GOURMET TRAVELLER alpine Goats roam the pastures, mountainaura streams whisper by and wild flowers flavour the local schnapps. Vorarlberg is an Austrian idyll steeped in tradition, says Rosemary Barron PHOTOGRAPHY by Gary Latham

Above: the serene landscape of Bregenzerwald. Opposite: local horn players keep up an Austrian musical tradition 64 food & travel food & travel 65 GOURMET TRAVELLER vorarlberg

Left to right: cheese producer Brigitte Gmeiner; pretty cornflowers grow at Metzler’s dairy farm; taking a stroll on the promenade at . Opposite, clockwise from top left: traditional horn player; views after taking the cable car; village of ; looking towards from the stunning Bregenzerwald

orarlberg is dramatic, in every sense of the word. To reach look out for Yellow Gentian, used in a favourite local schnapps. this small province of from the country’s capital, Nearby, in the picture-postcard Bizau valley, chef Antonia V Vienna, a traveller needs to pass over or under the Alps. Moosbrugger tells me how she discovered her destiny. ‘I always From neighbouring Switzerland and , the simplest route is loved to cook but the moment I heard a woman speak on cooking across Lake Constance (Bodensee), just like the one taken by the with herbs, I knew what I really wanted to do.’ ancient Alemanni (German-speaking) tribes who first settled here. Antonia’s kitchen, in the family hotel, Schwanen, is steps away Over the centuries, a magnificent landscape of tiny mountain fields from flower-filled meadows and a stroll from pine-forest funghi and vibrant meadowland has been shaped and nurtured by dairy and herb-covered slopes. Wild garlic, apple-scented geranium, farmers, and the fertile Rhine delta filled with lovely fruit orchards and chamomile, linden and fennel are just a few of the wild and garden productive vegetable gardens. herbs you can taste in her dishes of lamb, mountain cheeses, and A simple and pleasurable way to orientate yourself here is to take Lake Constance fish. ‘The animals are good to us, we must be a cable car up into the mountains. From , less than an good to them,’ she says, when I comment on the fine flavour of the hour’s drive south-east from Bregenz, the province’s capital, there beef served with a nettle purée. are magnificent views across Lake Constance to the Swiss Alps. Later, Antonia uses the same skill in preparing a feast of game. From the cable car, a stroll along well-marked paths will take you For the hunters and cooks of Bregenzerwald (wald, meaning forest), across glaciated rocks past clumps of alpine herbs and flowers; a feast means the enjoyment of all parts of the animal, not just those we usually consider the ‘best parts’. It can also mean the most Travel information sought-after game of all, the chamois. A shy creature, able to meld into a background of craggy rocks, the chamois is a hunter’s joy. Currency in Austria is the euro and time is one hour ahead of GMT. Our feast, in a lovely old barn high in the mountains, begins with a Vorarlberg is the westernmost of the country’s nine provinces and carpaccio alongside thinly sliced wild mushrooms and tiny marinated shares its borders with Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Weather ones. Then comes a rich game consommé flavoured with roasted in May is warm with average highs of 19˚C and average lows of 9˚C. malt leftover from brewing a local beer, followed by course after course of wild deer, each cut having a distinct preparation. In the far Getting there distance, we can see the sun setting slowly over Lake Constance, Ryanair flies from Stansted to Memmingen, Germany. ryanair.com as the breathtakingly beautiful landscape becomes safe once again EasyJet flies from Gatwick to Innsbruck, Austria. easyjet.com for the animals that call it home. This terrain isn’t yet easy to farm – for centuries, farmers have Resources practised a three-stage transhumance. In spring, once the snow Vorarlberg Tourism is the official tourist board for the province and has melted, cattle graze on the valley pastures. As the temperature has useful information for planning your trip. vorarlberg.travel rises, they are moved to meadowland halfway up the mountain, Austrian National Tourist Office offers practical advice and ideas then again to the higher pastures for summer. In autumn, they return for exploring the country. austria.info to the valley, and the barn. These environments, with their diverse and unspoilt flora, provide the healthiest diet possible for the Further reading livestock, resulting in aromatic milk and a fine PDO cheese, Across the Eastern Alps: E5 from Lake Constance to Verona Vorarlberger Bergkäse. PDO sibling Vorarlberger Alpkäse is made by Gillian Price (Cicerone, £12). Use this walking guide to tackle the from milk produced only in alpine meadows. whole trek, or just the lake and scenic parts of Vorarlberg. Brigitte and Thomas Gmeiner know the names of each of their handsome Friesland sheep. As we approach them, the curious CaRBON COUNTING animals stop grazing and come over to inspect us. ‘In winter, they’re Emmissions can be offset at climatecare.org, cost for this trip is £1.56. mostly kept inside because of the climate, but

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‘On higher moor, at about 750m, you’ll find plants thought to have originated over 2,000 years ago, a moss that replicates the work of a sponge (fun to walk on barefoot), and a tiny plant that eats flies, because it can’t get its food from the ground’

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Left to right: venison carpaccio; farmers’ market bangers; schnapps maker Harald Schobel; apricot crumble at Schulhus, Krumbach. Opposite, clockwise from top left: fishing on the lake with Franz Blum; Harald’s chewy dried fruits; Gabi Strahammer, Schulhus; her strawberries and cream; Bregenz; local fruit

‘Having by now become accustomed to eating meat that tastes clear and clean, ‘like it used to’, I’m not prepared for the delicious speck that Gabi has for us. Later, when taken to the much-appreciated pig’s former home, I’m not at all surprised to find the well-tended farm’

Where to eat they have a pen, too,’ Brigitte explains. Nothing is wasted: their wool Prices are for three courses with a half-carafe of wine. is made into all sorts of artefacts, some useful, some decorative, and soaps and lotions are made from the milk-whey. In the spirit of Fränzle’s Bistro Friendly, family-owned restaurant serving fish caught the area (and with a little help from the government), the nearby that day in the lake by fisherman Franz Blum. Try the fried felchen supermarket stocks these cheeses as well as other local produce. (whitefish) fillets and the smoked trout with horseradish sauce. £20. Towards the north-east of Bregenzerwald, glacial moraines Schanz 40a, Fussach, 00 43 664 911 04 62, fraenzles.at (ridges of small stones) have created an ecologically rich area of Pleifers Engel Chef-owner Klaus Pleifer sources quality ingredients moorland where an ancient past feels real and close. Meltwater locally and uses them to good effect. Try the imaginative salads and flowing into the moraine contains very few salts and the stones dishes made with the organic turkey from Flatz store nearby. £23. slowly become covered in layers of acidic peat. On a summertime Landstrasse 1, Hard, 00 43 5574 20 768, pleifersengel.at walk, you’ll find a wonderful variety of flora: orchids (farmers are Mangold Owners Michael and Andrea Schwarzenbacher serve dishes allowed to mow moorland fields only in autumn, so that orchids can that complement their elegant restaurant and plant-filled terrace. Try the reproduce), meadowsweet, wild cranberry, elder, and purple moor kalbsleber mit salbei (calves’ liver with sage) and bollito misto (made with grass, or ‘pipe cleaner’, named for its use in the old days. On higher a ‘backside cut’ of beef from an alpine cow). There’s a good selection moor, at about 750m, you’ll find plants thought to have originated of Austrian wines to try too. £33. Pfänderstrasse 3, , 00 43 over 2,000 years ago, a moss that replicates the work of a sponge 5574 42431, restaurant-mangold.at (fun to walk on barefoot), and a tiny plant that eats flies, because it Neubeck Fish of the day here is from the nearby lake, and there’s can’t get its food from the ground. Walks are signposted, and a well-sourced menu and choice of wines. The restaurant is located Krumbach is nearby, where chef Gabi Strahammer uses moor centrally, and has a welcoming atmosphere. £29. Anton-Schneider- plants to create enticing flavours in her restaurant, Schulhus. Strasse 5, Bregenz, 00 43 5574 43609, neubeck.at Having by now become accustomed to eating meat that tastes Restaurant Schulhus Chef Gabi Strahammer uses moorland and clear and clean, ‘like it used to’, I’m not prepared for the delicious homegrown herbs in her innovative cuisine. A fine speck (ham) is from speck that Gabi has for us. Later, when taken to the much- her family’s Duroc pigs, and refreshing fruit juices from nearby organic appreciated pig’s former home, I’m not at all surprised to see her orchards. £29. Glatzegg 58, Krumbach, 00 43 5513 8389, schulhus.at father’s well-tended farm, nor that their Duroc pigs show a friendly Schlosskaffee Chocolate heaven in a stylish café with a interest in me. Gabi follows the speck with fresh noodles coloured large and attractive terrace. Owners Gunther and Petra Fenkart use fine green with very finely chopped home-grown lovage (leibstöckel, local products such as sig (see food glossary), pear schnapps and kirsch literally ‘love-stick’). Lake Constance trout is flavoured with basil, and in their chocolates, cakes and ice creams. Enjoy light meals, sparkling veal dressed with tiny, wild chanterelles from the woods close by. wines, and take a peek at chocolates being made. Schlossplatz 10, A local cider instantly refreshes after a walk on the moors – and so Hohenems, 00 43 5576 72356, schokoladengenuss.at too does a juice made with wild fruits and meadowsweet.

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‘In their season, perfumed Conference pears, Elstar apples, strawberries, plums, and apricots all find their way into Harald's slicing machine, and are dried into chewy explosions of flavour’

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‘The same sense of old tradition, new ways of doing things, can be seen everywhere. At the Metzler dairy farm in Egg, the energy generated from stored hay provides all the farm’s heating and hot water requirements’

Where to stay Vorarlberg’s heritage includes its magnificent wooden buildings Biohotel Schwanen Bizau Modern hotel combined with warm that, during the last century, came to be seen as old-fashioned. hospitality from the Moosbrugger family. Chef Antonia Moosbrugger Twenty-five years ago, the first family homes were built of wood in sources from ‘bio’ suppliers. Try the sauna designed by architect a new, eco-friendly and stylish way. Krumbach, where you can see Hermann Kaufmann. Doubles from £160, half-board. Kirchdorf 77, many of these architect-designed houses, even has a series of bus Bizau, 00 43 5514 2133, schwanen.at stops to make any local council envious. Architects from Belgium Deuring Schlössle Perched above Bregenz’s old town overlooking to Japan were asked to design one that paid tribute to the region’s Lake Constance, this gourmet destination features fine dining and fine landscape and tradition of craftsmanship. Never has public views to match. Doubles from £160. Ehre-Guta-Platz 4, Bregenz, transport been so appealing. 00 43 5574 47800, deuring-schloessle.at In her cookery school nearby, Karin Kaufmann looks to the past Gasthof Hirschen Schwarzenberg An ideal setting for some very for flavours and inspiration. ‘Everybody knows this dish,’ she tells traditional dishes, including käsknöpfle (cheese dumplings, made to me, referring to gebackene erbsen (‘fried peas’), ‘but nobody knows share), home-smoked beef with chicory, and pancakes with local jam the technique.’ In fact, the peas are really tiny pieces of fried flour and cream. The hotel itself has homely rooms with wood panelling and dough, and require a special utensil, a metal pan with holes in the stylish bathrooms. Doubles from £130. Hof 14, Schwarzenberg, bottom. Holding this pan over hot sunflower oil while you shake 00 43 5512 2944, hirschenschwarzenberg.at through the moist dough is risky, so Karin has had a new utensil Hotel Gasthof Krone Elegant hotel in a beautifully restored building. made, copying the old one, but with a long handle. Helene and Dietmar Nussbaumer-Natter – chef and manager respectively, The same sense of old tradition, new ways of doing things, can – are third-generation family owners of this fine example of local be seen everywhere. In an innovative system at the Metzler dairy architecture. The restaurant serves dishes made with locally sourced farm in Egg, the energy generated from stored hay provides all the ingredients and there is a seasonal menu. Doubles from £147. Am Platz farm’s heating and hot water requirements. The hay then becomes 185, , 00 43 5513 6201, krone-hittisau.at fodder for the cows and goats. Further to the west in Höchst, Harald Hotel Schwärzler Comfortable and quiet, a pleasant 12-minute walk Schobel has used his engineering skills to design a system for from the lakeside promenade. A generous breakfast buffet includes slicing and drying fruits from the pretty orchards surrounding his locally produced jams, butter and breads. Keep in shape in the wellness family home. In their season, perfumed Conference pears, Elstar area with sauna and massages upon request. Doubles from £114. apples, strawberries, plums, and apricots all find their way into his Landstrasse 9, Bregenz, 00 43 5574 4990, schwaerzler.s-hotels.com slicing machine, and are dried into chewy explosions of flavour. ‘Drying fruits is an old family tradition,’ he explains, ‘but in the past, with only a home-heating system, it was a hit-and-miss affair. Now Clockwise from top left: the authentic facade of Gasthof Adler I build special boxes so I can heat them slowly and retain the in Schwarzenberg village; walking around lovely Bizau; creatively presented venison shoulder; a morning exploring Schwarzenberg nutrients and flavours.’ Vorarlberg, unlike the rest of the country, produces very little wine, but everyone is allowed to make 100 litres of schnapps a year. Like many locals, Harald’s father used to distill for fun, making schnapps from homegrown Saubirne pears. Harald has extended the orchard, and is now one of the few commercial distillers to continue this traditional flavour. Riebel, made from roasted corn, is another old taste finding favour again. ‘I’m interested in things that get lost,’ Dr Richard Dietrich tells me, as we admire his vary-coloured corn in , in a protected area of small huts and allotments criss-crossed with cycle paths. ‘My father kept two cows, hay and a few pigs, and had an orchard for fruit and cider-making – a very typical set-up for this area. He used black peat for fuel and red peat for fertiliser and, like everyone else, grew corn.’ Corn arrived in Vorarlberg in the 17th-century, and farmers came to develop a

70 food & travel Clockwise from top left: lady in traditional dress; breathing in the fresh air; a lakeside café; knocking back a pear schnapps; where the fruit grows; flickers of flowers; salad at Biohotel Schwanen in Bizau

food & travel 71 Clockwise from top left: Angelika Kauffmann Museum, Schwarzenberg; fisherman Franz Blum enjoys his job; corn stored in the rafters for making GOURMET TRAVELLER XXXXXX riebel; Dr Dietrich inspects his crop

Where to shop Dietrich Dr Richard Dietrich makes the riebel (see food glossary), juices, schnapps and preserves that he sells in his shop. Enquire about tastings and guided walks through his gardens. Lerchenauerstrasse 45, Lauterach, 00 43 5574 63929, dietrich-kostbarkeiten.at Flatz An attractive and well-stocked shop selling quality local products, including Schobel schnapps and Fenkart chocolates, fresh vegetables and some prepared dishes. An ideal stop if you are planning a picnic. Landstrasse 30, Hard, 00 43 5574 65974, naturprodukte-flatz.at Gmeiner Brigitte and Thomas Gmeiner produce sheep’s-milk yoghurt and cheese in their alpine dairy next door to their farm. Try creamy schafbergkäse, fresh schaffrischkäse stored with organic herbs, and schafgrieche, a five-day-old cheese. Kirchdorf 60, Bizau, 00 43 5514 2509, schafmilchbetrieb.com Käsladen Maria Vögel An Aladdin’s cave of local cheeses and other products, in a beautiful village. Hof 18, Schwarzenberg, 00 43 5512 2960 Metzler Cheeses to try include the wälderkäsle, a regional speciality made from goat’s and cow’s milk, and there are natural cosmetics made from whey and local herbs. Book on a tour (run for groups of two or more) to experience life on the farm, or take part in cheesemaking workshops. Bruggan 1025, Egg, 00 43 5512 3044, molkeprodukte.com

varietal well suited to their climate. ‘Roasting whole-kernel corn into shallow Austrian waters, where he pulls in the night’s catch and before grinding, fine or coarse, makes a crunchier mash than re-sets the nets. He then moves further out onto the lake. polenta,’ says Dr Dietrich, ‘and potassium- and magnesium-rich Once through the sheltered delta wetland – full of moorhens, riebel has always been a farmer’s preferred breakfast; sometimes, swans and herons – the lake can be windy and rough even in when times have been hard, his only food all day. Now we like summer. With no motor, Franz’s boat requires skill and strength to riebel with compotes of elderflowers or wild berries, and in cakes navigate. ‘But every day I can watch the sun rise over the snow- with fruit such as pears.’ capped alps, and the sun set across the lake,’ declares a happy A short distance east of Lauterach, Lake Constance fisherman Franz, ‘and today we have an exceptional catch.’ Franz Blum has one of the loveliest workplaces in the world. ‘I was Later, we eat some of the catch for lunch on the wooden deck 15 years old when I took over the family fishing business from my of Fränzle’s Bistro beside a lake inlet. Lightly fried felchen fillets, father,’ he tells me, as he cleans and guts his fish for market later potatoes and a garden-greens salad follow smoked trout. ‘I leave that morning. His day is long and hard. Before sunrise, he takes his it two days in brine then smoke it over beechwood for two and 4.5m, flat-bottomed boat through the high reeds of the Rhine delta a half hours at 60-80˚C,’ he says. It’s then served with

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‘A magnificent landscape of mountain fields and vibrant meadowland has been shaped by dairy farmers, and the fertile Rhine delta filled with lovely fruit and vegetable gardens’

Clockwise from top left: sunset over Bregenzerwald; celery, garlic and salad leaves for sale at the market in Bregenz; wild flowers at Metzler’s

food & travel 73 Clockwise from top left: getting a lift; evening GOURMET TRAVELLER beckons; a village church; vorarlberg its exterior; local cheese; goats are a staple of rural life; taste their superb cheese

‘My father kept two cows, hay and a few pigs, and had an orchard – a typical set-up for this area. He used black peat for fuel and red peat for fertiliser and also grew corn’ Food Glossary homemade horseradish sauce. As we enjoy lunch, a couple of Bergkäse Mountain cheese made Roggenbrot Rye bread, small motorboats arrive from Switzerland, 30 minutes away. Theirs in huge wheels. Aged six months, a healthier choice – frequently was an easy journey compared with Franz’s, but their owners know it tastes smooth and mellow; at 12 found on local tables. where to find the freshest and best fish on Lake Constance. months, a little sharper, at two years Schwarze Nüsse Black walnuts, it resembles a young parmesan. an ‘old-taste’ sweetmeat and Rosemary Barron and Gary Latham travelled courtesy of Vorarlberg Felchen A member of the salmon condiment for wild meats, Tourism. Find more details at vorarlberg.travel, and at austria.info family, the ‘whitefish’ is found in felchen and aged Alpkäse. Lake Constance. Lightly batter Picked green and stored in then fry the fillets and serve with cinnamon-syrup, they are labour- Don’t miss pickles and potatoes, or simply bake intensive to make. Frau Kaufmann’s cookery school Based in a handsome old small ones whole. Siegenkäse Goat’s cheese building, Karin Kaufmann introduces you to local traditions and dishes Kartoffel The humble potato is (in the German language); prepared with a modern sensibility. Buchenrain 339, Egg, 00 43 676 a favourite local vegetable; and also known as ‘gosskäs’ in 49 54 144, fraukaufmann.at also known as ‘grumpra’ in the the local dialect. Käsekeller Modern cheese-maturation cellar with an local dialect. Sig A rich, red-brown paste, impressive stack of 30kg wheels of Bergkäse and Alpkäse (alpine Käsknöpfle Little cheese slightly sweet and with a hint of cheeses) behind a glass wall. Enquire about tastings. Zeihenbühl 423, dumplings flavoured with mountain liquorice, made by boiling the Lingenau, 00 43 5513 42870 41, kaesestrasse.at cheese and onions; traditionally whey left over from cheese- Krumbach Moor Walk on the moors, and take time too to enjoy the made on Fridays, to take the making until only the milk-sugar area’s architecture and imaginatively designed bus stops. See website place of meat. remains. A winter wonder made for information on moor guides, if desired. bregenzerwald.at/s/en/water- Rauchen Forelle Trout from Lake originally by farmers. and-moor, kulturkrumbach.at Constance, lightly brined and Weiner schnitzel Thinly sliced Schobel Höchstgenuss Small farm with a distillery. Take a tour and smoked; served locally with veal, breaded and deep-fried, try Harald Schobel’s dried fruits and prize-winning schnapps made horseradish sauce. and served with potatoes and with fruits from his own orchards. Call to make an appointment. Riebel A staple in the old days. salad. An Austrian classic. Frühlingsgarten 7, Höchst, 00 43 664 12 45 515, hoechstgenuss.at Similar to polenta but crunchier, Wild meats The term used Werkraum Haus Showcase for the work of local craftsmen and it is eaten traditionally for breakfast. locally, including on restaurant women. Hof 800, Andelsbuch, 00 43 5512 263 86, werkraum.at Good with all sorts of meats and menus, for hunted deer, stag, vegetables, and with fruit compotes. chamois and other game.

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