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REVEALED: The best and worst Austrian foods (as voted for by you)

Aaron Burnett
Aaron Burnett - [email protected]
REVEALED: The best and worst Austrian foods (as voted for by you)
A Vienna Schnitzel (Photo by Mark König on Unsplash)

Coming to Austria, whether to visit or live, can be a huge culinary treat. But there’s also some strong opinions on what alpine foods are better left off your plate.

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Few things stoke a good friendly debate in Austria quite like chatting food. From the origin of the iconic Wiener Schnitzel to whether Austrian food is bland, expensive and meat-heavy – bringing food up is a surefire way to strike up a lively conversation among certain foreigners – and even native Austrians.

When we asked our readers to have their say on foods in a reader survey, you responded with your fair share of clear opinions as to what you’ll eat during your jausepause – or snack break.

READ ALSO: How did the Wiener Schnitzel become an Austrian icon?

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Despite the common myth that Austrian cuisine is just meat – the options available were certainly enticing to our readers, whose responses to our recent survey definitely favoured meat. Whether it was Tafelspitz – a boiled beef or veal in broth, or Schweinhaxl – a huge pork knuckle that Gabriella, originally from Hungary but living in Salzburg, finds “crunchy and soft, with intense taste” – our readers like their Austria dishes meaty – or at least, certainly hearty.

READ ALSO: Seven common myths about Austrian food you need to stop believing

“Roast pork and sauerkraut,” says Julia Russell from the UK, who visits her son and grandson in Vienna often. “The roast pork is simple, generally tender, well done and not too salty. I also like the fermented cabbage.”

Goulash is a very typical seasonal food in Austria (Photo by Farhad Ibrahimzade on Pixels)

“Wiener goulash makes you feel at home, and it’s a hearty meal,” said Vineet from India, currently living in Vienna. “Wiener Schnitzel disappointed me the most. I vote to promote goulash as the real ‘Wiener’ dish.”

Meat, Käsespätzle, and goulash dominated the list of our reader favourites, surprisingly beating out many sweeter dishes, including apple strudel and Kaiserschmarrn – a pancake that’s lightly sweetened.

READ ALSO: Eight Austrian food mistakes you only make once

Readers also found certain Austrian classics to be particularly underwhelming – or even outright revolting.

Leberkäse, a sausage spread common to Austria and Bavaria in southern Germany, was cited by a handful of respondents as being their least favourite Austrian food. Several also mentioned Knödel – dumplings with mince meat in them.

The traditional Austrian Sachertorte (Photo by Leqi (Luke) Wang on Unsplash)
 
 
But, perhaps surprisingly – the most “popular” answer for least favourite Austrian food was Sachertorte – a cake that while, yes, is chocolatey – is sometimes considered underwhelming and dry.

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Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
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