Food in Lower Austria
The contrast between the various geographic regions of Lower Austria is reflected in the different types of food peculiar to each of them. In the area bordering on Bohemia and Moravia the names of many of the local specialities betray that they came, originally, from just across the frontier. This is true, for example, of Skubanki (fried potato dumplings rolled in poppy seeds, dredged with powdered sugar and covered with melted butter) and of Liwanzen (small yeast pancakes fried in a special pan and sandwiched together in pairs with a thick plum purée). The latter are not to he confused with Dalken, which are yeast doughnuts.
In the rugged region known as the Waldviertel (forest region) in the north-western part of the province of Lower Austria, potatoes and poppies are two of the main crops. Carp - which is eaten traditionally on Christmas Eve - are bred there in large ponds. The Waldviertel has the biggest carp pond industry of any region. Carp breeding is closely associated with the convents and monasteries; in the Middle Ages the monks adopted this fish for Lenten fare. They stored the live carp in tanks and ponds. Later on fish-farmers began to breed the fish in ponds.
One of the uses for poppy seeds (Mohnsamen) is to sprinkle them on cakes and bread before they are baked (Mohnstriezel, for example, made of yeast-dough baked in the form of a plait). For cake fillings, the seeds first have to be ground. This used to he done by hand, using a wooden pestle and mortar, and later on in a special poppy seed mill. The seeds are also used in main dishes like Mohnnudeln (small cylindrical noodles made from potato dough, served rolled in poppy seeds and melted butter and dredged with powdered sugar) and Mohnknödel (poppy seed dumplings). Poppy seed strudel and poppy seed crescents are among the standard wares of any bakery and cake shop. Strudel with a poppy seed or a walnut filling are traditional Christmas fare in Austria. In the old days most of the poppy seeds required for the Austrian market used to come from the Waldviertel.
Potatoes are the most common garnish for Stosuppe - "sto" soup ("sto" is derived from a Slavic word meaning "to curdle").The implied tart flavour is rendered by the sour milk required by the recipe. This soup used to be served for breakfast in the days when the early morning meal consisted of soup and mash and each person spooned the food out of a common howl. Breakfast as we know it today (a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa with a slice of bread or a roll) is a fairly recent innovation, and in many rural districts it only became customary after World War II. Since a conscious effort is being made to revive traditional fare and regional specialities, we may occasionally find "sto" soup and similar dishes on the menu.
Plums are used in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are cooked slowly to a thick pulp (Powidl) and used for cake or pastry fillings, as in the famous Powidltatschkerl (pouches of dough filled with the purée). Whole plums are used for plum dumplings. Zwetschkenfleck is a plum cake made with yeast batter and baked in a shallow tin; halved plums are arranged close together in rows on top of the batter before baking. Plum dumplings are especially tasty if made with the kind of potato dough generally used in the Waldviertel.
The Wachau valley, scenically the most beautiful stretch of the River Danube, has a mild climate and the apricots grown there are excellent. Especially fine apricot dumplings are made with a dough consisting mainly of curd cheese. A brandy distilled from apricots is a Wachau speciality which can be bought all over Austria.
Weinkoch (otherwise known as wine pudding, "thirsty farmer" or "thirsty nun"), a soufflé in which wine is one of the main ingredients, is not exclusively a speciality of the Weinviertel (the wine region of Lower Austria). The same applies to other types of dessert containing wine, such as "besoffener Kapuziner" ("drunken Capuchin monk"), a cake drenched with mulled wine; in the Burgenland this pudding is known as "besoffene Liesl" ("drunken Lizzie").
In former days meat was not served very frequently. Many farmers slaughtered only one or two pigs in the course of a year which meant that the meat had to keep for a longtime. To preserve it, the pork was either pickled in brine or smoked. Nowadays the situation is quite different. Butchers, supermarkets and deep-frozen stocks ensure a constant supply of fresh meat, and now the only purpose of the pickling or smoking process is to provide a wider range of flavours. Pickled meat is, in fact, regarded as a delicacy these days. Surhaxen (pickled pigs’ trotters) are a speciality of the Mostviertel (the cider-producing region of the province): fresh pigs’ trotters are left to soak in brine for four to six weeks, at the end of which they are rubbed with garlic, roasted in the oven and served with a warm white cabbage salad.
In the area where the Waldviertel borders on the northern part of the Mostviertel the Saumeisen (finely chopped, well seasoned pork shaped into balls, enveloped in a piece of pig’s caul and left to stand for a few days before being smoked) are especially good. They may either be simmered in water until tender, or fried. Saumeisen are served with Sauerkraut or Grubenkraut, white cabbage which has been preserved whole in a deep trench in the soil lined with larchwood.
