Recipe Souvlakia

There is practically no more delicious proof of how firmly the Austrian cuisine is rooted in the heart of Europe than one of the most typical of Viennese dishes: boiled veal, or Tafelspitz. Good-quality beef, a few vegetables, aromatic spices and plenty of water to cook in – these are the vital ingredients. The same ingredients, though, also come together when the French are creating their “pot-au-feu”, or the Italians their “bollito misto”. In the case of the latter, veal and chicken meat or tongue might be added, but then some small differences should remain despite us all being good Europeans together.

Ajdnek is a sort of cake or pogača. It is considered the best and the richest pastry typical in the Upper Savinjska Valley. Buckwheat flour dough and a filling made of walnuts, honey, vanilla sugar and cinnamon are a delicious match.

Alongside štruklji, Pehtranova Potica is the most typical Slovenian dessert. It is made with more than 80 different fillings. Potica is a characteristic festive dessert made from different kinds of dough. The most characteristic types of potica include tarragon, honey, walnut, poppy seed, crackling, chive, lovage and cottage cheese.

The Austrians are convinced that the word “Gugelhupf” origins in the Middle High German “gugele” (monk’s hood) and “hopf” (yeast). It might also come from the Alsace “Kouglhof”, though, a sweet dish which, according to legend, the Three Wise Men carried with them.