Here's a fun one. Fried chicken and Gruner Vetliner
Rich R
chicken southern (US) style. Got me thinking. We had a party and one of the
most fun food/wine pairings was shrimp cocktail with Gruner Vetliner. So the
texture of shrimp cocktail (minus the hot stuff) is a lot like southern
fried chicken. So here is what we did:
Fried chicken
Mashed garlic potatoes
Fresh from the farm green beans.
The wine, a 2000 Freie Weingartner Wachau. Why in my basement I do not know.
But, apricot and guava. Thick for a medium bodied wine, and very sensuous.
No oak. Perfect with the southern US fare. Give it a go.
Rich R.
--
The journey is the reward.
Max Hauser
Austria, mentioned occasionally here -- they serve a crispy fried breaded
pounded veal "Vienna" cutlet -- idiomatically, _Wiener Sschnitzel_ -- with
cool G. V. in Vienna, frequently. The tart wine plays off the rich crispy
meat dish. "Southern Fried Chicken" with G. V. is like a New World salute to
that tradition. (The Austrians are practical, they dropped the Habsburgs
but kept the excellent food and wine.)
I bet G. V. would go superbly also with that brochette served (casually, as
a snack or appetizer) at Galatoire's in New Orleans: a small skewer of fresh
oysters wrapped in -- I'm not kidding -- strip bacon, THEN breaded and
deep-fried, very crunchy; it could have been impossibly rich but is not,
it's done with taste; G. V should go well with that too.
Just a thought . -- Max
Mark Lipton
Max Hauser wrote:
> (The Austrians are practical, they dropped the Habsburgs
> but kept the excellent food and wine.)
But in fond remembrance of Franz Josef still retain Tafelspitz, at least in
Vienna. ;-)
Mark Lipton
Max Hauser
"I'm disconsolate, Herr Hofrat," [Heinrich, the ancient headwaiter at Meissl
& Schadn on Hoher Markt] whispered. "A regrettable accident in the kitchen.
The Hofrat's _Tafelspitz_ has been cooked too long. It has --" Heinrich
didn't have the strength to finish the sentence, but the tips of his fingers
twitched, indicating that the meat had dissolved in the soup like snowflakes
in the March sunshine. . . . "I have taken the liberty to order for the
Herr Hofrat the rear part of the _Hieferschwanzl,_ close to, and very much
like, the _Tafelspitz._" . . . / The Hofrat sat up stiffly. He cast one
short, shocked glance at the meat. When he spoke, at last, his voice had
the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
least -- Western civilization. / "My dear Heinrich," the Hofrat said,
with a magnificent sweep of his hand, and accentuating every single
syllable, "you might just as well have offered me a veal cutlet." A slight
shiver seemed to run down his spine. He got up. "My hat and cane, please."
-- "Tafelspitz for the Hofrat," in Joseph Wechsberg, _Blue Trout and Black
Truffles : The Peregrinations of an Epicure,_ Knopf, 1954. Academy Chicago
reprint, 1985 (ISBN 0897331346). Further reprinted by Academy Chicago,
October 2000 (by request, I'll leave you to guess whose). More (or less)
info at amazon.com . In 1993 and 1995 in Vienna I had difficulty finding
food people who knew of Wechsberg but by 1996, Plachutta the Younger opined
to me that this story was published originally there; anyway he was
distributing copies with his restaurant's updated service of Tafelspitz.
Not quite 24 varieties, but those I tasted deserved credit. (As for the
Herr Hofrat's view, who can say?.)
Max Hauser
(Q: Where is Georg Sinzinger when we need him?)
Martin Schulz
country are to this group. I don't know your background, Max. But the depth
and insight of your posts surmount the awareness of most Austrians.
To be true, most of this is pre-war stuff. But the stories are good and show
quite well the "Hofrat mentality" our country and esp. Vienna is famous for.
It is correct, Plachutta and esp. the "Hietzinger Bräu" provide excellent
boiled beef. Personally as a "beef tiger" I prefer a good "Schulterscherzel"
or "Beinfleisch" to "Tafelspitz". IMHO they are juicier and tastier than the
old Kaiser Franz Josef and Hofrat meat.
Another issue in order to return to the topic: Grüner Veltliner seldom
accompanies the Tafelspitz. Most people drink a Krügerl or Seiderl (big or
small glass of beer). That's what I used to do as well while young. Now I
drink beer as aperitif and wine to the meal.
Prost
Martin
Ian Hoare
le/on Wed, 16 Jun 2004 00:58:38 -0700, tu disais/you said:-
>> But in fond remembrance of Franz Josef still retain Tafelspitz,
>> at least in Vienna. ;-)
>the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
>boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
>city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
>least -- Western civilization.
As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
defence against seige cowered in terror, a handful of hungarians, holed up
like rats in a castle, fought the entire Turkish Army to a standstill until
the winter. The Turks, unprepared for the bad weather went home again, and
by the next year, Vienna had become fortified.
--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website
Vilco
> Most people drink a Krügerl or Seiderl (big
> or small glass of beer).
> That's what I used to do as well while young.
> Now I drink beer as aperitif and wine to the meal.
Hey, you're not alone ;)
> Prost
Prost
Vilco
BTW - where the hell did "Prosit" end up?
winemonger
> >the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
> >boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
> >city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
> >least -- Western civilization.
>
> As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
> defence against seige cowered in terror, a handful of hungarians, holed up
> like rats in a castle, fought the entire Turkish Army to a standstill until
> the winter. The Turks, unprepared for the bad weather went home again, and
> by the next year, Vienna had become fortified.
Hello Ian,
Well, I always heard the story told this way: the Turks were
attacking. The Viennese were keeping them outside of the walls of the
city. But then the Turks did something truly dasterdly: they began
lighting the vineyards on fire. The heathens! The horror! The
Viennese promptly surrendered in order to spare the vines.
Perhaps that was a different Turkish siege on Vienna, but it does
bring us back to the focus of our newsgroup.
And it's a great story.
-e. winemonger
winemonger
> > (The Austrians are practical, they dropped the Habsburgs
> > but kept the excellent food and wine.)
>
> But in fond remembrance of Franz Josef still retain Tafelspitz, at least in
> Vienna. ;-)
And those Austrians do have a sort of version of fried chicken called
Backhendel. I've been told that it's from the Styrian region, but is
available all over. I have also been told that if you asked a Styrian
which wine one should pair with it, he'd tell you to go home. (but to
be the devil's advocate, I know a number of Styrians who would be
happy to recommend a pairing)
I enjoyed it with beer.
e. winemonger
Stephan Schindler
> Salut/Hi Max Hauser,
>
> le/on Wed, 16 Jun 2004 00:58:38 -0700, tu disais/you said:-
>
> >> But in fond remembrance of Franz Josef still retain Tafelspitz,
> >> at least in Vienna. ;-)
>
> >the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
> >boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
> >city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
> >least -- Western civilization.
>
> As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
> defence against seige cowered in terror, a handful of hungarians, holed up
> like rats in a castle, fought the entire Turkish Army to a standstill until
> the winter. The Turks, unprepared for the bad weather went home again, and
> by the next year, Vienna had become fortified.
Dear Ian,
Cut to: Türkenbelgerung II,- impale them harder. This time around an
ambitious young Turkish vizier by the name of Kara Mustafa Pasa had
the grand idea of paying Vienna a visit with an army of 200.000
Osmans. Guess who gave him the grand idea: None other than Hungarian
Magnate Duke Thököly. It was largely at his instigation that the
sultan undertook his expedition against Vienna, and in 1683 Thököly
joined the Ottoman forces under Kara Mustafa in the siege of good old
Vienna. It took a Polish charge, led by King Sobieski, to get the
Viennese out of this one. By the by, his name is also spelled Tokoly,-
not to be confused with Tokaji, the delicious Hungarian sweet wine
made from the Furmint grape (just to keep it on topic)
Respectfully,
Stephan
Mark Lipton
winemonger wrote:
>
> And those Austrians do have a sort of version of fried chicken called
> Backhendel.
Backhendl, actually. Sorry! ;-)
> I've been told that it's from the Styrian region, but is
> available all over. I have also been told that if you asked a Styrian
> which wine one should pair with it, he'd tell you to go home. (but to
> be the devil's advocate, I know a number of Styrians who would be
> happy to recommend a pairing)
> I enjoyed it with beer.
Can't say I recall seeing it either in the Osttirol or Vienna, but I may not have been
looking hard enough...
Viele Gruße,
Mark Lipton
Mark Lipton
Stephan Schindler wrote:
> Cut to: Türkenbelgerung II,- impale them harder. This time around an
> ambitious young Turkish vizier by the name of Kara Mustafa Pasa had
> the grand idea of paying Vienna a visit with an army of 200.000
> Osmans. Guess who gave him the grand idea: None other than Hungarian
> Magnate Duke Thököly. It was largely at his instigation that the
> sultan undertook his expedition against Vienna, and in 1683 Thököly
> joined the Ottoman forces under Kara Mustafa in the siege of good old
> Vienna. It took a Polish charge, led by King Sobieski, to get the
> Viennese out of this one.
Which is why the Flying Hussars are still commemorated by various businesses in Vienna. Oh, and there was
also that plot to tunnel under the wall that was foiled by the bakers, leading to the invention of the
croissant (the perfect accompaniment for the coffee left behind by the Turks).
Mark Lipton
Max Hauser
> >
> Hello Ian,
> Well, I always heard the story told this way: the Turks were
> attacking. The Viennese were keeping them outside of the walls
> of the city. But then the Turks did something truly dasterdly:
> they began lighting the vineyards on fire. The heathens! The horror!
> The Viennese promptly surrendered in order to spare the vines.
> Perhaps that was a different Turkish siege on Vienna, but it does
> bring us back to the focus of our newsgroup.
> And it's a great story.
Here's another. Empires have come and gone in the indefinitely long history
of that city-state, but sometimes they leave good ideas behind. (The
Ottoman Turks left coffee, for one; thence it spread to the rest of Europe,
by popular tradition. Even if the first coffee houses in Paris in the late
1600s were indeed "frequented only by confirmed smokers, travelers from the
Lebanon, and several Knights of Malta," as a French author complained,
adding the decisive French summary "mediocre.")
The Romans, back to the story, were one empire of many, Emperor Marcus
Aurelius Antonius, I believe, decreeing that residents of the district could
sell their own wine without tax "in perpetuity," this statute being honored
ever since, one reason why the metropolitan area is surrounded by myriad
small or household wine bars, often with food (_Heurigen,_ etc.). Also why
Marcus Aurelius (Germ. "Marc Aurel") has been long regarded there as A-O-K,
as they say in the USA.
Max Hauser
Michael Pronay
> Well, I always heard the story told this way: the Turks were
> attacking. The Viennese were keeping them outside of the walls
> of the city. But then the Turks did something truly dasterdly:
> they began lighting the vineyards on fire. The heathens! The
> horror! The Viennese promptly surrendered in order to spare the
> vines.
Totally impossible. Every child in Vienna learns that the turks
besieged Vienna twice, and both times in vein: 1529 and 1683.
M.
Emery Davis
] Salut/Hi Max Hauser,
]
] le/on Wed, 16 Jun 2004 00:58:38 -0700, tu disais/you said:-
]
] >> But in fond remembrance of Franz Josef still retain Tafelspitz,
] >> at least in Vienna. ;-)
]
] >the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
] >boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
] >city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
] >least -- Western civilization.
]
] As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
] defence against seige cowered in terror, a handful of hungarians, holed up
] like rats in a castle, fought the entire Turkish Army to a standstill until
] the winter. The Turks, unprepared for the bad weather went home again, and
] by the next year, Vienna had become fortified.
]
]
Spoken like a whole hungarian! Adele is half also, so between you there is
a whole one. (Her Dad came to the US in 56.) It's a very old family, and
believe it or not the crest is ... the bloody head of a turk! Charming.
-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to emery...@ebayadelka.com
by removing the well known companies
Ian Hoare
le/on 16 Jun 2004 20:43:56 -0700, tu disais/you said:-
>Cut to: Türkenbelgerung II,- impale them harder. This time around an
>ambitious young Turkish vizier by the name of Kara Mustafa Pasa had
>the grand idea of paying Vienna a visit with an army of 200.000
>Osmans. Guess who gave him the grand idea: None other than Hungarian
>Magnate Duke Thököly.
Who was a protestant, and whose faith had been systematically persecuted by
the (Catholic) Hapsburgs.
But of course the Hungarians have a racial genius for fomenting revolution
and rebellion, only equalled by their genius for being on the wrong side in
conflicts. That's the only thing that _really_ worries me about the
enlargement of Europe, Hungary has come in!!!
Unless I'm mistaken, the siege I was thinking about was conducted by
Suleiman the magnificent almost 100 years earlier.
Ian Hoare
le/on 16 Jun 2004 18:38:54 -0700, tu disais/you said:-
>Ian Hoare <ianh...@angelfire.com> wrote in message news:
>> >the ring of arrogance -- arrogance instilled in him by generations of
>> >boiled-beef-eating ancestors who had been around in Vienna in 1683 while the
>> >city fought off the assault of the Turks and saved -- for a while, at
>> >least -- Western civilization.
>>
>> As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
>> defence against seige cowered in terror, a handful of hungarians, holed up
>> like rats in a castle, fought the entire Turkish Army to a standstill until
>> the winter. The Turks, unprepared for the bad weather went home again, and
>> by the next year, Vienna had become fortified.
>
>Hello Ian,
>Well, I always heard the story told this way: the Turks were
>attacking. The Viennese were keeping them outside of the walls of the
>city.
Ah but that was the following year. The siege at the castle of Buk (if my
memory serves me right) DID stop Mustafa but of course didn't prevent him
for still wanting to take Vienna. So I think it was the following year that
he came back, but by then Vienna was defended.
>Viennese promptly surrendered in order to spare the vines.
I don't think that's right, I'm not sure that Vienna ever fell.
Stephan Schindler
True, there is this place Die Drei Husaren (The three Husares) my
parents used to go to for very special occasions. I have never been
myself and am now left with Schatzi on Main or my own humble cooking
skills if I want to get a Schnitzl.
The Turks left more behind: Türkenblut, (Turk's blood), an expression
for a dark red wine, the Gugelhupf, a Viennese cake that was
supposedly shaped after the Turish turban fashion of the times and the
word band,- believe it or not. The story goes that a Turkish group of
musicians was captured and imprisoned in Vienna and hence referred to
as "Bande" by the Viennese folk, - meaning something like "rotten
gang" -, and apparently the word band for a group of musicians can be
traced back to this very event.
The croissant though really makes me proud and helps soothe the pain
still present from dicovering the Italian heritage of the Schnitzel a
couple of years ago.
Stephan
Michael Pronay
Ken Blake
Michael Pronay <m...@privacy.net> typed:
> Totally impossible. Every child in Vienna learns that the turks
> besieged Vienna twice, and both times in vein: 1529 and 1683.
No, no, not in "vein." In *Wien*. ;-)
--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup
Ian Hoare
le/on Thu, 17 Jun 2004 10:35:28 +0200, tu disais/you said:-
>] As a half hungarian, I MUST protest. While Vienna entirely unprepared for
>] defence against seige cowered in terror,
>Spoken like a whole hungarian! Adele is half also, so between you there is
>a whole one. (Her Dad came to the US in 56.)
Chuckle... I'm not TOO serious about this, for all that my hungarian blood
does surface in odd ways from time to time! My uncle came out in '56 too. He
tried to come out in '48 to join us in the UK, was betrayed to the
communists and was comdemned to 2 years prison. He only came out from Recs
(notorious death camp) when it closed in '51. To give them credit, the
Hungarians have made a memorial of the camp "lest we forget".
> It's a very old family, and believe it or not the crest is ... the bloody head of a turk! Charming.
I believe it. My hungarian family's pretty ancient too, and an ancestor was
ennobled in the 16th century by the Emperor Leopold, for services
(unspecified) rendered.
Please wish her "Kézem csókolom" for me.
winemonger
> Totally impossible. Every child in Vienna learns that the turks
> besieged Vienna twice, and both times in vein: 1529 and 1683.
>
> M.
The child from Vienna who told me this tale tells me also that it is
something of an urban myth which he heard from his parents and all his
friends knew and so forth. I still think it's a charming story.
e.