Today's Case:

Cream of Sauerkraut Soup

Re: Cream of Sauerkraut soup
From: Colleen
Date: 11/6/2023, 12:07 PM
To: Phaedrus 

On 11/5/2023 7:44 PM, Colleen wrote:

 I am trying to find a recipe for Cream of Sauerkraut soup. 
 I had this in a little town diagnosed with called New Ulm, Mn.  
 I do not know the name of the restaurant, but believe it was 
 located in the downtown area next to, or in the back of the 
 Herberger's store. Unfortunately, My sister that took me 
 there has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and can be of 
 no help to me. I know we were both in love with it, 
 Unfortunately the restaurant  closed before my next visit 
 and I have been searching for it ever since.Your help would 
 be greatly appreciated. I forgot to tell you the soup was 
 not sour though it contained kraut. It has small pork 
 meatballs and potatoes,with a mild cream base. 
 Again,Thank You. 
 
  Colleen

                          Hi Colleen,

 Well, I tried. It's really difficult to find a restaurant recipe without the name of the restaurant. Herberger's was at 110 N. Minnesota Street. I found a file of old applications for buildings listed as possible National Historic sites on Minnesota Street and there were some restaurants mentioned as having been in some of the old buildings. Perhaps one of them will stimulate your memory:

Esser & Sons Restaurant was at 105 Minnesota Street.
Haus Messerschmidt Restaurant, closed in early 1982, was at 108 Minnesota Street. Eibner's Restaurant was also at 108 Minnesota Street.

I searched for, but could not find, any recipe at all for "cream of sauerkraut soup" that had any association with New Ulm. I also searched for any recipes at all for "cream of sauerkraut soup." Unexpectedly, I could only find one, and it had apples and juniper berries, and no meatballs. There are numerous recipes for just "sauerkraut soup" on the web, but they are not creamed and I did not find one that had pork meatballs. They all had either Polish sausage or smoked sausage cut into small pieces.

So, I must admit that none of my leads was useful. You might talk to the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce. They might be able to get the name of any restaurants in Herberger's or near it by consulting a city directory for the year that you had your meal there, and that might lead to something. Other than that I have no suggestions. I will post this for reader input.

Phaed