The Cuisine of Austria
During the hundreds of years of Austria's existence a unique tradition of Austrian Cuisine emerged. Its traditional recipes attract millions of tourists each year and is well known around the world. Austria's rich Cuisine derives from its history as a multi-national empire, where all kinds of different cultures contributed its very own nuances:
The Habsburg Empire reached 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. Within the last seven centuries, the cosmopolitan Habsburg rule extended to Switzerland, Alsace, Burgundy, Spain, Holland, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, all of which influencing Austria's Cuisine in its own way.
But not all of what nowadays can be enjoyed in Austria's restaurants and cafés came in peace. Many a recipe and ingredient had been washed ashore by Austria's melting pot of pan-european cooking by accident, coincidence or war. The Turkish invasion of Europe for example triggered Austria's café traditions on the sidelines, introducing the coffee bean to Viennese cooks. Furthermore, the Apfelstrudel is the Austrian version of something the Turks were concocting when they were not busy laying siege to Vienna. The Wiener Schnitzel probably came from northern Italy, while the delicious Palatschinken (crêpes) and the Gulasch origin from the Hungarian plains; the roasts and sausages derive from southern Germany, the pastries from Bohemia.
Besides the foreign influences every Austrian province is proud of their own dishes: Frittatensuppe (crêpe soup) comes from Styria, Speckknödel (bacon dumplings) from Tyrol; and Salzburg, Mozart’s home, contributes Salzburger Nockerln, a sweet soufflé made of egg whites.
Please find examples of the most famous recipes of Austrian dishes in the left hand menu, or click
here for main dishes
here for desserts
here for specialities
here for sweets
Please be aware that many other internet pages provide recipes of Austrian dishes as well.
Further information on Austria's cuisine and recipes may also be found on these pages:
(outside of www.austria.org)
Click here for Austria Tourist Information
Click here for Wikipedia
|
Austrian Cuisine 
