This year, we spent Easter untypically. Usually we would go to Zakopane for holidays to walk a little bit or to some warmer places to start spring in the beginning of April. However, this time Easter was really… wintry and snowy, but also sunny, warm and definitely successful!
At the invitation of one of Austria’s main ski regions, we went to Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang and Fieberbrunn. We did some amazing walking around winter land (the most beautiful winter ever!), there was a sleigh party, some skiing for Łukasz and Maks’s first, tentative attempts. We liked Saalbach right away, say, becayse of its localisation and the comfort… you can be walking down the main street of a typical, ski town, and then jump in line immediately and go on top. It was very comfortable for us, because Łukasz could still ski while me and Maks could go back to our hotel after the first “snow ploughs” and climbing the mountain in our skis like Peppa Pig (Maks immediately knew how to do that and it turned out Peppa told him that in one of the episodes ;)) to get some rest.
I will write about skiing, Saalbach and what you can do in that neighbourhood, but first, I’m gonna tell you about the food!!! Obviously, one can’t live without it!
This is not my first experience with Austrian ski slopes and I knew right away what I was going to eat on the first day… I was hoping for some new discoveries as well and I managed to have a few of them. Even though outside of Austrian cuisine there were a lot of sandwiches, pizza and pasta everywhere, both in town and on slopes, we were trying to focus on the classics, available here nowhere else!
I could only start with…
1) GERMKNӦDEL
This is definitely my strongest culinary memory from Austria. I had eaten it once, almost 10 years ago, when I went skiing with my friends. I have two “souvenirs” from that trip: a friend that I met back then (Z. – it’s you! We’re about to celebrate our ten years anniversary!!:)) and my love for germknödel!!! I knew I had to eat it in Saalbach! When we sat down to eat lunch, the first thing I did was check out the dessert section to see if it was on the menu! It was!
Germknödel is definitely an offer for gourmands. A huge dumpling stuffed with plum jam, covered in a big amount of vanilla sauce of pudding-like texture and sprinkled with poppy-seeds, and sometimes with cinammon. The dumpling itself is not similar to our dumplings with plums. They’re more like steamed rolls, buns or yeast dumplings. There are a lot of ways you can call them… do you know them? Have you eaten them? 🙂 Germknödel is huge, very sweet, swims in a yummy vanilla pudding and tastes perfectly fine on breaks between sequent downhills, both on cold and sunny days. It’s perfect for lunch or dessert. But watch out! It’s best if you share it with someone! 😉
2) FRITTATENSUPPE
Another tidbit that you just have to try during a day on ski slope. One more thing memorized in 2007 or 2009. One of the cheaper and lighter Austrian snacks. It’s perfect for kids and for adults. Frittatensuppe is a broth, but instead of nuddles, there are strips of pancakes in it!!!
That’s why it’s called that way – pancake soup. For me it’s a cool, new form of serving broth and I really like it – I think I like it even more than the nuddle version. I think it’s also a very good and hearty snack for kids during ski struggles.
Łukasz, on the other hand, is not a fan – when we ordered it one day, he ate the broth, but he left the pancakes… 🙂 He doesn’t like pancakes anyway. I do! 🙂
3) WIENER SCHNITZEL
You can’t make any Austrian chart without the basis and classic of this cuisine, which is Wiener Schnitzel. Everybody knows that, right? 🙂 A few years ago, when we were coming back from a long travel around Europe, we went to Wien just to eat the real Wiener Schnitzel! 🙂
I’ve heard it appeared in a cookbook in 1831 for the first time, and the legend says that during the reign of emperor Franz Joseph I some polverized gold was added to the coating for the cutlet to shine properly. They must have been rich!
The original, thin (the classical one should be 4 milimeters thick!), veal one with a thin but crunchy coating (with no gold!) is the one we like the best. It’s obligatory for the cutlet to be served with a quarter of lemon to sprinkle it. Sometimes it’s made with pork as well, but it’s not a classic anymore. It’s kind of like a fake. Austrians supposedly pay a lot of attention to the schnitzels’ names – both the one made with veal and with pork – Wiener Schnitzel is its original name, but the one made with pork is called Schnitzel Wiener Art.
In Wien, Łukasz was eating potato salad (Wiener Schnitzel mit Kartoffelsalat) with it, which he loves! In the mountains schnitzels are usually served with french fries or potato quarters with a little bit of parsley and… cranberry. We liked it the best in the Wieseralm restaurant on the slope close to Hinterglemm (THIS one!).
Almost everywhere you can also order a children’s portion of that dish with a little bit smaller “schnitzler”. Oh, and watch out for the question whether it should be big… Łukasz once said it should and he didn’t get one huge cutlet – he got two of them!!!
4) KAISERSCHMARRN – CAESAR OMELET
My biggest discovery made during our stay in Saalbach! I already mentioned it HERE. I immediately knew it was something for me when I saw other people carrying plates with pieces of “sliced” pancakes / pies / drop scones or whatever it was! I knew I would like them. Then I learned they were kaiserschmarrn, which is a thick, fluffy pancake with raisins. Usually served in irregular pieces, sprinkled with icing sugar and some fruit mousse on the side – for example apple or plump one!
Delicious!!! Then I learned it’s called “caesar omelet” – it’s no surprise to me!!! Even though I love the dessert section, I’m going to warn you once again: the portions are so big that you could eat it for lunch! It’s perfect for breakfast as well! Have you tried it? How was it served? Did you like it?
5) BBQ ON A “HAT” – HUT ESSEN
For that dish, you should go to a specific restaurant because it’s not a typical, legendary Austrian dish. It’s more like a pretty new idea in the Priesterreg restaurant in Leogang, which specialise in these sweets. Click HERE.
You should visit that place not just because of the specific dish they serve, but also because of its localisation and interior. No doubt it’s one of the most beautifully localised restaurants with an amazing, folk design, which combines tradition with modernity. Fairy-tale views and environment! There are also some tastefully arranged huts, in which you can stay for a night or two.
What is the dish itself? In the restaurant you will find your own BBQ/burner in the shape of a typical hat for Austrian highlanders and you make you meat (different kinds) yourself. You eat it with sauces, salads, garlic toasts and potatoes. It’s delicious and interesting, although we know a similar patent from… Cambodia!!! Austria and Cambodia, and yet they have something in common! 😉 We like every dish cooked on our own fondue table by shabu-shabu after cambodian grill, so we like it here too. And Maks is having fun!
For dessert you can order kaiserschmarrn – but you should share it with two other people! The portion is giant!!!
We only spent 4 days in Austria, so maybe we missed something?? I know we could’ve eaten spatzle but we couldn’t find them. What do you think we should try next time? Do you have any favourites? 🙂
Lastly, here are some pictures of Saalbach and its neighbourhood, for example from our amazing walking route in Lindlingalm. I know you’re not thinking about winter now, but I will talk to you in autumn 😉
*We could taste Austria at the invitation of the Saalbach Hinterglemm-Leogang-Fieberbrunn region.
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