The Viennese Cuisine Welcome to Viennese cuisine seasoned with the ingredients of the imperial-royal monarchy ennobled by the imperial court, enjoyed in traditional cosiness.... Because Vienna was the center of the Hapsburg Empire, whose reach encompassed 600 million Eastern and Southern Europeans, you can expect to find a spectrum of cuisines beyond Austrian specialties. Besides Wiener Schnitzel and Hungarian Goulash, you'll find dumplings from Bohemia, Turkish coffee and superb pastries and desserts. Vienna is also famous for ist coffeehouses and heurigen (wine cellars). The traditional meal is Tafelspitz (boiled beef - the national dish of Austria) and the world-renowned Sachertorte for dessert. Other Specialties: Tafelspitz (boiled beef), Lungenbraten (beef tenderloin stuffed with goose liver, served with cream sauce and dumplings), Raumschnitzel (creamed veal cutlet) and, of course, Wiener Schnitzel, Kernfleisch (stewed pork with horseradish), Zwiebelrostbraten (roast beef with onions), or one of the varieties of goulash. Did you know that Viennese cuisine is the only one in the world named after a city? This is all the more remarkable as almost all its dishes derive from other European countries. For more than 1000 years the Austrian monarchistic empire was widely extended in Europe and was mixed up with multipe different nationalities and cultures, focused in the empire`s capital and reflected in the Cuisine. But it took Viennese chefs to adapt the foreign recipes and make them uniquely Viennese - "good plain cooking", the way it is served in any restaurant in Vienna. Taste a Wiener Schnitzel, a tender piece of veal cutlet wrapped in a delicate coating of bread-crumbs. Or try Tafelspitz, boiled beef brisket or rump roast accompanied by home-fried potatoes, apple-horseradish sauce and chive sauce... Of course, Vienna is world-renowned for its pastries and desserts: take Kaiserschmarren (Emperor's Trifle) or a Strudel, filled with either apples or sweet cream cheese, or Gundel-Palatschinken (stuffed crepes with chocolate and nuts), or Germknodel (sweet dumplings with apricots or plums). Choose for yourself - imperial delights await you. Some Schnitzel Varieties Wiener Schnitzel the classic, a veal cutlet, simply breaded and sautéd. Superb. Zigeunerschnitzel any dish done Zigeuner ("gypsy") style implies a relatively spicy sauce of tomatoes and mildly hot peppers. Naturschnitzel an unbreaded schnitzel. Schnitzel Parisien-Art Parisian-style means, I believe, floured but not breaded. Jägerschnitzel hunter-style, implying a sauce of mushrooms. Rahmschnitzel with a cream sauce. Surschnitzel similar to Wiener Schnitzel, just another pork. usually found in Heurigen. Other Specialities Leberknödel Suppe Soup filled with big liver-dumplings. Gulasch Hungarian-influenced stew, usually highly spiced with paprika. Can be made of any meat. Sometimes has potatoes in it, but more often served with bread or some kind of dumpling. Wiener Backhendl (Backhuhn) Most Americans would be surprised to learn that the Viennese make fantastic fried chicken, and this is it. The average quality of Austrian restaurant food and service is remarkably high. It's hard to get a bad meal, especially if you stick to the specialties. A typical schnitzel is perfectly prepared, even in the most mundane chain restaurants along the highway. Bon appetit! with greetings from the Emperor "Kaiser" Franz Josef Salzburger Nockerl For two people 3 tbsp butter 3 eggs, separated 3 tbsp powdered sugar 1 tsp flour 2 tbsp milk Beat egg whites until very stiff, set aside. Beat butter, sugar and egg yolks until very creamy. Very gently fold the egg whites and flour into the egg mixture. Heat the milk to very hot and pour it into an ovenproof omelet pan. Drop the soufflé mixture in three large ‘blobs’ into the pan. Make the blobs high rather than wide and set them a little apart. Bake them at about 400 degrees until the tops are golden brown. The center should be light and creamy, the outside golden brown and puffed. Linzertorte 5 oz sugar 1 egg 5 oz flour ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 5 oz butter raspberry jam for filling 5 oz ground almonds 1 beaten egg for brushing the pastry On a pastry board mix together all dry ingredients. Cut the butter into small pieces and crumble it into the dry mixture until it becomes fine and crumbly. Add the egg and work the mixture into a smooth dough. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry into a springform pan and spread a good amount of raspberry jam on top of it. Roll the remaining dough with your hands into thin, even, rounded pastry strips (think "Slim Jim"). Arrange the strips in a criss-cross pattern over the top of the cake. Brush with beaten egg and bake until golden brown at about 350 degrees. Gugelhupf 3 ½ oz butter 4 tbsp milk 5 oz sugar grated rind of ½ a lemon 5 eggs, separated 1 tsp vanilla 10 oz flour ½ cup raisins, washed and dried 2 tsp baking powder Use butter or margarine to grease a bundt cake form and sprinkle flour over the greased form until it has a thin layer of flour all over. Shake off the excess flour. Beat egg whites until very stiff, set aside. Beat butter until very creamy, add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy, add eggs one by one and vanilla and lemon rind and beat mixture until it turns pale yellow and very creamy. Mix flour and baking powder and add 2/3 of the flour and all the milk by the spoonful to the mixture. Add the remaining flour, raisins and the egg whites by the spoonful and gently fold under the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Let the Gugelhupf cool in the pan for about 30 minutes and sprinkle it with powdered sugar after removing it from the pan. Cinnamon Stars 9 oz sugar ½ egg white 9 oz blanched ground almonds 3 ½ oz powdered sugar ¼ tsp cinnamon a little lemon juice 3 tbsp butter Sift together sugar and cinnamon. Add ground almonds and mix together. Make a little well in the center and add the water and about ½ an egg white. Knead until mixture forms a firm dough. Roll out on a very lightly floured pastry board and cut into stars with a pastry cutter. Bake at very low temperature (200 degrees) until golden brown. Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice to a thick consistency and spread over the stars. Let dry until set (or) let set until dry. <g> Chocolate Kisses 2 egg whites 5 oz blanched, ground almonds 2 ½ oz powdered sugar rice paper 3 oz softened chocolate Ground almost until fine, whip egg whites until very stiff, fold in half of the powdered sugar, whisk again until smooth. Fold in the remaining sugar and softened (not hot) chocolate and almonds. Drop in spoonfuls onto rounds of rice paperor baking paper, leaving a little room for the cookies to spread. Bake at a mild temperature (200 degrees) until cookies are set and dry. Viennese Apple Strudel Start with the strudel pastry: 8 oz plain flour 1 pinch salt 1 tsp vinegar 1/8 cup lukewarm water 1 tbsp oil In a bowl mix together flour, vinegar, oil and salt. Add enough warm water until the mixture sticks together and can be put onto a pastry board sprinkled with flour. With your hands knead the dough and add flour or water if necessary until the dough becomes silky smooth and keeps its shape. Put a little (1/2 tsp) oil into a warm bowl and spread it around until there is a thin film. Place the dough into the bowl and turn it over several times until it is covered with a thin film of oil, cover with clean cloth and let rest for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the apples: 1 pound golden delicious apples 2 or 3 tbsp melted butter/margarine ¾ cup raisins, rinsed and dried cinnamon 1 ½ cups breadcrumbs sugar Peel, core and thinly slices the apples. Put the breadcrumbs into a pan and roast them until slightly brown, set aside. Prepare a table cloth over a kitchen table and sprinkle with flour. Sprinkle a pastry board with flour and place the strudel dough onto it. Knead a few more minutes until all the oil is absorbed. With a rolling pin roll the dough out as thin as possible and then slide your hands with the palms down underneath the dough. Pull and stretch it from always from the middle, being careful not to tear the dough until it is paper thin. Place the dough onto the kitchen table and cut off the thick ends. Brush ¾ of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle the toasted breadcrumbs evenly over ¾ of the dough. Spread the apples over the breadcrumbs and sprinkle cinnamon, raisins and sugar over the apples. The amount of sugar and cinnamon depends on your personal taste. Fold over the 3 narrow sides of the strudel and roll the strudel up completely and place it onto a jelly roll pan. Brush the strudel one more time with some melted butter and bake it at 350 degrees until golden brown.

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