10 minute read
Dishes from our Childhoods
Food is an intrinsic part of many happy childhood memories, so much so that the taste and aroma of our first favourite dishes never leave us. Here, two innkeepers and a head chef reminisce about their childhoods and explain how their lives have been shaped by their early memories of food
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Text — LENZ KOPPELSTÄT TER, Photos — CAROLINE RENZLER
The Turmwirt, AO and Ahner Berghof all preserve old traditions while catering to modern tastes.
MARIA GASSER (39), Turmwirt in Gufidaun/Gudon
“The Turmwirt is where I grew up and it’s been in my family for five generations. I regularly had to help out in the restaurant from a very young age. My favourite place to eat as a child was at my grandma Rosa’s house in Waidbruck/Ponte Gardena. My sister, cousins and I used to visit her together and she often treated us to our favourite dish: potato pancakes with sauerkraut. Kartoffelblattln, as we call them. The potato pancakes were wonderfully soft and fluffy, just perfect for rolling up around the pickled cabbage. We could easily polish off 11 of them one after the other!
Although I originally wanted to visit a different high school, I eventually chose to attend the Emma Hellenstainer training school for cooking and catering professionals in Brixen/Bressanone. At one of the taster sessions, we were served buttery croissants and all kinds of mouth-watering desserts during the break. I knew instantly that this was the school for me! Plus there were fewer maths lessons than at other schools and no Latin, so I could learn other foreign languages instead. I spent two years studying in Brixen followed by three years at the Kaiserhof hotel management school in Meran/Merano.
After graduating, I flew to Florida with a friend to get my English up to scratch. We ended up working at a golf club. It was like entering a whole new world and I came away with so many wonderful new experiences. I spent the next few years in Austria and Tuscany – it was a very happy, carefree time, despite all the long hours I had to work. Eventually, I made my way back home to Gufidaun to help my parents run our restaurant. But I still didn’t feel ready to settle down. Whenever the restaurant closed its doors for some time during winter, I took off to gain some more experience abroad.
A few years ago, I jetted off around the world again, this time on my own. The trip gave me a lot of time to reflect and one day I came to the realisation that while travelling was amazing, I needed a base and somewhere I could call home. And that home was where it’s always been – the Turmwirt. I was finally ready to lay down roots! PS: In case you’re wondering, our menu still features Kartoffelblattln with sauerkraut – made following the recipe created by our head chef Daniel Trenkwalder.”
www.turmwirt-gufidaun.com
Potato pancakes with sauerkraut
Serves 4
For the potato pancakes
250 g floury potatoes 2 egg yolks Salt Approx. 125 g flour 2 tablespoons butter, browned
For the sauerkraut
500 g pickled cabbage 1 medium onion 1 clove of garlic 50 ml white wine 200 ml meat or vegetable stock Caraway seeds, bay leaves, juniper berries (optional, to taste)
To make the potato pancakes, boil the potatoes in salted water. Once they are cooked, peel them and then mash or squeeze them through a potato ricer. Leave to cool slightly, then add the remaining ingredients and knead well to form a smooth dough. Add extra flour if necessary. Roll the mixture out, cut into rectangles and place onto a floured baking sheet. Chill in the fridge. To make the sauerkraut, sweat the onions and garlic in a saucepan. Add the pickled cabbage, pour over the white wine and bring to the boil. Then pour in the stock and season to taste with the caraway seeds, bay leaves and juniper berries. Fry the potato pancakes in hot oil and serve immediately with the hot sauerkraut.
LEVIN GRÜTEN (27), AO Restaurant in Brixen/Bressanone
“I grew up in Belgium near a small town the size of Brixen. My father was an emergency doctor and worked 24 hours on, 48 hours off. During his days off, he loved nothing more than to cook – and I would watch in awe over his shoulder. That’s how my love affair with cooking began. We lived in a farmhouse restored by my parents, so I was raised among chickens, sheep and home-grown apples, berries, cherries and vegetables. We combined our meat and produce with an array of popular spices from the Arab world and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as is so common in Belgian cuisine. But whenever we had something to celebrate, we ate out and always chose the same dish: filet américain! This Belgian speciality is considered a real delicacy back home. Think steak tartare, but instead of being served as a patty, it is blended into more of a spread. It’s my favourite childhood memory of food.
When I left school, I decided to embark on a career as a chef. I completed my training in a traditional French restaurant before heading to Melbourne, where I was hired by a huge bakery which made all the doughnuts, muffins and croissants for McDonald’s in Australia and New Zealand. It was a crazy experience! I would never do anything like that again, but it was fantastic training. After all, being able to bake is a vital skill as a chef. After living in Australia, I didn’t want to return to Belgium with its grey skies and wet, gloomy weather. So instead I ended up in St. Moritz in Switzerland, met my partner Teresa and moved with her to South Tyrol/Südtirol. I’d already fallen in love with the mountains, and it wasn’t long before South Tyrol captured my heart too. I believe that wherever wine is grown, delicious food is never far away. And South Tyrol is a real melting pot of young people who like to travel the world and bring back new, inspirational ideas.
I actually joined their ranks when I was tempted away one last time by the chance to spend a few months working in Noma in Copenhagen. As one of the best restaurants in the world, Noma receives 200 applications a day, so it was an opportunity not to be missed. I wanted to gain experience to help us achieve our vision for Teresa’s family hotel here in Brixen: modern cuisine with a touch of tradition made using good-quality, honest, sustainable ingredients from the region. No oysters or lobsters – just vegetables and meat sourced from small local farms. Nothing beats the taste of meat from an animal which has been grazing freely on pastureland all summer long.
Sometimes my parents come and visit me from Belgium. My father loves the local speck ham and the wine from the Eisacktal valley. And occasionally, we even prepare my favourite childhood dish together using South Tyrolean ingredients and adding thin potato straws and an egg yolk to give it a refined twist. It’s hearty and delicious. And goes perfectly with a glass of Gewürztraminer.”
www.byhaller.com
Filet américain
Serves 4
For the mayonnaise
3 egg yolks 1 tablespoon mustard 50 ml white wine vinegar Salt 300 ml sunflower oil
For the filet
600 g steak tartare from local beef 2 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise 1 tablespoon medium hot mustard 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons paprika powder 2 tablespoons chilli sauce Pepper and sea salt flakes
For the potato straws
3 large waxy potatoes, peeled Salt
Serve with
A sprinkling of freshly chopped chives
To prepare the mayonnaise, put the egg yolks, mustard, white wine vinegar and salt into a bowl and mix well. Gradually pour in the oil while continuing to stir the mixture. To make the filet américain, put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend on high until combined. To make the potato straws, cut the potatoes into thin, even strips using the julienne technique. Then place them in cold water for ten minutes. Dry the potato strips thoroughly and fry in hot oil at 150°C for around six to seven minutes until they are golden. Place the fried potato straws onto a paper towel to absorb the oil and season with salt.
To serve, spoon the filet américain mix into a round biscuit cutter and smooth it down. Garnish with some freshly cut chives, potato straws and some of the mayonnaise. If you wish, you could also grate some pickled egg yolk on top like we do in our restaurant.
We serve our filet américain in the traditional way with our homemade sourdough baguette. To recreate this authentic taste at home, we recommend that you spread the filet américain on some crusty white bread from your favourite local bakery.
Serves 3
3 slightly stale bread rolls or slices of rye bread 50 g leek ½ onion 1 clove of garlic 20 g butter 2 eggs 100 ml milk 50 g buckwheat flour 20 g wheat flour Salt and pepper 100 g Graukäse cheese for the filling Parmesan and butter for melting on top Coleslaw and thin strips of bacon for the garnish
To make the dumplings, cut the bread into small cubes and put in a bowl. Finely chop the leek, onion and garlic, fry in the butter and add to the bread. Whisk together the eggs and milk and pour over the bread mixture. Add the wheat flour and buckwheat flour. Season with salt and pepper and mix together well. Cover the mixture and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Then shape into small dumplings and place a piece of Graukäse cheese into the centre of each one. Simmer in boiling salted water for 20 minutes.
Serve the dumplings on a bed of coleslaw and garnish with grated parmesan, browned butter and fried strips of bacon. SIMONE KLAMMER (35), Ahner Berghof in Rodeneck/Rodengo
“I grew up down in the valley in the village of Rodeneck. But today, I live high up in the mountains. It’s wonderful! My husband, Armin, has been running our farm since the age of 18 when he took it over from his grandparents. We met when we were young and knew almost straightaway that we were the perfect match. My husband feels completely at home with the animals, while my passion is hospitality. I helped my parents look after guests from a very young age so it’s in my blood. At the Ahner Berghof, Armin and I wanted to combine the best of both worlds by mixing farming with hospitality.
My mother, Maria, still prepares food for guests today at the age of 71. Whenever I say I’m coming to visit, she knows immediately what to make: my favourite childhood meal of buckwheat dumplings filled with Graukäse cheese and served with coleslaw and a glass of milk so fresh it is still warm from the cow. The buckwheat gives the dumplings a slightly bitter flavour and the cheese is very aromatic and bold. It’s a typically South Tyrolean dish and is something of an acquired taste. You either like it or you don’t – and I love it!
The dumplings have such a special place in my heart that they even feature on our restaurant’s menu. I add fried strips of bacon to complement the flavours. We make our own bacon, after all! We have 35 cows and 10 pigs and also produce our own salami and smoked dry sausages known as Kaminwurzen. We make everything ourselves – from our pasta and traditional ravioli to all our dumplings, of course. Luckily for me, my two older children, Mara and Jonas, also enjoy eating my favourite dish. Both here at home – and at their Grandma’s.”
www.ahner-berghof.com
