viA cuLinAriA

The only way to holiday for food-lovers

With more than 200 essential stops on the ultimate foodie tour, the Via Culinaria guide is the secret to savouring SalzburgerLand

A vinothek at one of the many trendy restaurants in Salzburg

austrian 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 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

hut-lovers in the winter (tasty winter comfort food of pies and cakes with crispy, healthy salads).

Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular tours is the Culinary Pathway for Gourmets (‘feinspitze’ means gourmet, a good word to know!) which takes in the best kitchens in the province. There are 18 mouthwatering stops on this journey, including the exclusive luxury lakeside hotel resort of Schloss Fuschl under the renowned Thomas Walkensteiner (see page 50). Another highlight on the gourmet tour is the chance to savour the talents of double Michelin-starred Johanna Maier (see page 50), one of the world’s best female chefs. A choice selection of Salzburg’s top restaurants also includes Ikarus at Hangar-7 (see page 51) and another extremely stylish offering, Magazin, beloved of Salzburg’s trendsetters as an exquisite one-stop café, serious wine bar, trendy restaurant, boutique and delicatessen. An architectural conversation-piece in itself, the building with its modern glass gallery appears hewn from the mountain and the modern cuisine swiftly earned a Michelin star.

Some destinations feature on more than one culinary pathway. Schloss Fuschl, for instance, famous for its fish dishes and with access to its own uniquely beautiful lake, is also on the list, for tours for fish lovers. With Austria’s lakes rigorously tested for the pure quality of their water, and as a consequence the fish quality first class, chefs pride themselves on creating new dishes that enhance the delicate flavours and take their fish preparation skills to even higher levels. And freshness? A sneak peek into the kitchens at Schloss Fuschl finds a tank of specially selected fish freshly replenished each day from the lake – the head chef and his staff simply help themselves with a net, according to the dish. This culinary pathway consists of 11 highlights, including pubs and traditional fisheries, and visitors who take the Fuschlsee tour get a boat trip to the castle’s own fishery and enjoy a smokedfish tasting session on the turquoise lake.

Another day-trip route takes you by bike around Wallersee, mixing fishy eats with lake, hotel and nature reserve visits. Meat eaters who probably already know of the world-famous Pinzgau beef will be well satisfied with the 14 addresses on offer on this tour. You can spend time with master butchers, award-winning chefs and regional cooks working with some of the best wild game, mountain lamb, hill-country pork and goat-kid. At the other end of the meal spectrum, pudding lovers get to visit cake heaven, stopping at a variety of beautiful patisseries and ice-cream parlours, including two of Salzburg’s most famously tradition-rich coffee houses, Café Tomaselli and Café Fürst.

At Oberhintereggerhof Farm in Faistenau everyone can bake their own organic bread, make cheese and learn how honey is made. Another treat in the guide is Berger Feinste Confiserie, in Lofer. This is chocolate craftsmanship of the highest order (www.confiserie-berger.at).

And the beer and schnapps tour is sure to delight everyone, highlights including a visit to the atmospheric brewery and former abbey in Salzburg, Augustiner Bräu (see page 53); and a memorable sampling of some of the best schnapps on the planet, courtesy of multi-award-winning Schnapps Distiller of the Year Siegfried Herzog, including the legendary rowan berry, raspberry, blood-orange, carrot, sour cherry and blueberry varieties. ■

Full guide

The Via Culinaria includes 184 destinations, possible spin-off excursions, attractions, holiday packages and also background and contact listings. Full details can be found at www. via-culinaria. com

Master chef

Eckart Witzigmann was awarded ‘Chef of the Century’ in 1994 by the highly prestigous French restaurant guide Gault Millau. Only three other chefs – Paul Bocuse, Joel Robuchon and Frédi Girardet – have ever received the honour.

Eckart was born 1941 and raised in Bad Gastein in SalzburgerLand. He has worked with the best in the world: Paul Bocuse, Paul Simon, Roger Verge, the Troisgros brothers, and Paul Haeberlin. Besides his time in France he gained international experience in Operakällaren in Stockholm, Cafe Royal in London, Villa Lorraine in Brussels and the Jockey Club in Washington DC. He is supporting thr Via Culinaria project. The Alpine pastures produce rich milk... ...and some of the finest cheeses