Food in Tyrol
In the Tyrol a special soup, called Flecksuppe, was one traditionally eaten in the morning; it was particularly appreciated the day after the kermis. "Fleck" is an abbreviation of "Kuttelfleck" (tripe). Although it is not to everybody’s taste, many people regard it as a special delicacy.
The cooking method used in the preparation of quite a number of Tyrolean dishes (including liver) is sautéing. For Tiroler Grostl (TyroIean-style sautéed hash), a regional speciality, a mixture of cooked meat and boiled potatoes, both cut in thin slices, is sautéed slowly until slightly crusty on the underside. Variations on this dish are Bauerngröstl (sautéed farmers’ hash) made with beef and flavoured with maloram, and Herrengröstl (otherwise known as Innsbrucker Gröstl, another sautéed hash which is made with a lot of veal and only a small amount of potato.
In the old days, buckwheat played an important role in the popular everyday diet. Buckwheat mashes are traditional dishes in the Tyrol. Just as they are in Carinthia and Styria. The Tyrolean name for buckwheat is "Schwarzplenten". The evening meal often used to consist of Schwarzplententupfer (buckwheat mash) or Schwarzplentenschmarren.
Schwarzplentenschmarren: very thin pancakes are made from a baiter consisting of 2 cups of buckwheat flour, ¾ litre of milk. 2 eggs, salt and chopped chives; when cooked, the pancakes are torn into smallish pieces and served with a green salad. Schwarzplentenschmarren is also suitable as a side dish for goulash or sausages.
Nocken (small dumplings) are another Tyrolean speciality. The dough is mixed with berries, cherries or apple cut into small pieces and shaped with a small ladle known as a "Gazl". The GazI, made in Italy, used to be sold in the Tyrol by Italian pedlars. This gave rise to the affectionate, if slightly contemptuous epithet "Gazlmacher" (GazI-makers) to mean Italians. Both the spelling and the meaning of the ubiquitous "Katzelmacher" ("Makers of little cats") are based on a misapprehension. According to the type of fruit mixed with the dough, the dumplings are known variously as Schwarzbeernocken (blueberry dumplings), Grangennocken (mountain cranberry dumplings); two other popular types of small fruit dumpling are Kerschnocken (cherry dumplings) and Apfelnocken (apple dumplings).
In the old days Tyroleans used to set great store by some of the things that nature provided. They would not only gather wild berries - for which they had their own idiomatic names - hut also the branches of certain trees and the roots of specific plants (gentian roots, for example) which were used, not least of all, for the preparation of traditional folk remedies.
Turkish corn, as maize is commonly known in the Tyrol, was originally brought there by way of Venice or from other parts of Italy via South Tyrol. Long since adopted as a standard ingredient of the regional diet, we come across it in the form of Türkenriebler (a dish similar to Schmarren), for instance, which is made with cornmeal, water, apples, clarified butter, sugar and jam. If, instead of cornmeal, buckwheat meal is used, the dish is called "Schwarzplentener Riebl".
The word "Türtl" is a diminutive of "Torte" which, apart from cake, can also mean tart or flan. A popular saying in the region is "Ohne Türtl hat man nicht gegessen" ("No meal is complete without tartlets"). Türtl may be sweet, savoury or green, depending on the filling. The firm, smooth Türtl dough, consisting of equal quantities of wheat and rye flour mixed with milk, eggs and butter, is patted into a ball and then cut into cubes. Each cube is rolled out thinly into a flat round the size of a plate. The filling - berries mixed with ground carob, or cabbage, spinach or mashed potato, etc. - is placed on one of the rounds and covered with a second layer of dough. The rim is neatened with a pastry wheel and the two edges pressed firmly together. The Türtl are then deep-fried in hot melted lard.
In the old days Türtl were eaten regularly every week on Wednesdays and Fridays and on Saturdays, usually with the evening meal. Many people preferred them cold on Sunday morning with a bowl of thick soup, a cup of coffee or a purée. Once a speciality of the region around Lienz, "Stock-Türtschlan" was quite similar to the Blattlstock (see below) made especially at Christmas time in East Tyrol.
Blattlstock: thin flat rounds of yeast dough (about the diameter of an average-sized cake) are baited and sandwiched together with alternating layers of filling spread about half an inch deep, ending with a layer of dough. The filling is made with minced stewed dried pears, ground poppy seeds, sugar, grated lemon peel, cinnamon and cloves, mixed together with the liquid in which the dried pears were cooked. The surface of each layer of dough is painted with a line melted butter; enough melted butter is poured over the final layer of dough for it to run over the edge and coat the sides.
Starting on December 26th, St. Stephen’s Day - which is why the cake is also referred to as "Stephansstock" - a piece is eaten at the end of every meal. Children are all given a thin slice on January 1st so that they can make their wishes for the New Year.
