August 4, 2012
Day 77: Irdning, Austria: An Inspiring Landscape (with Apple Strudel bonus)
Christian and Birgit and Johanna and Tobias instantly made us feel completely at home. But what a home this is! In the back yard is Grimming, at 2351 meters, a dramatic free standing mountain taller than any of the others nearby. The town of Irdning lies with other towns in a dramatic valley, very green, with a mixture of forest and meadow.
Within about a ten km radius of Irdning, there are at least a dozen other hamlets, each nestled beneath the mountains and surrounded by forest and meadow. These towns can exist because in the first instance, small farms have not been all but eliminated, as they are in Canada. Secondly, the world has noticed the beauty of this place, and tourism (particularly skiing) is strong.
Christian took me out in the car to the bakery "downtown". He asked what I would like at breakfast, and I pointed to a cheese danish ("topfen golatsche" - cottage cheese package). "But that is sweet" said Christian, surprised. "Well, yeah!" I replied. What else would I choose, given the certainty that there is no Tim Horton's in town!
Breakfast actually also included other yummy stuff - cheese, sliced meat, bread buns, fruit salad. These are the German standards, and much more substantial than the French coffee and croissant.
Dodie's cycling computer had died (she is hard on them - they know she doesn't like them because they are "computers" so they eventually commit suicide) so Christian also spun me over to a bike shop, in Worschach - three towns over (6 km!). That gave another initial chance to look at the landscapes here. Christian, of course, is used to it, but he also still finds it most wonderful.
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On a small hill beside Grimming mountain is the hamlet of Purgg. Tourists (including people from Irdning!) are not allowed to bring their cars up into the village, so you have to park below. The village contains Johanneskapelle, a 1000 year old chapel containing frescoes from around 1160. Unfortunately the chapel was closed, so we did not see the frescoes, however we did walk around a nearby church, not as old (like, who knows, only 500 years?)
We continued to marvel at the valley's beauty, until the sun drove us off in search of eiscafe.
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BONUS: APPLE STRUDEL
Some years ago PBS (US public TV) aired a series called "The Spice of Life". The series took on one spice per episode, tracing its origins, politics, and uses in various foods. When the subject came around to cinnamon the show had a segment showing a lady making apple strudel in Austria. What struck me at the time was the way the dough was stretched to a paper thinness to the size of a table top, and then it was rolled by lifting the table cloth.
When we got here yesterday Birgit put out some excellent apple strudel, which got gobbled up. Today she mentioned that she would make another one, and I casually asked if she was using prepared filo dough, or something.
It's hard to remember, after years of living in places where most things are just copies, that we are cycling into places that are actually the real thing, the original. That applies to thatched roofs in England, french bread in France, schnitzel in Germany, mountain chalets in Austria, etc. etc. And guess what, it applies to apple strudel in Irdning!
So Birgit got out her table cloth, and started to mix flour, water, oil, and salt by hand. She did not measure these ingredients, of course, but just put in the right amount. She then kneaded the dough for the right amount of time, to the right consistency. (The kneading time was a lot longer than I would have thought.)
Next came the impossible trick, one that sometimes does not even work out for her. The table cloth was floured and the dough (which had rested for about 20 minutes) was rolled with a rolling pin to something about 1/4 inch thick. Then it was picked up and stretched across the arms, in a way that I wish I had a video of. When finally the dough was just starting to tear because of thinness, it was put down on the table cloth. It was then pulled further, to over the edges of the table.
In a heartbreaking move, the four edges of the dough were trimmed with a scissors, creating a lot of lovely but soon to be discarded ends. Birgit said the slightly thicker edges would spoil the strudel, in some way I have not grasped yet!
A strip of the dough was then coated with breadcrumbs, to receive the apple filling. The filling (using cinnamon, of course) is made from grated apples and is quite juicy. The breadcrumbs absorb and control this juiceness.
The table cloth was then lifted, so as to roll the dough around the filling, creating a long snake. The snake went onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper, and into the oven it went.
How did it turn out? Dunno. I am typing this while waiting for the thing to cool. This waiting period was not my idea, rest assured!
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