Grüß Gott readers! In this blog post, I want to tell you about my experiences with Austrian cuisine. It is something that I think is essential to Austrian culture and honestly, it is a bit underrated. Austrian cuisine often consists of fried, hearty food usually with some sort of grain on the side and fresh vegetables with dessert or sweets as a must-have.
Traditional Austrian breakfasts vary from person to person. However, I have noticed that eating cold cuts and cheese with bread and some sort of topping in the morning is very typical. I have been enjoying a traditional Austrian bread roll in the morning topped with a local jam and a bowl of cereal. Many Austrians enjoy pastries in the morning with a coffee or tea. Walking through the streets of Vienna there are tons of small shops that specialize in selling delicious pastries you can take to go with you on the subway or tram. It is hard to stay away when you smell the delicious aroma of baked goods while walking down the streets!
Both lunch and dinner are quite similar. Many people eat more than one course for their meal. This can include an appetizer course, entree, and dessert (or a combination of these courses). Something you will find on the menu of a traditional Austrian restaurant is frittatensuppe. This is a beef broth soup that has herbs and sliced savory pancake strips. Sometimes instead of the pancake strips, you will find the broth with hearty bread dumplings. It is so filling that sometimes I will only get this as my entree. It is also perfect after a cold day of walking through the city. Entrees typically also include an ample piece of meat. It depends on the restaurant, but the type of meat could be veal, turkey, pork or chicken.
For a main entree, what I recommend to all people who eat meat is Wiener Schnitzel. This is something that Austria is known for and is a popular dish among locals. In a traditional Austrian restaurant, Wiener Schnitzel is a focus point on the menu. Wiener Schnitzel is made up of a thin, breaded, pan-fried meat cutlet. Typically, the cutlet is veal, but veal is often more expensive than other meats, so turkey or chicken is becoming more and more common on menus. Served with the Wiener Schnitzel, parsley potatoes or thick cut potatoes are expected or some sort of salad. My favorite Wiener Schnitzel that I have eaten has come with a sweet cranberry sauce on the side. It gave the dish a sweetness that was desperately needed with the substantial fried taste. A lemon wedge is expected as well to cut down on that rich decadent taste of the fried meat. If you come to Austria and don’t have Wiener Schnitzel, I am not sure what you are doing with your life! It is essential that you try it at least once. Even so, I personally cannot eat too much Wiener Schnitzel in a week, because even though it is delicious, it is so savory and rich.
Alongside Wiener Schnitzel, other representative entrees often include potato-heavy dishes (like gnocchi), dumplings with meat or cheese, or some sort of stew like goulash. Of course, this is not every option that is available but just some of the conventional Austrian foods I have seen while being here in Vienna.
As for desserts, well let’s just say I am in heaven here when it comes to dessert. Austrians love their sweets. Ice cream, pastries, and cakes are popular everyday treats. Every cafe or restaurant you go to has desserts on the menu. There are also confectionaries and bakeries on every street. Delicious sweets are easily accessible here and it has been so fun getting to try out so many different treats. I have loved apple strudel, the heisse liebe (ice cream with hot raspberries as toppings), and maybe the most out of all- the pastries that include fresh strawberries or raspberries. Austrians also love mid-day tea or coffee with a sweet treat. The Linfield gang and I have taken part in this willingly and gladly!
The last thing I want to talk about with you all is drinking culture in Austria. It is well known that in Europe and Austria the legal drinking age is young. People are exposed to alcohol at a much younger age than in the U.S. It is ingrained in Austrian culture to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner. Beer is quite cheap (not as cheap as maybe Czechia or Poland) and wine is readily available.
Vineyards and breweries are scattered through the Austrian countryside. It is not uncommon as well to see people drinking in public. It is legal to openly carry alcohol in Austria and It is also not uncommon to share a drink with a professor. Something that I learned pretty much immediately upon arriving here, is that in terms of a cultural thing, people do not drink just to drink. People drink to socialize, to gain common understanding, and learn about new refreshments available. As someone who doesn’t prefer the taste of either beer or wine, at restaurants I often order a soda or just stick to water. This has gotten me some strange looks and small quips from friends and professors alike. They don’t understand why I don’t order a beer with my dinner or try a glass of wine. However, this doesn’t mean that I have ever felt pressured to drink alcohol here. While drinking may be a part of Austrian culture, it is not a requirement and no one is obliged to drink with their meal. This is just something that should be thought about when going out to eat.
Overall, Austrian food is delicious. I don’t see it in the States. Although I knew the names of some Austrian dishes before coming here, I don’t think I had ever tried Austrian cuisine. As well, many Americans don’t know much about Austrian foods. This is incredibly sad to me since Austrian foods are so delicious and what I can only describe as comfort foods. The only thing I ask of you is that sometime in your life you try Austrian cuisine, which hopefully includes Wiener Schnitzel. Guten appetit (enjoy your meal, bon appétit)!
Auf Wiedersehen for now,
Lizzie