It's Turtle Time at the Dorf Haus on Fridays During Lent

Turtle dinners during lent?  It’s happening at the Dorf Haus, Roxbury, near Sauk City.  Although fish dinners remain the big catch, roasted turtle is snapping up attention on Lenten Wednesdays and Fridays from March 8 thought April 12.
 
Shell out $17.95 for the entrée which includes turtle, marinated overnight in carrots and onions and then roasted for four hours. It is served with mashed potatoes, gravy, cole slaw and the Dorf Haus signature fritters. 
 
 Serving turtle during Lent has become so popular that the Dorf Haus started offering it on Wednesday nights during lent last year, according to Rebecca Maier-Frey, co-owner of the second-generation family-owned Dorf Haus.   The snapping turtles come from the Mississippi River. A 21 pound turtle only generates about seven pounds of meat, Maier Frey said
 
 “Our innovate  father, Vern Maier, thought his loyal customers, many of whom were Catholics, would like to try something different, other than fish, during lent,” Maier-Frey said. The tradition is now 35 years old. St. Norbert’s Catholic Church and the focal point of the Roxbury community s located across the street from the Dorf Haus, which gave her father the turtle idea. He figured parishioners were ready to try something unique, she said.
 
 Many Dorf Haus diners come  from a 60- mile radius and the Dorf Haus does not want to disappoint by being “out of turtle”, Maier-Frey said,  so she suggests  curious diners  call ahead to reserve turtle at 608-643-3980. Curiosity seekers as well as diners who traditionally snap up turtle over the years have created a turtle time buzz, she said.
 
The popular Friday night fish fry still reigns as best seller on Wednesday and Friday nights and is featured in the March Issue of Madison Magazine’s “Bests of Madison’ reader poll.  The haddock dinner dipped in a light and flavorful breading is served with homemade fritters and a choice of fries or German potato salad and cole slaw.