120 CultureShock! Austria
IT IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT if you leave Austria the same size as
when you arrived. Not only are the main dishes hearty and
filling, but the pastries are so delicious that you won’t be able
to refuse them. Main courses are meat-oriented, consisting
primarily of pork, but chicken, veal, beef and turkey are
also eaten regularly. As if these large portions of meat aren’t
enough, potatoes, dumplings or sauerkraut often accompany
them, with green vegetables in short supply.
Austria’s neighbours have heavily influenced its cuisine,
although by now, favourite dishes are considered truly
Austrian. Regional influences become evident once you begin
to look at provincial specialties. The food of Burgenland,
for example, reflects the Hungarian taste for paprika and
sour cream. Gulasch is perhaps Hungary’s most important
contribution to Austrian stomachs. Bean soup with scipi, a
kind of small dumpling, is the ‘national dish’ of the Croatian
community of Burgenland. Upper and Lower Austrian and
Viennese dishes include many Czech staples. Bohemia,
in the Czech Republic, is the birthplace of the dumpling,
which Austrians have made their own. Sausages arrived via
Germany and Poland. Italian, Slavic, Middle Eastern and even
Asian cooking have also influenced the Austrian menu.REGIONAL CUISINE
While you can order most dishes throughout the country, each
region is particularly proud of its own delicious specialties.