold and dark nights. To be a troll, one must hate practically everything. Indeed, Doug hated his homeland so much that one day, clutching his favorite club, he headed south to find another land to roam and whose inhabitants he could annoy. Unfortunately for Doug, he had forgotten that the farther south he headed, the longer it stayed light and when caught in sunlight, trolls have a tendency to turn to stone. Doug is now frozen in grimace with favorite club in hand.”

“Three Billy Goats Gruff,” first published around 1841, is a Norwegian fairy tale crafted by Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe. It details three brother goats, all of varying sizes, age and girth, who are eager to cross a small bridge guarded by an evil and very cantankerous hungry troll who lives below the crossing structure. The goats are tasked with crossing one by one to reach the other side, where a lush meadow awaits them to graze and fatten themselves.

One of my favorite attractions at Walt Disney World’s Epcot was the “reverse log flume” dark-theme ride hosted by the country of Norway in the amusement park’s World Showcase. Titled “Maelstrom,” it featured a Viking theme of floating hollowed logs for passengers (which over the decades, included myself and my parents during our many visits), journeying along a river framed by spooky woods, looming trees and a violent waterfall drop. Along the journey, menacing animated trolls threatened and scolded those they perceived as interlopers. The ride opened to guests in July 1988 and closed in September 2014 so the space and design landscape could be repurposed for a new ride attraction that opened in June 2016 and is themed for Disney’s popular animated film, “Frozen.”

Even though Oktoberfest 2020 has concluded, I still have European menu fare on my mind. Chef Joe Trama, a longtime culinary instructor at Ivy Tech and the executive chef at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster for more than three decades, served me a recent sample of a German specialty he learned to prepare nearly half a century ago. Rouladen, or Rinder-rouladen, is a German meat dish entrée of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in a thin layer of beef, cooked slowly for a braised tenderness to accent the contrasting flavors. He shared the ages-old recipe with me to print for readers. For more information about Chef Joe and his Trama Catering menus and recipes, visit www.cvpa.org or call 219-836-1930.

Chef Joe began his kitchen career at the German Chicagoland restaurant, The Matterhorn, which was launched in 1959 by restaurateurs Emmett Dice and Edward Puschak at 123rd Street and LaGrange Road in Palos Park, Illinois, in a European chalet-style building that was constructed in 1930 and opened as a pub.

“The restaurant’s piano player was Frank Pellico, who was also the organist at the Chicago Blackhawks hockey games,” Chef Joe told me.

“I worked with all women, and I was the only guy in the kitchen at the time. The authentic German menu was incredible and included rouladen of beef, roast duck, hasenpfeffer, dumplings, red cabbage, and German potato salad, along with a variety of steaks, chops, large lobster tails and crab legs.”

The German restaurant was sold by the owners in 1985, and rebranded and reopened as Hackney’s restaurant, which closed in January 2019.

PHIL POTEMPA/POST-TRIBUNE The footbridge at the Potempa Farm features a scene devised with concrete garden statues showcasing an angry troll below, with a goat crossing above a la the story of the “Three Billy Goats Gruff.”

JOE TRAMA/COURTESY Rouladen, or Rinderrouladen, as prepared by Chef Joe Trama, is a German meat dish entrée of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in a thin layer of beef, cooked slow for a braised tenderness to accent the contrasting flavors.