ORF-E
German
1 x 45 min
Worldwide  

The festive season of the people of Vienna can be found on their plates. Whether after Lent, at Martinmas or around New Year’s Eve – primarily meat dishes enrich the holidays in Vienna. Not only festive roasts in all variations have a long tradition, but even a Sunday may become a festive day in Vienna, be it through the Wiener Schnitzel, the Tafelspitz or simply a roll with Viennese Beinschinken. It’s all about the meat. Nowhere else is there such a pronounced variety in meat preparation as in Viennese cuisine. Here, meat is not only roasted, but also stewed, simmered, breaded, smoked or cured into the famous Beinschinken (ham). The craft of the master butcher is inextricably linked to Viennese cuisine, which is popular all over the world. Based on the philosophy “from head to tail”, all parts of the animal are utilized. The Viennese butchers have mastered a unique skill of cutting beef, which has given them a unique position in the world – beef dishes are part of Austria’s culinary heritage. Alexander and Nadeschda Schukoff embark on a search for the origins of Vienna’s festive delicacies and talk about food trends throughout history. Furthermore, they peek over the shoulders of not only cooks but also master butchers and reveal some of the secrets of culinary preparation. The church, and above all the monasteries, have been contributing to Viennese recipes for centuries. The ingenuity of the monks refined Viennese cuisine during Lent as well as on feast days. Anecdotes that make you smile enrich the conversations with innkeepers, historians, clergymen and cookbook authors. They reveal traditions that have almost been forgotten, but also underline a move away from the daily consumption of cheap meat.