When I first moved to Austria, I had a really hard time with some of the local habits. I come from a warm Latin American country that, culturally speaking, doesn’t always feel like it has a lot in common with Austria. And one of the biggest daily differences was dinner.
Where I’m from, and I know this is true in many Southern European countries, in a lot of English-speaking countries, and across parts of Africa and Asia too, dinner is a proper event. It’s warm. It’s big. It’s the meal where the family gathers, and there’s a main dish and side dishes, and someone always made a little too much. Rice, beans, steak. Pasta. Something that simmers. Something that smells like home. And even if you didn’t cook it yourself, the idea was the same: at night, you sit down, and you eat well.
Then I moved to Austria and realised dinner here can be… a slice of bread.
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Not in a sad way or a “we have nothing in the pantry” way, but in a completely normal, this-is-just-how-life-works way. It could be bread, cheese, cold cuts or maybe some hard-boiled eggs, sometimes smoked salmon, if someone is feeling fancy. Or it could b a little spread, a cucumber, maybe a soup, which for me was almost more confusing than the bread, because back home soup is often a starter. Here, it can be dinner.
Why it felt like I was losing something
Of course, not every Austrian household is the same, and plenty of people cook warm meals in the evening. But it’s not unusual at all for the default meal to be light and often cold and also early. When I was growing up, dinner didn’t start until after 8 pm, sometimes later. People would arrive home, take a shower, sit down, talk, eat, linger and then talk some more. Dinner was where you landed after the day.
In Austria, I would watch people experience their bread-and-cheese situation at 6 pm and genuinely act like the day was basically over. And I used to hate it. When you move countries, you don’t only miss your language or your friends, but you miss the rhythms and the tiny things you never thought would matter.
Learning to eat earlier, and lighter
And then, slowly, I learned.
Not in a “wow, Austrians were right all along” way. More in a “maybe this could work for me, too” way. I started realising that yes, I could have a slice of bread and cheese at 6.30 or 7. I wouldn’t go as far as 6 pm, I’m not there yet. But 6.30? 7? That I can do, and it felt great.
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I wasn’t as full afterwards. I didn’t get that heavy, sluggish, sleepy feeling that makes you want to collapse on the sofa and do nothing, plus since it wasn't so late, it felt like I still could enjoy my evening. And when I did go to sleep, I slept better and I woke up feeling better the next day.
I also didn’t put on as much weight. That one is personal, but it matters. When I first moved here, I gained a lot of weight because I kept habits that didn’t really work for my life in Austria, and honestly, maybe not for the climate here either. Heavy dinners late at night, less movement in winter, a lot of comfort food because everything felt like an adjustment. I didn’t even connect the dots at first. I just thought I was tired all the time, and then one day I realised I was eating like I was still living in a different rhythm.
What dinner looks like in our house now
Now my family is me, my husband, and our son. And we have our tiny dinner that my grandmother would probably look and judge as a “bird food”. Sometimes we eat soup, sometimes it’s bread and cheese and a few extras, and sometimes it’s something slightly more substantial like a bit of rice and fish. It’s rare that we have a full big dinner with a main dish and sides and all the warmth and the drama of a “proper” meal.
And here’s the part that I love the most: we still get the connection.
We still talk about our day, sit together, and slow down.
And bonus points, the most practical Austrian bonus points of all: we don’t end up with a million dishes, pots and chaotic kitchen to clean.
Obviously having lighter dinners doesn’t mean every dinner has to be like that. You can still go out, still go to a friend’s house and eat something hearty and warm. But those become special occasions. Not the default.
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Feeling foreign at home and abroad
Which brings me to the funny part. I’m going back to my home country again early next year, and honestly, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it. My parents do those big dinners at 8 or 8.30 that can go on until 10 pm. And I can already see myself sitting there at 9.15, loving the food and the conversation, but also thinking, “How did I do this every day?”.
Sometimes when you live away for a long time, you start feeling like a foreigner at home and in your adopted country as well. But maybe that is just part of it. Part of having your heart in more than one place.
Let me know if you have any Austrian habits, traditions, little customs, or typical things you used to hate, or judge, or just not feel comfortable with, and that have now become staples in your life.
Inside Austria is taking a break for the holidays. We will be back in the new year. Happy Holidays and a great start to the year!
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