Austrian Cuisine: Mahlzeit 125Salads
If you are a big salad eater, you’ll have to alter your
expectations while in Austria. Most salads, especially the
gemischter Salat, are a combination of tasty marinated
vegetables. These commonly include beets, green beans,
cucumbers, sauerkraut, potato salad, carrots and Rettich (a
large white radish that is thinly sliced and mixed with vinegar
and oil). If you prefer a lettuce salad, be sure to ask for a
Grünersalat (green salad). This is a leafy salad with a number
of different types of lettuce. However, as a main meal, Julie
often orders either a Greek salad or a chicken salad which
are both very filling.
Breads
If you enjoy eating bread with your meal, or even on its own,
Austria is the place to be. There are so many different types of
bread that it would be impossible to list them all here. What
follows are just the highlights. For a better idea of what’s
available, visit your local bakery or the bread section at the
supermarket. If the entire loaf is too much for your family,
you may ask for a half (Halbes) or a quarter (ein Viertel). A
Semmel is the average white roll. Stangerl are long rolls and
come in different varieties like Salzstangerl (salted). Hausbrot
(housebread) is a mixture of wheat and rye. Roggenbrot is rye
bread and Schwarzbrot is black rye bread. Be sure to sample
the bread when you travel around Austria because there are
many different regional breads. Of course, if you must have
white sandwich bread, that is available too.
Desserts
Pastries
The wonderful flavours of the pastries are difficult to describe.
The best way to fully appreciate this aspect of life in Austria
is to force yourself into a pastry shop and start eating. Strudel
is the most popular dessert. Many layers of phyllo dough
surround a warm filling, usually Apfel (apple) or Topfen with
raisins. Topfen has been translated as sweet cream cheese
or sweet curd, but it does not exist outside of this part of
Europe. It should not be confused with cheesecake; Topfen is