Bavarian panzanella with pretzels and bratwurst

"The idea for this dish came to me pretty randomly one spring day. I don't know why I was thinking about the Wiesn or Oktoberfest – I haven't even been there. Maybe I was thinking about panzanella, one of my all-time favorite Italian summer dishes, but somehow my train of thought ended up there. Knowing I wouldn't be able to pitch it for a few more months, I quickly wrote a note. And when it came time to develop recipes for September, I dug the idea back up and started thinking about what a Bavarian bread salad, inspired by the Italian classic, could look like. I started with the bread. In this case, fresh pretzels (“Brezn”) baked into crispy croutons. I knew the dressing had to feature sweet mustard, and because it is way less sharp than a regular mustard, I added horseradish, another beloved ingredient of Bavarian cuisine. Then came the produce. Regional apples are just coming into season, radishes are still around, and because apples and kohlrabi are a match made in heaven, they had to be part of it too. Classic Italian panzanella doesn't usually include meat, but I thought it would be fun to fully embrace the Wiesn theme. Since I wasn't about to ask everyone to make a whole roast at home, I went with the humble bratwurst instead. It fits right in alongside its old friend mustard and pairs surprisingly well with the fruitier elements of the salad. The beautiful thing about panzanella – whether Italian or Bavarian – is that, at least in my opinion, there really aren't any rules. So don't see this recipe as a restriction, but rather as inspiration for what you can do with the concept of a dish."