BonVivant

Some recent Tyrolean meals. Tyrolean-style hash. You have typical Austrian hash and you have Tyrolean hash. The salient difference is the addition of beef. I even used Tyrolean organic beef to make it thoroughly Tyrolean. ______ Wild Austrian ramps. Tyrolean grey cheese premium blue. Found only 1 cheesemonger at the expensive market who has it. I like it but might be an acquired taste for some. My slice came from this. The rest of the meal: Riesling, rye dumplings (now with all the cheese mixed in), crisp-fried Speck and rhubarb. What it looks like in my bowl. ___________ It was a cold and wet day. Sunset wine. __________________ And after another long day hiking. Tiny dumplings with smoked sausage and grey cheese.

Still in Austria but not for much longer. Some lunches this week. More Speck from Speckland. This kind is loin Speck. Had to try it, never had it at home. Goat's cheese. Yesterday. Alpine hay milk cheese. A co-op product of farmers on German and Austrian sides of the Alps. Had some pastry in Stubai valley. Apple strudel and poppy seed cake. If you put poppy seeds in something I hate I would probably eat it. Owner of my lodging knocked on the door one day and handed me this plate. A pensioner who lives well and still cooks on most days. Not to mention she is well-versed in baking, as do many Austrians. These are some decadent chocolate slices.

It was a long day hiking. Poached trout, crisp-fried Speck with boletus. From the other day: Tyrolean grey cheese. The rind A seasonal Tyrolean home-style meal.

Went to Augustiner beer hall for Augustiner beer and ended up checking out some Tyrolean home-style dumplings. Even my home-made Austrian dumplings are far more superior. The difference in the quality is so stark. It's been many years since I had Augustiner beer in Munich. Their beer halls and cellars there are spectacular. Three different Tyrolean dumplings (Speck, spinach, cheese). At my lodging: the big stinker lives up to its name. Checked out the "expensive market hall" in Innsbruck the other day and got some charcuterie for this lunch. Steinbock also means Capricorn in Germanic languages. Feels like I'm "home" here in the Austrian Alps. Excellent charcuterie, cheese and bread, the mountains, valleys and the silence. Especially the silence.

I'm staying in a village in the Austrian Alps. Have been making meals with what I can get and what I can use in my not very well equipped kitchen. The best things here are Speck, mountain cheeses and wines from all over Austria. Austrians are hell-bent on local and quality Austrian products. This is my first Austrian beef. Asparagus is so tiny there's no need to peel. Well, you can't anyway. Got a piece of lard for cooking. It's meant to be eaten with bread, thinly sliced. Torn pancakes with crisp-fried Tyrolean Speck, my savoury version of Kaiserschmarrn. I used rye flour here. Let's face it, besides the hiking, I'm actually here for the Speck! You take my meaning when I say I'm here for the Speck! In no country is the "Speck culture" so strong as Austria. Gonna throw out all my things to fit this in my bag to take home!

At the moment I am in a village in the Austrian Alps. The only place to buy something basic to eat is 1km walk downhill. The few things one can rely on here is Speck, all kinds of Speck. And mountain cheeses. My first lunch here. A 20 min bus ride takes me to the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck where I had lunch again. Dough parcels filled with cream/cheese and asparagus. One of Tirol's typical dishes. When one is in Austria... An old coffee house. No one can sit at the table next to mine. A small sign on the table reads "regular's table", that means you F. off. Coffee houses in Austria are more than a place to go drink coffee. Nothing to eat or drink in the village where I'm staying but I have this all to myself whenever I look out the window.

This one. Cheap and good. I have several different ones.

Big flakes. In a savoury coat of Speck.

I have made these dumplings so many times I don't measure anything any more. Check out this recipe with step-by-step photos and give it a go. Though, I must mention you need to work the dough fast and not too long or it'll get very sticky. Shock them in cold water right after boiling. So good fried in butter until golden brown.

Pickled beetroot, cheesy pasta. Loosely based on the original mac and cheese known as "Älplermagronen" (Alpine herder's macaroni with cheese) in Alpine countries. Lamb shank. Dear German food, it's not you, it's them. Now go and live your damn best life. Well, go on! ^^ This is a super thick piece of calf's liver, btw. And home-made potato dumplings ("Schupfnudeln").

Long weekend lunches. (Not for me. I'm no sweetie.) Another lunch. Leftovers became sandwiches. Now my long weekend is complete with these.

Austrian dumplings filled with Tyrolean Speck. Crisp-fried chopped Tyrolean Speck inside, on top and wrapped around the dumplings (the last is not fried).

Tyrolrean Speck (/shpegk /) blows prosciutto out of the water. Incomparable. People who make proscuitto must own many salt mines. I don't know the brand, there are a few. But first, check if anyone even imports this Speck to the US. Here's a nice photo I found of different types of Tyrolean Speck. I also have a salt-fat tooth.

One of those things I'd rather someone else do it, such as deep-frying. But I'd rather make the sauce myself. Mix quark, capers, parsley, garlic, grated horseradish, lemon juice. Fish without chips, the way it is sold here. You just get the chips from another stall or a snack bar. Brotzeit/Brettljause (German and Austrian respectively) is not considered a main meal. So filling I could eat it for lunch or dinner.

Is it from Vietnam? Then it's probably this.

Austria meets Korea. A type of potato dumplings (Schupfnudeln). Everything was fried in duck fat.

I've got pancakes and duck but there's nothing Peking about them. Delazed sauce has port, tamari, Bovril, ketcap manis and liquid smoke. Added smoked garlic separately later. Chilean pinot noir 2013 grand reserva made everything brilliant.

Germany: herring with green beans and Speck. That's actually the name of what's on my plate. Blood sausage. Austria: torn pancakes. Kumquat compote. I love Austrian "potato cuisine". They have endless ideas for (leftover) potatoes. What it is: mashed potatoes, egg yolk(s), flour etc are mixed to form a dough. Roll out long sticks and slice then pan fry. Served with Sauerkraut. This is Pinzgau style. Salzburg has this thing, too, in another shape. Salzburg style of the same thing. Also served with Sauerkraut. Hungarian duck fat, I use it a lot. And of course (smelly) cheese, always.

A common fish in north-west Europe. It was slashed deeply, filled with dill, lemon slices and oven roasted. I prefer brill but it's less and less common only recently. Price of turbot is around 12-15 euros/kg. Brill used to be 7 euros/kg but now costs the same as turbot! A typical meal in Germany's far west, all-the-way-to-the-border west. Most simple: mashed potatoes, apple sauce and blood sausage. With copious amounts of either Altbier or Kölsch alongside depending on where you eat it. Mine was a Bock beer. What do you see when you look up and down? That's the name of this food. Pretty sure Duvel recognises it at once.

"My" Wiener Schnitzel. I got air pockets and I got golden brown! It's actually 2 pieces. Check out this short clip (1.5min long) to learn how to make a proper Wiener Schnitzel. This one is made at 1 of Vienna's Schnitzel specialists. Watch to learn the proper technique, even if you don't under stand German. Basically... - Pound the meat paper thin. (My long rolling pin works find) - Remove all sinew, membrane, fat etc. - Do not press the breading. - Do not leave the breaded meat sitting around anywhere. Cook in hot oil straight away. - Shake the pan a little to encourage forming of air pockets. Also spoon some fat all over the meat. - Snip the edges a few times to discourage buckling (meat curls up when comes into contact with hot oil). It's like reading about something that doesn't interest me so much but I still read it anyway because there's nothing I like more than learning (and reading).

Not something I make more than once or twice a year. Don't want to eat any meat today but I did try just a little bit to test. The partner doesn't have a problem eating meat 3 days in a row, however. Air pockets! Golden brown!

Yes, I make my own kimchis and pickles because a, they are stupid easy to make and b, I live in food hell. I prefer perilla leaves but they are hard to get hold of. The pork rind is actually quite soft as it's not roasted. Thank you. Market in Busan.

Thank you, @gfweb. Acquaintances say "if I ate like you I'd be fat, but you are not, at all. How on earth?!". I give them 3 words: wine, fish and solitude. They don't see all the hours in the gym and pool I put in weekly. But really, it depends on other factors as well. I don't give myself a hard time. Eat what and when I want but it's important that I enjoy it (and be sensible).

Sometimes I don't eat meat for 2 weeks, sometimes I eat it 2 days in a row. Spicy radish (but not kimchi). Typically served with Korean pork belly (Bossam). SV pork belly with doenjang (Korean fermented soya bean paste). SV duck breast. Kumquat compote and chard.