Food and Drink

[Richard Ruck]

I don't know if anyone feels like joining in with this, but I thought it might be a good idea to have somewhere to post recommendations - things to eat and drink, good restaurants, bars, pubs, etc. Subjects dear to many of our hearts, I'm sure.

I'll kick off with something which won't cost anyone a penny - wild garlic or 'ramsons'.

This stuff, for those who have never encountered it, grows wild all over the country, and we're right in the middle of its season at the moment.

The whole thing can be eaten, including the flowers. The leaves can be quite garlicky, and are excellent in pasta, soups, salads, stuffings, etc.

Some of you might remember carpets of this growing down the lag at C.H.

Here's a picture to make sure you pick the right stuff (not that it's easily mistaken for anything else) :



Happy hunting!

[Hendrik]

it IS very easily mistaken for another plant which (here at least) grows a few weeks before it, which is lethal. the name escapes me
bärlauch/wild garlic is very tasty, especially if incorporated into butter, cheese etc.
if you don't trust yourself to pick the right one, it is inexpensive in the supermarkets (here, anyway).

[Richard Ruck]

Just crush a leaf and sniff it - no mistaking the aroma.

Wild garlic in British supermarkets? That'll be the day! They prefer to fly stuff in from Kenya and Peru!

I'm glad (but not surprised) to hear that our friends in Europe are more enlightened.

[Great Plum]

Going down the lag this time of year and the place really used to stink of the stuff - I've never tried it though... Does it have a 'garlic' bulb which can be eaten too then?

[Richard Ruck]

It has a root rather than a bulb, I think.

I just pick the leaves and flowers, and let the roots stay where they are to carry on growing.

By the way, I forgot to mention that it can be used to make a nice pesto, or chuck some in a steak sandwich.

[J.R.]

Used to come back from the CCF assualt course in the lag STINKING of the stuff !

Quite partial to garlic now, though.

[FrogBoxed]

Wild garlic always reminds me of charming afternoons minnow-hunting in a river under beech trees with my beloved Grandma and various dogs—happy days, summer's almost here!

Never eaten it though...

[Hendrik]

good point, the smell test.
yes, i'd forgotten about the pesto. heavenly.
it grows in abundance all over these parts but i still haven't smelled anything as strong as in the damp copse uphill past the house by doctor's lake.

had steak yesterday with a really good cheese sauce:
fry some mushrooms a bit, add a pot of sour cream, stir in lots of any cheese(s) that you need to use up (we had London Pride Best Bitter Cheddar), add lots of black pepper.
any combination of the following are also good for deepening the flavour: wild garlic, garlic, parsley, thyme, chilli powder, fried or grilled paprika, or your imagination!

[Richard Ruck]

Any local specialities that people visiting Austria should look out for?

I've only been once (for a meeting) and was treated to the obligatory schnitzel.....

[Hendrik]

A good schnitzel is pretty damn good.

Anything pork related I have found to be prepared extremely well, I would say that they are even better than the Germans in this respect.
You get some reasonable gulasches (sp?) here owing to proximity to Hungary. Difference being that in poor eastern Europe it is low-protein peasant food, in much richer Austria it is usually 50% pork or beef.
The dried/smoked/cured meats here are the best I have ever tasted. Any one of them could be a favourite really.
Bärlauch (wild garlic) products. In their hundreds.
The beer here is very good, though like most countries is lacking in variety when compared to the UK. But like I said, it is good.
Zirben Schnapps - a type of schnapps made from a particular type of pine cone which can only be found in some few areas. Incredibly good but can be pricey owing to extreme rarity of said pine cones.
Vollnuss Schnapps - made from whole walnuts. As black as Guinness and with a sweetish and very deep flavour.
Any other type of schnapps - the stuff from the shops is OK, the stuff made and sold by individual farmers is heaven. And I don't even like spirits!
Milka - Milka now do more flavours of chocolate than I thought possible, about 20-30ish at the moment and going up.
Dumplings - pretty much as stodgey as ours, but much more flavour to them.
Wine. Surprisingly. After the chemical-adding scandals in the 70's, they had to make a real effort to come back and prove themselves. Which they have.

[englishangel]

Are you working for the Austrian Gastronomic Tourist Board by any chance Hendrik?

My mouth is watering here.

[Richard Ruck]

The walnut schnapps sounds lke it's worth a try, but then schnapps in general is a pretty wonderful thing.

[Great Plum]

Hmmm schnapps... drools and remembers back to Germn study visit...

[Hendrik]

I do currently work for the Austrian government as it happens! But the Education Ministry, not the tourism one!

Well, I was thinking about importing some bottles of this schnapps. I went to a farmers house for a 'tasting' of a fraction of his variety (won't lie, I was plastered after a few hours). He has every different flavour under the sun, and the best of the few that I've tried from various people.

Now, if any of you are interested, he does: blackberry, rasberry, strawberry, apple, pear, apple and pear, pine cone, whole walnut, walnut kernel, whiskey, and about 20 others which I can't recall.
The best bit is the price, 10 Euros for a one litre bottle! He also does half litres at about 7 Euros
10 Euros is never more than about 7 quid. You can't buy Tesco Value vodka for that price!
The problem is that I can't carry much of the stuff back on the plane due to the weight limit, and the shipping would cost an awful lot so it would be best if we club together and buy in bulk. This would be legal tax-free (I believe) as it would be for our personal consumption, so long as we were a cooperative and not for profit. If you chose to then sell on what you had ordered, I couldn't stop you...

Anyone interested? Ask around, reply here but PM me too please.

[Great Plum]

Of course I'm interested Hendrik *hic*