Austrian Cuisine

Unlike the French cuisine the Austrians cuisine does not use much cheese. However like the French cuisine it also consists of primarily meats of all kinds but there is also a large variety of soups and vegetarian dishes. Most of the names of the Austrian dishes were in German and I found it very difficult to remember these high sounding names. Austrian cuisine is composed of influences from throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. During its hay days the Habsburg Empire stretched from the borders of Imperial Russia to the Adriatic and consisted of more than a dozen nationalities with over 51 million people speaking sixteen different languages. From 16th century onwards, the cosmopolitan Habsburg rule extended over Switzerland, Alsace, Burgundy, Spain, Holland, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. All of the above have influenced Austria's cuisine in their own way. Austrian cuisine today therefore has influences from Italy, Hungary, Bohemia, Germany and the Balkans. Austrians in general love to enrich clear soups with all sorts of solid ingredients, some of which differ by region. While cut carrots, parsnips, turnips, leeks and celeriac make for a good broth, it is the extras that count: Semolina balls, liver dumplings, bacon dumplings, strips of pancake, soup pearls, and egg puffs are the most popular add-on

. The soups were delicious and one could enjoy them as they were closer to our taste.One could find a lot of Turkish eating joints also through out Vienna. Apart from the foreign influences on Austrian cuisine, every Austrian features their own local dishes: Frittatensuppe (crêpe soup) comes from Syria, Speckknödel (bacon dumplings) from Tyrol; and Salzburg, Mozart’s home, has contributed the so-called Salzburger Nockerln, a sweet soufflé made from eggs. Austrian cakes and pastries are a well-known feature of its cuisine. Perhaps the most famous is the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot jam filling, traditionally eaten with whipped cream.