Alpine recipes

Delicious Alpine recipes from SalzburgerLand

A sunny wooden bench at the mountain hut, a view over pastures and meadows – it’s where the senses are heightened and nothing tastes as good as right there. Regional, seasonal and usually hearty culinary delights on the mountain pastures of SalzburgerLand delight the taste buds. Filled ‘Bladln’ dumplings, sweet doughnuts, ‘Kasnockn’ traditional cheese gnocchi or a typical Salzburg ‘Brettljause’ lunch with a mixed meat platter is incentive enough to speed up the hike to the top.

You can also take a piece of the mountain pastures home with you and try your hand at the recipes to recreate the traditional dishes. Some dishes might not be so easy to make, despite the simple ingredients. Ideally, one should for instance have had the chance to watch the hut keeper prepare Pinzgauer ‘Bladln’ dumplings before trying them at home.

The perfect ‘Brettljause’

The Brettljause lunch break is an absolute classic at the Alpine Summer huts. You will be served the finest cured meats, churned delicacies and oven-baked bread. Cured bacon is thinly sliced and garnished with onion rings and herbs. Sometimes even a small portion of lard, hard boiled eggs, pickles and fresh horseradish is added. You will, however, most definitely be served delicious, fresh bread with a crisp, dark crust.

5 top components of a ‘Brettljause’

– Golden Alpine butter
– Spicy Pinzgauer beer cheese
– Smoked deer sausage
– Cured bacon
– Crisp vegetables from the farmer’s garden

Cabbage and Turnips for Alpine recipes

The fresh herbs that make each bread with butter a true taste sensation grow directly on the meadows around the hut. Wild thyme, goutweed, sorrel or yarrow harmonise wonderfully with the mild flavour of Alpine butter. The vegetables are also often fresh from the farm: tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers. These ingredients are made into a vegetarian dish such as a green mountain smoothie, a delicious herb pesto, mountain herb strudel or a vegetable soup with herbs.

frische Kräuter mit Basilikum und Schnittlauch und Petersilie auf einem Teller neben Öl und Essig auf einem Holztisch ©SalzburgerLand Tourismus – fresh herbs

Baking bread

Roswitha Huber on Kalchkendlalm in Rauris Valley knows the secret to good bread. The brick bread oven in the courtyard of the hill farm at 1200 metres above sea level is one of 20 such ovens in Rauris. Roswitha Huber can confidently be called an ambassador of bread because on Kalchkendlalm in Rauris Valley, you can not only eat excellent bread, but also learn to produce this staple food with your own hands in her “school on the mountain”. She shows you that the best is many times made from the simplest things. If the simple things are also high quality and regional, and made by your own hands, then a culinary delight is guaranteed!

Something sweet for afters

Kaiserschmarren, the traditional fluffy pancake, is a very popular dessert in the mountains among hikers. Many more sometimes less-known desserts in SalzburgerLand will delight the palate to end a good meal. Bauernkrapfen – doughnuts filled with jam, Stanitzel – dough cones with strawberry filling, Apfelradln – dough-covered, fried apple slices, Lungauer Rahmkoch – cake slices similar to butter toffee, or the traditional Kersh-Muas – cherry compote, are perfect to supply the energy for the descent from the mountains. A tip for gourmets: those who are unable to taste all of these suggestions during a hike should best embark on a new hike the very next day to discover the other delicacies!