Learning to Cook in Austria

During the second quarter, Salzburg College, in addition to academic courses, offered a class on Austrian Cuisine. For €50, we had three sessions that covered an appetizer, main course, and dessert each and got an apron specific to the school. I took pictures during our second session where we made Rindsuppe (a beef stock soup though we used the leftover chicken pieces), Backhendl mit Kartoffelsalat (fried chicken with potato salad), and Linzertorte. Below are the recipes for each dish, courtesy of the instructor, Monika Liepold.

Rindsuppe

Ingredients

• 1kg (2lb 4oz) beef marrow bones
• 500g (1lb 2oz) beef
• 200g root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, celery)
• 1 large leek, parsley sprigs, celery leaves
• 1 onion, unpeeled
• salt
• 1tsp peppercorns
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove
• freshly grated nutmeg

Place the cut beef bones in boiling water and bring it to a short, hard boil, strain the water and just quickly rinse the bones with cold water. Transfer the bones into a large stockpot or saucepan, add cold water and bring to the boil. Add the meat and bring to the boil again. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.

Halve the onions, fry in a pan without fat until brown and add to the broth. Add the washed and chopped vegetables, the garlic, and the herbs. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for three hours.

Remove the meat and strain the stock, bring it to a boil once again and skim off any foam or fat. Season to taste with salt and nutmeg and garnish with chives.

Backhendl

Ingredients

• 1 chicken – quartered or jointed in 8 pieces
• salt
• plain flour
• 4 eggs
• bread crumbs
• oil for frying
• 1tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• lemon wedges

Remove any excess fat from the chicken pieces and trim off the wing tips. Rinse the pieces and pat thoroughly dry. Coat the chicken pieces in the flour, dip them in the egg mixture and coat in breadcrumbs.

Fry the chicken pieces, starting with the skin side up, until golden brown and cooked through. Carefully take out the pieces and drain on a paper towel. Chicken giblets can be fried as well.

Serve hot with lemon wedges and potato salad. Garnish with fried parsley-leaves.

Kartoffelsalat

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb 2oz) potatoes
• 2tbsp vinegar
• 1/4l (8fl oz) beef stock
• 4tbsp oil
• salt, pepper
• sugar
• 60g (2 oz) red onions, finely diced
• fresh chives, finely chopped

Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add salt and cook until tender. Drain and then cut them into 1/2 inch slices while warm.

Combine the vinegar, beef stock, oil, salt, pepper, a taste of sugar, and the minced onions in a bowl. Blend well and fold into the potatoes.

Serve while warm and garnish with chives.

Linzertorte

This cake, named after the Austrian city of Linz, is often said to the oldest cake in the world, dating back to at least 1653. If you are allergic to nuts, as one of my fellow-students was, don’t add the ground almonds.

Ingredients

• 150g (5 1/2oz) caster sugar
• 150g (5 1/2oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g (5 1/2oz) ground almonds
• a good pinch of ground cinnamon
• 150g (5 1/2oz) cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 egg, beaten
• 200g/7oz good quality raspberry jam
• 1/2tsp icing sugar, to decorate (optional)

Put the sugar, flour, almonds, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

Add the cubes of butter and rub them into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. It should feel quite moist.

Add the egg and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, then knead lightly into a ball. Weigh the dough and take a quarter away to use for the lattice topping. Roll the rest into a ball and turn it out on to a well-floured surface.

Flatten the ball with your hands, or a floured rolling-pin, until it is about 2.5cm/1in thick. Place the dough in the center of a 24cm/9 1/2in loose-based, fluted tart tin and press it with your fingers over the base until it is about halfway up the sides of the tin and the tin is evenly covered.

Spread the jam over the dough as evenly as possible.

Shape the reserved dough into a fat sausage and roll it out on a well-floured surface to make a rectangle 3mm thick. Cut the dough into 1.5cm/1/6in strips. Place the strips over the jam, first in one direction and then the other, to create a criss-cross pattern over the filling. Press the edges to seal, pinch off the excess pastry and smooth the joins down with your fingertips. Chill the tart in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Put the tart on a baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the almond pastry is a pale, golden brown. Cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, then slide it onto a serving platter or board.

Decorate with a light dusting of icing sugar and cut into wedges to serve.

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