Via Culinaria
The only way to holiday for food-lovers
Courtesy Magazin
With more than 200 essential stops on the ultimate foodie tour, the Via Culinaria guide is the secret to savouring SalzburgerLand
A
ustrian cuisine is among the most delicious in the world, not to mention extremely healthy. Organic produce here is usually the norm rather than a unique selling point. And all those different kinds of dumplings don’t mean piling on pounds – you can’t fail to notice how Austrian women show off their great figures in their waisthugging traditional dirndls. Across the country, in towns and villages, from sophisticated cities such as Salzburg to the Alpine farms with their traditional methods of making bread, butter and cheese, eating well is part of the quality of life. SalzburgerLand is believed to have the highest concentration of award-winning restaurants in Austria, and many top chefs from other countries who practise their art in the region’s restaurants are also award recipients for their cooking. The badge of seriously good cooking, the Gault Millau ‘toque’, has been awarded more than 100 times to restaurants and other eating venues in SalzburgerLand. You hear chefs talking about how using the very best ingredients is what makes or breaks a great meal, and
A vinothek at one of the many trendy restaurants in Salzburg
the unpolluted pure air, clean waters and rich grass of the region virtually guarantee the high quality of the fresh herbs, fish in tip-top condition, organic vegetables, rich cheeses, superb-quality meats and wild game. SalzburgerLand has the highest concentration of organic cultivation in Europe (more than 50 per cent of farmland). Where a holiday can often delight or dismay with the randomness of choosing where to eat in an unfamiliar location, in SalzburgerLand visitors can eat out with the certainty of a great meal with a holiday itinerary tailored to their particular foodie tastes. A huge hit since its introduction in 2009, the Via Culinaria is a clever, carefully thought-out idea which highlights journeys which combine a holiday with an eating or drinking adventure, linking different types of food and drink producers and eating establishments with scenic routes. There are seven culinary tours, taking in all the tourism areas of the SalzburgerLand region. Before inclusion, each of the 200 or so stops on the foodie map – the number growing each year – is carefully selected by a top Salzburg gourmet journalist. There are routes for fish fans, meateaters, cheese freaks (lots of hill cheeseries), those with a sweet tooth, for beer and schnapps aficionados, and for
If you love... ...food markets, food journalist and author Doris Maier takes visitors on an insiders’ tour of Salzburg markets bringing the history to life and the opportunity to sample as you go. Details from dorismaier @aon.at
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06/01/2012 12:54
