Wowzers!! What a weekend!! First "Wiener Genussfestival" ( Vienna´s annual culinary festival) then Smoochie´s photo shoot for a special occasion which is to support Animal Life (an austrian animal rescue charity) followed up by a nice interview with a brand new yet already successful restaurateur of Cafe Menta and last but not least Happy Shit Shopping!!
It was such a nice but also a very busy weekend!!
So let´s get started with the yummieness!!
For the first time this year more than 170 rural producers traveled to Vienna from different austrian provinces to present their traditional and homemade specialities, which foodies and gourmets were longing to taste!! There were anything and everything from different types of cheese, jams, chutneys, honey, oil, backery goods to wine varieties, craft beers, spirits, syrups and juices.
I picked out my most fav 5 stalls for you guys!!
The Stadtpark (city park) is Vienna´s oldest public park
Tourists chillin´ with the king of waltz; Johann Strauss :)
Coming from Styria, which is known for its famous pumpkinseed oil, The Fandler is an expert in producing oil and vinegar since 1926. I just can´t tell you how many oil varieties they produce; almond, canola, grapeseed, hazelnut, poppy seed, sesame, olive, peanut even macadamianut and many more, it is just unbelievable!
They also offer these endless oil variations in combinations such as my favourite one "Cuvee 9" which consists of sweet macamadia nut oil & tartish grape seed oil.
And that´s just the beginning! They also produce organic vinegars (apple, white wine, red wine and even tomato!), different types of salt (pumpkin seed, hempseed and hazelnut salt) and snacking seeds.
I should say, one of the most important things which amazed me about this company was its booklet which I read afterwards at home as I was making my research and thinking about where I should start. Seriously it isn´t just a broschure, which introduces the products to its customers, it is a serious introduction booklet to the oil production and quality. Especially the part where they show, how the oil is made with the stamping press was very interesting. You can read it also by clicking this link; http://www.fandler.at/en/production-and-quality/stamping-press-oil-mill.html
Well the second thing I really liked was what a great team they are!! In the booklet you can see almost every single employee being introduced with his/her personal quotes and pics. Lastly, Antoine de Saint -Exupery´s quote "If you want to build a ship, don´t drum up men to divide the work, teach them instead to yearn for the open sea." Sea of ideas, enthusiasm and commitment of people, who dedicate themselves to the oil production with hard work and team spirit.
If you´re also willing to get to know them better, then just go to www.fandler.at
2. Lukashof Genussmanufaktur
Another highlight for me were the chutneys and pesto sauces of Lukashof! You had to really get in line and wait for a few mins to able to taste some!
RTL: Chilli pesto with poppy seed, Sweet orange pesto with poppy seed and beetroot chutney (all bio!)
Besides they also got seed oil & vinegar, sparkling wine, different kind of syrups, mustard, salt, spread, snacking seeds, jam & jellies and different types of honey.
Orange dill mustard, wild garlic mustard, wild plum chilli mustard and many more...
Wide range of jam & jellies; from chocolate apple jam to mint jelly
Roasted ginger-orange, orange-mint, salted chilli & pur salted pumpkin seeds
Roasted cinnamon, coffee-vanilla, cacao-chilli & vanilla pumpkin seeds
Lovely greetings to Mrs. Högler (on the right), who has been managing this great farm with her husband over 20 years now. The farm, which has been in existence since the 16th century, has been owned by the same family ever since.
For more information you can go to their website; www.lukashof.com
3. Wetter Fine Brandies & Fruit Juices
The family Wetter says that they´re constantly called "quality fanatics" by the press and that´s just fair! All I can say is yummie!! From the first sip, you can tell the difference between this apple juice and the one you buy from the supermarket. Fresh, pure & juicy!! I could really stay there for hours tasting these delish juices!! <3
They´ve got a selection of 12 kind of apple juices in 3 different types; the ones with slightly acidic apples, with slightly sweet apples or pears.
Juices with slightly acidic apples as Discovery or James Grieve
Juices with slightly sweet apples such as Jonagold or Cox´s Orange Pippin; my favourite one which I just drank while I was writing this and very sad that I have to wait one year to get a new one..
Juices which are directly pressed from William Christ Pears such as Thunderstorm (70% apple, 30% pear)
Besides they also offer a wide range of fine brandies.
You can visit www.wetter-brennerei.at to get more info!
4. Alpbachtaler Heumilchkäse
As a person, who can´t live without cheese, this stall was one of my favourite!! They offered a wide range of cheese; pepper, beer, mountain, wild garlic and many more! However the most important fact why I was so fascinated by them was their smiling faces and positive energy and they are from Tirol!! shalalala
My last fav stall was Denise the baker! She specializes in baking crispbread which is thought for wine in the first place; you can have it either traditional (with rosemar)y, mediterranean (combined with pepper, garlic & sage), spicy (with spicy walnut) or christmassy (vanilla with smoked vanilla salt).
She chooses her ingredients due to 5 elements; wood, fire, earth, metal and water believing that every element symbolizes another flavor and has different energetic and thermal effects which ended up being handmade culinary delicacies such as curry baguette with black sesame & galgant, beetroot baguette with sugar or wine crispbread with grapeseed flour and ghee.
What I really liked about her was her concept, a glance at her pic and you can think that she is a fashion designer, which isn´t completely wrong at all :)
Well you can go & visit www.baeckerin.at, if you would like to learn more about her work.
Of course there were more than just 5 stalls, which deserve to be shown here so I chose some pics for you also!!
You could find everything about rose products in this stall.
Honey with spring blooms, lavender blooms, or lime blossom
cranberry & blueberry jam
Different kind of brandies
You could find all kind of gingerbread!
My fav was definitely the honey mustard
It was the hottest mustard, I´ve ever tasted!
There are many more pictures, which I would like to show you guys, but better go there next year! :D
Last but not least, 87 year old Mr. Kimko, whom I got to know as I was on my way to the festival, he was in love with Smoochie and wanted to play some songs for her with his harmonica. A great personality with lots to tell!! Despite his age, he´s making miracles with his talent by making music for the patients who are in coma...
#3 Yummie Check is comin´ soon, so stay tuned! :D