Austrian Cooking > Here are a few regional examples of Austria' culinary treats

Burgenland - Hot dishes and cool wines
Generations of culinary skill have, for instance, gone into the art of roasting a suckling pig so that the crackling really crackles. Burgenland’s cuisine owes its richness and spiciness to the influence of neighbouring Hungary and Slovakia.

Carinthia
Austria’s southernmost province, Carinthia fosters a cuisine notable for its generally light, summery freshness. The delicious fragrance of herbs blends ideally with the taste of freshly-caught fish – pike perch and catfish from the two large lakes Wörther See and Millstätter See, or trout from the countless mountain streams.

A typical Carinthian speciality is the soup known as ”Saure Suppe”, which is traditionally served at country fairs and folklore events during the summer months. The original recipe for this soup calls for several different kinds of meat and many herbs, along with sweet and sour cream. Its unique flavour comes from fennel and aniseed, its characteristic yellow colour from saffron.

Hunting lends the Carinthian cuisine an added diversity: venison, chamois and many other kinds of game are traditionally served with fresh cranberries (picked on the higher pastures of the Carinthian mountains), chanterelles and ceps from the forests, and full-bodied red wine – and the pleasure of this culinary opulence enhanced by the inviting ambience of a typical Carinthian country inn.

Carinthia’s best-known dish is Kasnudel, however. The pasta dough is rolled flat, fashioned into fist-sized pockets and filled with a blend of various delicacies. The classical ”Kasnudel” contain curds and mint, but there are variants with other fillings – meat, or spinach, potatoes and mushrooms, or (in a sweet incarnation) prunes. Another type of Carinthian ”Nudel” is the ”Schlickkrapferl”, a smaller pastry pocket with a filling of offal and fresh herbs.

Lower Austria
The Wachau is noted for its outstanding wines and their apricots. You can taste the loving care put into growing the apricot in that superb local delicacy, the Wachau apricot dumpling: even those who would swear they don’t put any store by desserts can be induced to change their minds by the fluffy curds-based covering and the bitter-sweet juiciness of the fruit concealed inside.

Upper Austria
The lake district known as Salzkammergut is renowned for its fish– hardly surprisingly, since the region has no fewer than 76 crystal clear lakes nestling among the mountains.

Linz. The provincial capital, has a cake named after it "Linzer Torte", but Upper Austria is also famed for its ”Kaiserschmarrn” – actually Viennese in origin but probably brought to the region by the imperial court when Emperor Franz Joseph and his consort Princess Elisabeth spent their summers in the Salzkammergut resort of Bad Ischl.

Salzburg
With its innumerable alpine pastures, the province produces exquisite cheeses. You can buy these and other agricultural produce directly at the farms. The traditional recipes of the Salzburg countryside include home-cured pork, cranberry noodles and baked apple slices, best rounded off with a farm-distilled fruit brandy. The brook trout which live in Fuschlsee are a delicacy not to be missed on any account.

Styria
Its culinary specialities, which vary widely from region to region, include Styrian lamb, free range chicken, pumpkin and of course Styria’s ”black gold”, the famed pumpkin seed oil.

Don’t miss the chance to savour one of the region’s famous omelettes with the dark brown oil, ideally washed down with a glass of rosé Schilcher. For those with a sweet tooth, Styria’s renowned apples make the perfect ingredient for a traditional apple strudel.

Tyrol
What you will encounter wherever you go in Tirol, though, is the province’s fine tradition of dumpling making – in every shape, size and flavour. Typical examples are bacon dumplings and liver dumplings.

Vienna
The traditional Viennese coffee house is one of the hallmarks of the Austrian capital. Exploring the enticing world of Vienna’s renowned confectioneries is a voyage of discovery to boundless delights. Among innumerable traditional confectioners, perhaps the most celebrated is the one-time Imperial & Royal Confectioner Demel.

Vienna is the world’s only capital city which doubles as a wine producer. With 700 hectares of vineyards, the city’s wine makers produce mainly Veltliner, Riesling and Zweigelt, which can be savoured in the cosy atmosphere of a traditional ”Heuriger” wine tavern.