Vienna and Graz

[Adam Balic]

OK, I have a Kletzenbrot here (smells great), it contains Mahl, Salz, Natursauerteig, rum, rosinen, feigen, pflaumen, haselnusse, walnusse, aranzini, zimt and kletzen.

[KatieLoeb]

Do you have the name and author of the book, Adam?  I'm always on the lookout for new Austrian food/cookbooks...

Yep, the book is "The 100 Classic Dishes of Austria", produced for the Kuratorium Kulinarisches Erbe Osterreichs, edited by Ewald Plachutta and Christoph Wagner.

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I'd be curious what their "classic" take on recipes for Tafelspitz and Marillenknodel would be. Those are two of my favorites in addition to any of the pastries and cookies!

[Adam Balic]

One big problem with this book is that it doesn't mention the Austrian name for most of the recipes. A complete pain as the recipes look good.

Tafelspitz is an exception.

The ingredients are;

6 pounds of upper cut of rump

10.5 oz of root veg (celery, yellow carrots, carrots, parsley root - see above my photographs of the market).

7 oz of onions in their skins

1/2 leek

15 peppercorns (!)

8 pints water

2.25 pounds beef bones

salt

4 Tbsps chopped chives

pinch of lovage.

Unless you cook it locally there is not real hope of replicating this exactly, as supply of the root veg and lovage is problematic.

[Adam Balic]

On saturday night we visited the "Vienna Christ-Child" market. This was a great deal of fun and to my amazement the food produce that was sold there was of very high quality. The were also people walking around with special items that seem to be associated with these markets; fried potato cakes, a special pastry made of a light dough fried in lard and other similar items. In the UK there were also similar special dishes made at fairs and markets, in fact they were refered to as "Fairings" often as not. I wonder if any of them still exist? Most likely not. The item that I really liked was the berry punch. This was a variation on the normal hot punch, but contained an extremely generous portion of mixed forest berries.

[Adam Balic]

After the market we walk about town sightseeing and we dropped into a random cafe (Cafe Central sp?). Lovely interior and excellent coffee. I love the way that coffee is presented in Vienna, always with the water and the spoon.

[ludja]

Hi Adam!

Did you mainly eat at the Naschmarkt and Kriskindelmarkt in Vienna with all the wonderful food you've shown us or did you also get a chance to try some restaurants?

I"m also intrigued my the mention of so many types of different hot drinks--I think you mentioned that there was Gluhwein and Mulled Cider. Any more comments?

I love the wonderful photos of the sausages--not an easy thing to replicate at home or to buy here if you don't have a good German butcher. German and Austrian butchers are much less common now in the US but I'm lucky to have one that has a pretty good selection near me here in CA.

[ludja]

After the market we walk about town sightseeing and we dropped into a random cafe (Cafe Central sp?). Lovely interior and excellent coffee. I love the way that coffee is presented in Vienna, always with the water and the spoon.

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Cafe Central is one of the famous Viennese cafes and this one is know to be one of Trotky's hangouts. He and other intellectuals hashed out their ideas while drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, playing chess, having conversations etc in turn of the century Vienna.

[Adam Balic]

I hestitate to add photogrpahs of the meal as my camera struggles in low light. This was at a small resturant near where we were staying.

Starters

A salad of bread dumplings, curd cheese, tomato and venison 'ham'.

Broth of Tafelspitz with a meat dumpling.

Mains

Vanille Rostbraten - love the name.

Veal with avacado and tomato salad

No desserts, but I did have a few schnapps including a very good quince version.

After this I went out drinking absinthe and beer with my friend until ~5 am. Had one of those sausages that contains chunks of cheese sometime at the end of this.

[Adam Balic]

Obviously the next day I was extremely hung-over. But being hung-over in Vienna isn't a bad thing - lots of gluhwein. We went for a walk in one of the Danube's national parks, pretty much feeling sorry for myself eating the occasional sausage and drinking medicinal gluhwein.

There are numerous fortified hot drinks in Vienna and Graz, but there is a lot of variation in quality. The best tip is to buy from the stalls with the most people clustered around them.

[prasantrin]

Now another couple ofitems I tried at the market was a kebab from these chaps (who also sold large borek). They were very good and I can understand why the ex-pat Viennese I know crave these and make them into an totem object of home.

I've eaten at that very stall, too! Except I had the borek, and it was wonderful. I think I had kebabs from another stall...I can't remember now.

I really enjoyed the market, and I think about going back to Vienna just to shop there again. I didn't really care for Vienna (except perhaps Steirereck), but the market made the trip!

[ludja]

There are a lot of other Christmas bakery items in Austria (people must be baking for the rest of the year to produce them all). Including traditional cakes and some frivolous  offerings. One of the traditional cakes is nearly exactly the same as a Scottish cake that is made around this time of the year. I will photgraph both later to make a comparison.

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Hey Adam, are you still going to compare the Austrian and Scottish traditional cake for us? It would be interesting to hear about them if you're still game!

I'm also curious on the final list of foodstuff you were able to bring back to Scotland. Is is possible to bring wurst or other cured meats back within the EU?

The bread-like items on top with dark swirls in them are very good. They are 'germstrudel" or yeast strudel which are called "Mohnstrudel" if filled with ground poppyseeds, sugar, rum, lemon zest and raisins or "Nussenstrudel" if filled with ground walnuts, sugar, rum, lemon zest and raisins. Wonderful for breakfast or a snack.

For some reason I just recently learned that "Strudel" with respect to foodstuffs is derived from the German word "Strudel" meaning "whirlpool". The commonality between Germstrudel and the more commonly known filo-type strudel is the visual whirlpool effect obtained from wrapping the dough around the filling.

Edited December 15, 2005 by ludja (log)

[ludja]

Oh my goodness how good everything looks.  Including the teensy beer, how civilized.

Adam, I gratefully anticipate the pumpkin seed information.  I am in the market to restock my Austrian toasted pumpkin seed oil so any possible online source would be SO appreciated.  (Maybe Ludja, too, can help with this.)

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Hi Priscilla!

Sorry to not respond sooner, mainly it was because I don't have a solid answer.

I'm afraid I don't know of reasonably placed prices to get Austrian pumpkin seed oil ("Kern Ol"; umlaut over the "O"). Between us, someone in our family is travelling to the area quite often so we stock up on 2 liter containers at the local farmer's markets. We typically use it quite heartily as the oil in leaf, bean or cucumber salads rather than as a small garnish. Interestingly, I've started experimenting with using it in other ways after joining egullet and getting ideas from other members.

In the US I've typically seen it in very small bottles, say, 100-250 mL and selling for $30 or more! I've not kept a sharp eye out for it over here but have seen it in SF and in Santa Fe in case you happen to live nearby!

edited to add:

I looked for some online sources and found one that looks interesting.

It appears to be a producer in Styria that direct ships their oil. Looks like 1 liter is ~ 20 Euros or $25 which is quite reasonable given what I have seen in the US. They also sell the seeds which themselves are delicious in salads or ground up and used as a coating in savory preparations.

Here is the link: Deimel's Syrian Pumpkinseed Oil

Here is another source at ChefShop which is selling a mass distributed brand (which I've not tasted) at 250 mL for $20... click (currently backorderd until Jan.)

I'd probably give the first source a shot even though the shipping would be more expensive. If you enjoy it, the oil will last a long time and go a long way. Quality can be an issue and perhaps the smaller producer will pay off in a better product. Sorry I can't give a personal recommendation.

Edited December 15, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Adam Balic]

There are a lot of other Christmas bakery items in Austria (people must be baking for the rest of the year to produce them all). Including traditional cakes and some frivolous  offerings. One of the traditional cakes is nearly exactly the same as a Scottish cake that is made around this time of the year. I will photgraph both later to make a comparison.

...

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Hey Adam, are you still going to compare the Austrian and Scottish traditional cake for us? It would be interesting to hear about them if you're still game!

I'm also curious on the final list of foodstuff you were able to bring back to Scotland. Is is possible to bring wurst or other cured meats back within the EU?

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I am going to cook a small 'Austrian' meal tonight, so I will post a few images and comments then, including the cakes.

There is not problem with transporting cured meat within the EU, the customs information on meat etc concerns transportation from outwith the EU.

[Priscilla]

Thanks for the pumpkinseed oil thoughts, Ludja. I had a 375 or 500 ml bottle I got at a fahncy market here in Southern California, something like $12 from a nice lady demoing oils & vinegars that she was importing herself. Having the opportunity to taste it that day I could tell it was fresh and good-quality; I am chary of those perfume-size bottles with the high prices.

We went through it very quickly, using it with white-wine vinegar to dress salads with Mexican pepitas (wonder how/if they might be related to the Austrian) and goat cheese. So good.

[Adam Balic]

These are the items that I bought back from Vienna and Graz.

Sausages-

- Bauerbwurstel

- Wienerwald Blutwurst

- Grill Bratwurstel

- Kasekrainer

- Gailtaler Trokenwurstel

Ham/Speck-

- Sudtiroler Markenspeck

- Tiroler Schinkenspeck

- Tiroler Schopspeck

Cheese-

- Ostiepok

Misc-

- Fruit bread from Graz (Fruchtebrot Ganz)

- Pumpkin seeds (Kurbisknabberkerne)

- Various wines and schnapps

- Bread dice for knodel

[Adam Balic]

A special mention of the pumpkin seeds and their oil. This is a product traditionally associated with the Styria region (although production is now more widespread). The kernals are very dark green, more so then the pumpkin seeds I am use to. The way I have seen them presented is tossed in a salad, so this is what I did to night. The raw kernals are at 6 o'clock, the toasted at 9 o'clock. The oil is an amzing product, a version of this is availble from supermarkets in the UK. While this product is OK, it doesn't really compare to the fresh oil I brought back.

The oil is a bright green colour (photograph colours are not bright enough) and seems to get brighter with exposure to the air (could be my imagination). It is a nutty oil, with a touch of grass flavour. It has a very unusual viscosity, being very very fine, to the point that it almost doesn't seem like an oil at all. I combined this oil with a little saba, which is reduced grape must and used it to dress some crunchy lettuce hearts and sprinkled the kernals over this.

[Adam Balic]

The mains were Fiaker-Goulash with Knodel.

Various grilled sausage (eh, we had eaten most of them befoer I remembered to take a photograph)

Cheese in a sausage - genius

For drinks we had gluhwein (red wine, oranges, sugar, long pepper, tailed pepper, mace, cinnamon, ginger and rum) and a very unusual Austrian wine called "Uhudler" from Burgenland. This is made from grapes of the North American grape vine Vitus Labrusca, rather then the European Vitus Vinifera, so therefore it as the distinctive aroma and taste of the former wine, which is refered to as 'foxy', 'wild strawberries' or 'bubblegum' depending on who is doing the tasting.

[Adam Balic]

This was dessert.

[Adam Balic]

Zimtsterne are cinnamon flavoured almond/hazelnut biscuits with a rum glaze.

These were drank with schnapps and Port.

[Chufi]

Thanks for the wonderful report and pictures Adam.. I'm glad that with the variety of alcoholic beverages you had, you still remembered to take pictures

I was in Vienna a year ago, also just before Christmas, and visited the same Weihnachtsmarkt and ofcourse the Naschmarkt.. I was also amazed by the great quality of the vegetables being sold there. My husband always gets tired of me on trips like this when I keep saying: now why don't we have markets/ shops/bakeries/ etc. like this in Amsterdam? Why don't the Dutch care about food like other nations obviously do?

I also brought a bottle of kurbiskernol home and I love it. The color is indeed amazing, almost fluorescent green. It's great drizzled over pumpkinsoup.

I also remember reading somewhere (probably on EGullet) that it's good drizzled over vanilla icecream, but I've never tried that.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Chufi (log)