Österreichische Küche

Austrian Cuisine: In the canon of international cuisines there is no such concept as "Austrian Cuisine" but "Viennese Cuisine", which established itself mainly in the days of the Vienna Congress and indeed competed with French Cuisine. Viennese Cuisine is, however, not merely the culinary tradition of the city, it is rather a multi-ethnic cuisine that reflects influences from all the crownlands of the monarchy. The following specialities rank among the classics: consommés with a variety of garnishes, such as "Schöberln" (savoury sponge biscuit), "Frittaten" (strips of savoury pancake), "lung strudel" (Austr. Lungenstrudel, strudel of hashed lights), "liver dumplings" (Austr. Leberknödel, dumplings made with minced liver, minced breadroll, chives and other spices, cooked in broth); "Wiener Schnitzel" (fried escalope of veal coated with flour, egg and bread crumbs), boiled beef, such as "Tafelspitz" (boiled round of beef, favourite meal of Emperor Franz Joseph) and "bone meat" (Austr. Beinfleisch, boiled ribs of beef) with apple-horseradish sauce (Austr. Apfelkren) or a sauce of horseradish, minced breadroll and cream (Austr. Semmelkren), chive sauce (Austr. Schnittlauchsauce) and French beans in a sour cream and dill sauce (Austr. Dillrahmfisolen), goulash (Austr. Gulasch, savoury stew of beef, onions and paprika), "Beuschel" (calf´s heart, lung and sweetbread, finely sliced and cooked in a savoury sauce), roast pork (Austr. Schweinsbraten, seasoned with garlic, cumin seeds, salt and black pepper) or smoked pork (Austr. Geselchtes) with sauerkraut and dumplings, "Bruckfleisch" (stewed offal of beef), stuffed breast of veal (Austr. gefüllte Kalbsbrust, with carrot, peas and bread stuffing), "pike nockerl" (Austr. Hechtnockerln, small, oval-shaped pike dumplings), "ham pasta" (Austr. Schinkenfleckerln, small, square, flat noodles with roasted ham and onions), roast chicken (Austr. Brathuhn) and fried chicken (Austr. Backhuhn, half a breaded and fried chicken). Viennese Patisserie, which, next to Turkish-Hungarian influences (strudel), reflects mainly influences from the Bohemian Cuisine, occupies a special position. Classics of warm desserts are "powidl turnovers" (Austr. Powidltascherln, boiled potato dough turnovers filled with powidl, a typical Austrian plum jam), "Emperor's schmarren" (Austr. Kaiserschmarren, fluffy omelette with raisins, cut into pieces, browned and topped with icing sugar) "milk-cream-strudel" (Austr. Millirahmstrudel, oven-baked pastry dough stuffed with a sweet bread, raisin and cream filling) in vanilla sauce, "yeast dumplings" (Austr. Germknödel, yeast dough filled with powidl and topped with vanilla sauce or melted butter and ground and roasted poppy seeds with sugar) and apricot dumplings (Austr. Marillenknödel, apricots coated with various kinds of dough, boiled and coated with roasted, sweet breadcrumbs). The art of confectionery also reached perfection in Vienna, producing such famous cake creations as Sacher cake (chocolate cake prepared according to the traditional recipe of the Sacher family, filled and topped with apricot jam and covered with melted chocolate), Malakoff cake (coffee-flavoured ladyfinger biscuits and butter cream), Dobos cake (layers of biscuit and chocolate cream), Linz cake (hazelnut cake with red currant jam), Panama cake (chocolate cake) and Esterházy cake (layers of hazelnut biscuit and butter cream), fine pastries such as "Ischler Krapferl" (round hazelnut biscuits stuck together with jam and topped with chocolate and almonds), "carnival doughnuts" (Austr. Faschingskrapfen, roundish pastry made of yeast dough, deep-fried and filled with apricot jam and topped with icing sugar), "Gugelhupf" cake (various kinds of cake mixture, baked in a special Gugelhupf baking tin), "Punschkrapferl" (squares of biscuit with a filling of cake crumbs, rum and chocolate covered with pink icing), and a variety of bonbons. There are a number of traditional meals that do not pertain to Viennese Cuisine but are typical of the various regional cuisines in the Austrian provinces, such as the Styrian "klachel soup" (Austr. Klachelsuppe, pork broth) with "Heidensterz" (buckwheat polenta), the Carinthian "cheese noodles" (Austr. Kasnudeln, ravioli with a herb and cheese filling), "Salzburger Nockerln" (sweet, fluffy egg soufflé), the Upper Austrian "G´hackknödel" (potato dumplings filled with cubes of roast and boiled pork, seasoned with marjoram), the Lower Austrian "Saumaisen" (minced pork burger), the Burgenland "Halaszlé" (Hungarian fish soup seasoned with paprika), "Tyrolean dumplings" (Austr. Tiroler Knödel, bread dumplings with ham and sausage cubes and parsley), and the Vorarlberg "Knöpfle" or "Spätzle" (traditional oven-baked pasta with cheese). International gourmet guides attest Austrian contemporary cuisine an excellent international standing, cultivated in restaurants such as Steirereck (Vienna), Obauer (Werfen) or Bacher (Mautern).

Important Austrian cooking books: Kochbuch der Philippine Welser, around 1545; C. Hagger, Neues Saltzburgisches Kochbuch, 1718; Grätzerisches Kochbuch, 1795; A. Dorn, Neuestes Universal- oder: Großes Wr. Kochbuch, 1827; K. Prato, Die süd-deutsche Küche, 1858; O. Hess, Wiener Küche, 1913.

Literature: F. Maier-Bruck, Das Große Sacher Kochbuch, 1975; idem, Vom Essen auf dem Lande, 1981; A. Schendl, Wr. Kochbuch im Spiegel der Zeit, doctoral thesis, Vienna 1960; J. Cachée, Die Hofküche des Kaisers, 1985.