A Conversation with Chef Pâtissier of Sacher Hotel in Salzburg, KRISTA FERTL

Photo Credit: Sacher Hotel

BY RUDINA HOXHA & JOSE PINTO

With a great liking for hotel’s kitchen and patisserie, Krista Fertl is the distinguished Chef Pâtissier of Sacher Hotel in Salzburg, Austria. When she newly started, she immediately fell in love with the smell of vanilla sugar, violet sirup and chocolate fudge cake.

She considers herself so lucky to start her career in Hotel Sacher’s patisserie, right in the center of Salzburg, Mozart’s hometown. “It is impossible to tire of looking at the Hohensalzburg Fortress from the window of the hotels bakery,” Fertl said in this exclusive interview.

For this issue of Trailblazing Magazine, Ms. Fertl shared her thoughts on what it is that makes her pastries so unique and authentic as Sacher Hotel is.

Thank you Mrs. Fertl for sitting with TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE.

Please can you introduce yourself to us?

My name is Krista Fertl. I was born in Vienna and grew up in Klosterneuburg, a small town in Lower Austria situated close to Austria’s capital city. I attended an economic high school and after successfully taking my final exams at the age of 18, I started studying

nutritional science at the University of Vienna. Missing hands-on experience, I abandoned my theoretical studies after five terms and enrolled in a two-year course on hotel management at the Vienna Business School. This field of study was much more to my liking and included basic education in a hotel’s kitchen and patisserie. I immediately fell in love with the smell of vanilla sugar, violet sirup and chocolate fudge cake. I finally knew the occupational path I wanted to take and “I immediately fell in love was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity with the smell of vanilla sugar” to start my career in Hotel Sacher’s patisserie, right in the centre of Salzburg, Mozart’s hometown.

How do you feel working as Chef pâtissier in a landmark hotel like Sacher Hotel in Salzburg?

It is a great honour, and I’m incredibly grateful to be able to work here. It is impossible to tire of looking at the Hohensalzburg Fortress from the window of the hotels bakery.

Do you follow ‘vintage’ recipes, meaning from mothers, region, masters etc, or do you create your own?

To invent new and unique desserts, you can either wait to be kissed by the muse, ideally in your sleep, or you can get there by learning your craft, first practicing the basics, baking others’ tried-and-true recipes, putting a new spin on classics, and gradually getting better at creating your own sweet dishes. I value not only the work of fellow professional bakers, but also recipes passed down to me from my ancestors, especially my grandmothers and my mother. I even fall back on these recipes at work. Moreover, it is necessary to pay attention to the Austrian pastry tradition, which is famous all over the world.

Are you the type of professional that you like to taste your own makings? What are your preferences? Are the ingredients local? Where do you get your ‘secret’ chocolate? What is your preferred mix?

Of course, I always try my own creations. Without trying them it is impossible to find out whether they taste the way they should or if something must be changed and improved next time. Personally I prefer sweet dishes and cakes with chocolate and nuts. When ordering products for the patisserie I always try to stick to local ingredients, eggs from local farmers, for example, regional dairy goods and Viennese sugar.

For each new dessert or cake we try different kinds of chocolate and choose the one we think is best. I really like milk chocolate, especially with a touch of caramel.

What are some of the most favorite flavor combinations in the Hotel? Any specific dessert for which the clients go crazy?

In general, guests visiting Salzburg for the first time order Salzburger Nockerl, a fluffy egg soufflé with raspberry cream. Locals who already know the typical Austrian desserts are often more eager to try out different and more unusual flavour combinations. The most popular cake for locals as well as foreign guests is our Original Sacher-Torte served with whipped cream.

Hotel Sacher Wien, Rigaud-Miniatur Wien © Hotel Sacher

From where have you inherited such skills, from your family or are they inborn?

My parents are both teachers, so they have nothing to do with gastronomy or tourism. Although my dad always helps in the kitchen, it is my mother whom I have baked with for as long as I can remember and beyond. There are photos of me as a two-year-old, full of flour, happily stirring in a mixing bowl. I am blessed with a family who is passionate and patient at the same time, which sounds like a rather contradictory combination at first. But my grandmother and my mother have both been passionate about baking and still very patient with me. My grandmother taught me to make “Vanillekipferl”, a traditional Austrian Christmas cookie, and other sweets when I was little. I also inherited my great-grandmothers’ ancient baking recipe books, which I am very proud of.

Like Sacher brand that is authentic, what does it require to make ‘authentic” pastries?

I think the most important ingredients you need to make authentic desserts are passion, love, expertise, support and honesty. You have to be a passionate pastry cook and must love what you do. Of course, you need the right know-how and the technical skills, but these are things you can learn, the passion has to be inside you. Furthermore, you need an excellent team who supports you and from whom you get honest feedback on your creations.

Krista’s photo as a two-year-old, full of flour, happily stirring in a mixing bowl. Café Sacher Graz XVII © Hotel Sacher