We have had extended kitchen table discussions — in Austria and the US — about what, exactly, “topfen” is. I contend it’s ricotta, but the Austrians insist its something different. These state department level negotiations have not prevented topfenstrudel from appearing in my Seattle kitchen on numerous occasions, though said strudel has always appeared upon …
This part of the Ennstal is a river valley lined by a bunch of tiny villages. People have lived here for a good long time; the church just up the hill was established in the 1100s, but there’s still not much by way of urban — or even suburban — development. The bakery closed, and …
Top: Campers stowed for the season in the Aigen campground. Bottom: View towards Puttererschlössl from across the lake. Established in 1200, it was the seat of a fancy local land baron. Now, it’s a youth hostel.
There are a few kinds of roulade in Austria and they all involve rolling one thing up inside another thing and then cooking it, slicing it, and eating it. Or, you might cook something, then roll stuff up inside it, slice it, and eat it. There’s a beef roulade which has pickels, onions, bacon, and …
Austria cultivates about 1000 metric tons of poppy seeds (mohn) annually. They’re not the biggest global producer, that’s Pakistan, but they’ve been at it for a good long time. Poppy seeds are used in lots of Austrian dishes, nearly all of them sweet, including dumplings, noodles, and as a filling in many different kinds of …
The “punschkrapfen” — punch donut — is very much its own thing now, but my understanding is that once, it was what you did with your leftover cake. See, running a traditional Austrian bakery meant you were always fussing with your cake, slicing the top off so you could layer it on top of the …