Tafelspitz stands for Plachutta beef

There's nothing more Viennese than the Tafelspitz.
So it's a must to have before you leave Vienna.

It is said that already in the 16th century beef was brought over to Vienna from Hungary and so became an important part of the Austrian Cuisine.

The story goes that good old Kaiser Franz Josef's habit was to eat very hasty and quick. Courts tradition in turn did not allow anyone to eat before or after the emperor has laid back his cutlery. Therefore his entourage often left the meal terribly hungry. In consequence they went to the Sacher, to get what they needed.
Famous Anna Sacher invented a dish, which was able to boil and simmer for ages without loosing quality. This is how the story goes about the creation of Tafelspitz.
Soon also Austrias emperor loved to have his daily beef, be it a part of the tip or the rump.

Tafelspitz is served with spinach, fried egg, potatoe mash and different sauces and gravy. 


Tradition has it that you eat the hearty soup served in a copper cauldron together with the Markscheibe on toasted dark bred.
Tafelspitz at its best!

Try it at Vienna's best place .... Plachutta, where this traditional dish is served in its unique way.
The oxes and calves are all  from the farmyard grown up in the juicy meadows of Lower Austria and Styria. You will definitely taste the difference!

You can opt for 3 different places to try out:

-  At vienna's city centre
wollzeile 38, 1010 Vienna
+43 1 512 15 77
wollzeile@plachutta.at

-  Near schloss schoenbrunn
Auhofstrasse 1, 1130 Vienna
+43 1 877 70 87
hietzing@plachutta.at

-  At vienna's vineyards
Heiligenstädterstrasse 179, 1190 Vienna
+43 1 370 41 25
nussdorf@plachutta.at

The yummy part is where rump and silverside join to form the bum!



Vienna - We know the colours that go

The greens make their way to

Vienna's "Stadtpark"

Still greyish Vineyards near Vienna

First pink Paeonia in the city discovered

Viennese people call it a "Pfingstrose" 

Golden Johann Strauss

is happy that the sun's out again

Purple lilac is a common plant these April-days

Viennese call it "Flieder"

Mediterranean blue for Vienna's statues

Where to find?

At the monkish influenced U-Bahn Station Stadtpark

Enjoy the colours of Vienna!

Let's cook ..... Wiener Schnitzel!

I think it's time to focus on food again.
What about cooking the favourite austrian dish? Some years ago I was teaching ladies from all over the world how to make a real good Schnitzel. Let me share with you now this delicious recipe!

This probably is the most traditional Austrian dish you can get.
The original Wiener Schnitzel is made from veal, but it can be made also from chicken, turkey or more popular in Vienna, from pork.
And tradition also has it, that it goes best with potatoe salad and a slice of lemon.


Wiener Schnitzel
 

• 1 kg Turkey breast
• 2-3 eggs
• 500g breadcrumbs
• 200g flour
• Salt
• Oil

Cut the turkey into slices, like you want the Schnitzel to be.
Put the flour in one bowl, the breadcrumbs in another and the mixed eggs in another.
Salt the flour.

Now take each slice of meat and bed it into the flour. After coating it put in the next bowl with the eggs, coat it again well and finally coat it with the breadcrumbs. Get rid of any loose breadcrumbs by pressing them down firmly.

After doing so with all the meat heat up the oil in a big pan. Pour in enough oil, so that the Schnitzel can „swim“ slightly.

Fry them at medium to high heat, very slowly and carefully, otherwise they will burn immediately.


Potatoe Salad
 

• 600g potatoes
• 250 ml beef stock
• 60g sliced spring onions or leek
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• Salt, pepper, mustard

Cook the potatoes, then peel them. Cover them with the beef stock immediately after slicing them – add onions—mix together.


It should result in a slightly creamy dressing.

Add oil and vinegar (apple vinegar preferred) and a dash of salt, pepper and a bit of english or Dijon mustard and pour over everything over the salad.

Vienna Easter Markets

Easter Markets are open again in Vienna. Two of the best known in Vienna can be found in the city centre ('Freyung Easter Market') and in front of Schoenbrunn Palace. They are not as big and not yet as popular as Christmas markets in Vienna, but certainly worth a visit. 

Freyung Market offers a variety of paschal and not so paschal products at more than 50 stands as well as the biggest egg-mountain in Europe (don't try to climb it!). It is open daily until 25th April from 10am to 8pm.

Schoenbrunn Market is at similar size with around 50 stalls selling the usual suspects, and also offering a nice program for kids (like producing easter rabbits from almond paste - marzipan) as well as for adults (from Jazz performances to Schubert's Missa in C in the lovely Schoenbrunn Chapel). Schoenbrunn Market is open daily until 25th April from 10am to 7pm. For further details check out this site.

Go there and enjoy Easter time in Vienna!

Easter 2011 in Vienna with Classical Music - Osterklang and Vienna Spring Festival

Easter week is probably one of the nicest times to visit Vienna (besides spring, summer, autumn and winter). As the New Year's Concert is long gone by now, it is time to dive into Viennas classical spring. There are (amogst many others) two events which you can enjoy these days - Osterklang in the Theater an der Wien from 15th to 25th April, and of course the Vienna Spring Festival, this year for the twentieth time, from 26th March to 17th May in the Musikverein.

Osterklang will host international stars like Magdalena Kožená, Patricia Petibon and Annette Dasch as well as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, who will perform the opening. Further highlights will be Antonín Dvořák's Biblical Songs, Josef Suk's Asrael, Franz Liszt's Legend of Saint Elisabeth and the opening opera Dialogues des Carmélites of Francis Poulenc.

The Vienna Spring Festival will be the home for around 70 concerts with one clear highlight: the newly restored organ. It was the star at the opening concert, and you will have alltogether 8 opportunities to listen to the now fourth organ in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

More information here, on Osterklang and the Vienna Spring Festival