Hi … I am currently somewhere in the Silvretta, a part of the Austrian Alpes. I will be back next week and then this blog will hopefully get more updates again …
Enjoy spring!
UPDATE: This post should have gone live on Saturday. I am back again and will increase my postings again!
Filed under random pictures from great places
I am rather busy at the moment, and as this article is published I am on the way for a short ski-touring break away. But I still wanted to keep my Austrian Cuisine articles running and I came up with a somehow different idea for this issue.
Easter is the time when people get a lot of chocolate as presents (at least it is in Austria) and I was especially happy to get some delicious Zotter Chocolate. Josef Zotter is a chocolatier from Styria, who started to create his own chocolate in the 90ies. He was bored of the dullness of industrial chocolate and wanted to try something else. Moreover he decided to only use Fair Trade and organic ingredients.
The Zotter chocolate bars are something special, as they are created for special events and with combinations of flavor you would never think of.
This proved to be very succesful and nowadays Josef Zotter runs a chocolate manufactory, where the hand scooped bars are created. The manufactory can be visited – unfortunately I have not done this yet.
I strongly advise to try some Zotter chocolate while being in Austria and it is also a great present to bring back after heading home!
You can find more information about Josef Zotter on their Website!
Filed under Austrian Cuisine, Uncategorized
Hi there,
I just wanted to give a short update and explain why I am not really posting at the moment.
I am quite busy these days – due to being ill last week and going on a ski touring trip later this week, my time is limited.
I will do another Austrian Cuisine entry (which will be auto-posted on Thursday) and probably a picture story on Friday, but I guess this will be everything this week.
Take care
Filed under Background
I picked this picture as it was taken 2007 when ski touring from Ischgl in Tyrol to the Bielerhöhe in Vorarlberg: We will do this next week again (Thursday to Sunday) and I am really looking forward to this. Its one of the greatest things to go skitouring in spring, when it is still cold in the mornings (when you go touring) but after arriving on your hut (which is normally at lunch time) it is really warm and you can enjoy the Spring sun!
+ Perfect spring skiing (obviously)
Filed under random pictures from great places
Today I want to concentrate on one of Austrias best things: Cakes and Strudels, by presenting the three most famous “Mehlspeisen”: Gugelhupf, Sachertorte and Apfelstrudel
Mehlspeise means meal made out of flour and it is a term you will hear a lot of times in Austrian Cafés – the waiter will not ask you if you want any cake or dessert, but ask you if you want a Mehlspeise.
Gugelhupf
A Gugelhupf is a Bundt Cake and you will get it by the name “Napfkuchen” all over german speaking countries. Its roots go back to the romans, but there is also the story that the “Three holy kings”, after visiting Baby Jesus came to Alsace, where they were served a Gugelhupf. The French, call it “Kouglouf” and believe that it comes from Ribeauvillé. In the Biedermeier Period (between 1815 and 1848) the Gugelhupf became a symbol of the rich burgher, and was served with tea or coffee on sunday afternoons. (The Biedermeier was a time in which the Burgher did no longer press for political influence, but were satisfied with monetary gains). Since that time, this is a typical cake to serve for guests, especially family.
Sacher Torte – one of Austrias most famous exports
The Sacher Torte is named after Franz Sacher in 1832 when count Metternich wanted something special for his guests. The Chef was sick, so the apprentice Franz Sacher took over the important task and created this chocolate cake with a layer of apricot jam and chocolate icing. He later on opened a deli, where he also sold this cake. His son Eduard made his apprenticeship at the Café Demel and improved on the existing recipe in this time. Later he founded the famous Hotel Sacher in Vienna. Due to this story there have been long legal battles between the Café Demel and the Hotel Sacher, who was allowed to use the name “original” Sacher Torte. After years of arguing the result was that the Hotel Sacher can use the name “Original Sacher-Torte” and the Café Demel the name “Eduard-Sacher Torte”, which is commonly called the “Echte Sacher Torte” (real Sacher Torte). Both variants are delicious and you will get them as “Sacher Torte” in every good Austrian Café. Leaving Austria without having tried one is an absolute “No-Go”, so do not miss out!
Apfelstrudel – an Austrian Classic
According to Wikipedia this is a “national dish” of Austria and when I asked friends about typical Austrian meals, no one missed out on that one. There are some similiarities to Baklava, so many historians believe that it might have come to Vienna during the War against the Turks. Apple Strudel is made of apples, raisins, bread crumbs and some cinammon and sugar – this is put into a pastry. It can be served hot, fresh out of the oven, or be eaten cold. You might get it with whipped cream, vanilla sauce or vanilla custard, but originally a Apple-Strudel does not need any of them.
I can vouch for all this “Mehlteig” Classics and hope you can enjoy them on your next trip to Austria. If you already got any experience with any of this meals, I would be happy to hear about it!
Filed under Austrian Cuisine
This blog normally concentrates on Central Europe, but as I have got a rather nasty cold and cannot concentrate enough to write a longer post, I thought it might be nice to share one of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite places in the USA with you.
Longer and more meaningful posts will follow as soon as my cold vanishes.
Filed under random pictures from great places
View from Vulcano towards Lipari
This fridays picture was taken on top of Mount Vulcano on the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily. Volcano and Stromboli are perhaps the most famous one, but you should definitely visit Lipari (the island in the background), too, as the city there is a perfect example for an Italian town.
Filed under random pictures from great places
The Austrian Cuisine might be famous for Schnitzel and Schweinsbraten, but what will make you long to come back over and over again are the sweet dishes you can get in Austria. Today I want to start with 5 sweet dishes, which you can get as a main dish or as a dessert. Next week I will follow up with some famous Austrian “Mehlspeisen” (cakes and Strudels).
Palatschinken – Crepes the Austrian way:
The Austrian form of Crepes is a typical Austrian dish: its history goes back to the roman empire and it traces back to regions, which are now part of Romania, Hungary and Czech Republic. Most times Palatschinken are filled with jam or curd cheese, but there are also variants with Mushrooms or Spinach. The Palatschinke itself is also cut into small stripes to be used in a Fritatten-Suppe. If you ever see Omelette in Austria, you should be aware that this is a variant, where the pastry is thicker; an Omelette is also bigger and a lot of cooks make it a little crispy, by adding sparkling mineral water.
Be aware that the german word for Ham is also Schinken, but this two things are not at all connected: a french friend once made the mistake to order Palatschinken as he did not speak german and thought that some Cooked Ham with Sauerkraut would be a great meal – he was rather surprised to get a sweet dish! Continue reading
Filed under Austrian Cuisine
In response to my ski resort article I added some “Reality Check” articles, in which I wrote about skiing in some of this resorts in the 2011/12 skiing season. Yesterday I had my last day on skis for this season (I will still do some ski-touring though) and I can finish this mini-series for this year with a real highlight. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me yesterday, as this was a hardcore-skiing day with some pals, but one of my friends took some pictures, so I might add them another time.
Galzig (St. Anton am Arlberg, Tyrol, Austria), view from north. Deutsch: Galzig (St. Anton am Arlberg, Tirol, Österreich), Ansicht von Norden. Italiano: Galzig (St. Anton am Arlberg, Tirolo, Austria), vista dal nord. Lietuvių: Galzig (St. Anton am Arlberg, Tirolis, Austrija), nuo šiaurės. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Arlberg is one of the most famous skiing resorts in Austria and in the Alps. This it the place where Alpine Skiing was developed – hence their claim “Arlberg – the cradle of alpine skiing”. The Arlberg is a mountain pass between Tyrol and Vorarlberg (which name means “before the Arlberg”) and the Arlberg ski-resort is divided into two parts: Zürs-Lech and St. Anton. We did our skiing in the St. Anton part of the resort, which lays mainly on the Tyrollean side of the Arlberg. Overall the resort consists of 86 lifts, 276 km of pistes and 180km of powder runs. Continue reading
Filed under Traveling in Europe, Winter
Heartland Europe 