Category Archives: Austrian

Austrian, Blood, Charcuterie, Meat, Pork, Regional, Sausages

Blunz’n – Austrian Blood Sausage

October 30, 2014 allansuddaby Leave a comment

When I first had Blunz’n at a tavern in Austria I had a very narrow idea of what blood sausage was. Most of the blood sausage I had eaten before this moment I had made myself, following recipes in Ruhlman’s Charcuterie and the Au Pied de Cochon cookbook. These versions are simply pork blood studded with cubes of pork fat and onion. The Austrian Blunz’n before me was radically different: it was soft and moist, but closer in texture to a dumpling then boudin noir, and it was burgundy, not black.

Before I left Austria I got a Blunz’n recipe from one of my chaperones. I read through the recipe and thought there must have been some kind of … Continue reading.

Austrian, Charcuterie, Meat, Pâtés and Terrines, Regional, Sausages

Leberkäse

August 30, 2014 allansuddaby Leave a comment

Leberkäse is an emulsified sausage mixture that is shaped into a block, baked, and sliced to order. Picture hot dog filling, only instead of stuffed into casings it’s packed into a loaf pan.

Yes: a hot dog terrine.

For the record the name literally means “liver cheese,” but usually contains neither liver nor cheese. There is, however, a preparation called Käseleberkäse, which is Leberkäse studded with cubes of cheese in the style of a Käsekrainer.

Where would you eat Leberkäse? Austria and Bavaria, for starters. More specifically sausage stands, beer gardens, grocery stores, and any other place that might hot-hold food for quick service. The loaves are baked till they have a … Continue reading.

Austrian, Potatoes, Regional, Special Topics, Starch

Potato Salad

August 1, 2013 allansuddaby 2 Comments

The potato salad I grew up on was “creamy”,^[1] that is, dressed with mayonnaise. While I remember that dish fondly, I now make a very different type of potato salad, one closer to those I ate in Austria.

The single biggest challenge in making potato salad is having well-cooked potatoes that still hold their shape, and the most important factor in this regard is the variety of potato used. It must be a waxy, yellow-fleshed variety. North American varieties like Yukon Gold are okay, but there are some European varieties, like Linzer Delikatess, that are quite simply made for German potato salad. They have the proper smooth, creamy mouthfeel, and a roughly cylindrical shape that means they slice into … Continue reading.

Austrian

The Hunter’s Cabin

December 24, 2012 allansuddaby Leave a comment

Or: Manly Pursuits in the Austrian Alps

Of the handful of places I worked in Austria, Looshaus, near Kreuzberg, was my favourite. Looshaus is a restaurant and hotel with maybe twelve rooms in the mountainous borderland between Lower Austria and Styria.

I didn’t know this at the time, but the building itself is a fairly famous little piece of architecture. It was designed by Adolf Loos, an Austro-Hungarian architect who worked in the first part of the last century. His most famous buildings are the American Bar in Vienna, a short walk from Stephansplatz, and the Goldman and Salatsch building, on Michaelerplatz, also in Vienna. In 1930 he designed an alpine home for Paul Khuner, the Viennese food … Continue reading.

Austrian, Beef, Doughs and Batters, Dumplings, Meat, Offal, Stock and Soup

Beef Liver Dumplings

September 26, 2012 allansuddaby Leave a comment

For me, the most shocking part of buying a side of beef was how much liver we got.

A lot. I like liver more than most, and I thought it was too much.

If you have to get through a lot of liver, there’s no better way than to just sear it in a pan and tuck in. When the distinct, glandular texture of liver wearies the palate, there are liver dumplings.

This was a staple when I was in Austria. Lunch always consisted of soup, meat, and dessert, and the soup often contained some manner of offal. Most notable were the soft, bready liver dumplings the size of a toddler’s fist, floating in beef broth.

The biggest problem with … Continue reading.

Austrian, Charcuterie, Meat, Pork

Alternative Pork Primals: Belly-Loin Combo

June 24, 2012 allansuddaby 3 Comments

I first learned the pork primals in culinary school, and for years I considered that information dogmatic. Then in an Austrian grocery store I saw this:

It’s called Carinthian farmer bacon (Kaerntner Bauernspeck). Carinthia is a province in southern Austria, known for its rustic food. It took me a few moments to realize where exactly this cut would have come from on a pig. It is in fact a pork loin, with the side or belly still attached, cured as one large piece, cold-smoked, and sold in thick slabs.

Novel cuts like this are just as easy to butcher as the classics. Following is a quick tutorial, with photos, to prove the point.

Here is a side … Continue reading.

Austrian, Bread, Dumplings, Starch

Serviettenknödel – Austrian Bread Dumplings

January 10, 2012 allansuddaby 5 Comments

This post is actually about two kinds of Austrian dumplings that are made from old bread.

The first is best made with bread that is a few days old, bread that is dry, but not brittle. If you let your bread sit for more than a week, so that it’s completely hard throughout, you can make the second dumpling.

The first dumpling, made with days-old bread, is the Serviettenknödel, which literally translates as “serviette dumpling.” Much like the French word torchon, which means towel, Servietten implies that the dumplings are shaped into cylinders by rolling in a towel or serviette.

The old bread is first cubed and soaked in milk, butter, and egg (full recipe below).

Then the … Continue reading.

Austrian, Coffee and Tea, Drink

Austrian Coffee Culture

November 24, 2011 allansuddaby 2 Comments

I was surprised to learn that Austria has a strong, distinct coffee culture. I probably shouldn’t have been, as the adoption of exotic goods like cane sugar and coffee beans was the hallmark of European imperialists, and Austria, as the granddaddy of European imperial powers until the First World War, has been roasting, grinding, brewing, and drinking coffee for centuries.

The story of how coffee came to Austria was told to me several times during my stay. In 1683, the Ottoman army, led by the Grand Vizier, besieged Vienna. A Polish soldier named Jerzy dressed in Turkish garb and left the city to contact Duke Charles of Lorraine and ask for assistance. Jerzy snuck back into the city, bringing a … Continue reading.

Austrian, Charcuterie, Dumplings, Starch

Fleischknödel – Meat Dumplings

October 9, 2011 allansuddaby 10 Comments

This is the single most useful preparation that I learned in Austria. It’s invaluable to establishments that use a lot of cured meat, but also a good trick to have in the home kitchen. It’s called Fleischknödel (approximately: “FL-EYE-SH KNUH-dl”). Fleisch just means meat, while Knödel is a type of dumpling that is popular in Austria and Bavaria. Fleischknödel is a fantastic way to use up leftover meat, whether cooked or cured.

Most cooks are familiar with how to use scraps of raw meat. When butchering a side of pork, for instance, you reserve the miscellaneous bits of meat and fat so they can be ground and used in sausages and forcemeat.

There’s also leftover trim when cutting cooked and … Continue reading.

Austrian, Sausages

Würstlstände – Austrian Sausage Stands

October 3, 2011 allansuddaby Leave a comment

Würstlstände are Austrian sausage stands. They punctuate the sidewalks of every city in Austria. People from all walks of life crowd around these kiosks for, say, a quick lunch, or a post-bar snack: a sausage, fried or steamed, served with some manner of bread, mustard, and beer or pop.

While certain types of sausage appear on almost every würstlstand menu, it can be frustrating trying to pin down their characteristics, as a huge variety of sausages can go by the same name. Bratwurst, for instance, is sometimes based on pork, sometimes on veal, sometimes stuffed into slender lamb casings, sometimes into wider hogs…

Here are some very general descriptions of the most common würste:

Burenwurst – Apparently a

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