Restaurant Review : Barenwirt, Salzburg, Austria

We switched hotels on Saturday to the Sheraton, on the other side of the River Salz, and used www.tripadvisor.com again to find somewhere for dinner.  Barenwirt is nearly 350 years old and got some great reviews - their claim to fame is they have the best fried chicken in Austria - well, I'll be the judge of that!

We walked back over the river and found Barenwirt without any problems.  They found us a table on a balcony overlooking the River Salz, which was seriously flowing, dragging huge trees downstream in its muddy, caffe latte coloured water.

I ordered the fried chicken (how could I not?) which came with a side of potato salad, and hubby ordered the schnitzel.  The fried chicken was really lovely, crisply fried and not greasy.  It came in five small portions with a fried chicken liver served in a little paper patty pan as an accompaniment (as much as I love foie gras, I'm not a fan of actual livers - weird, I know).  The potato salad was okay, but it's not the same as American or Australian potato salad - it's much heavier on the vinegar in the dressing and I only ate a little of it.

I was holding out to try a traditional Austrian dessert, Salzburger Nockerl, but I just didn't have any room - sigh.  Next time, Nockerl, next time!

Barenwirt

Mullner Hauptstrasse 8

Salzburg  Austria  5020

Phone:- 43 0 662 422 404

www.baerenwirt-salzburg.at

Mozart's Birth House, Salzburg, Austria

We had a great look around Mozart's Birth House Museum in Salzburg.  We sort of stumbled on it by accident, but it's well worth a look.  Entry was €7/per person.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in the house at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg on 27th January 1756 and lived for his first 17 years in his house.  The house isn't preserved as it would have been when he lived there, but is more of a museum containing music, instruments and information.  One thing I found really interesting was that his sister Maria Anna (known as Nannerl) was equally as talented as he was, but lived her life in the background.

Maria Anna Mozart

I'll be honest, I didn't know that much about Mozart and can only recognise some of his music and operas, but this museum was great.  Wolfgang and Nannerl's father, Leopold, seemed like a bit of a bully and realised that his kids where incredibly talented (as was he).  He worked those kids pretty hard, pushing them to tour Europe and enforcing fairly strict rules.  I learnt a lot from reading the displays and using the fabulous App for iPhone that you can download in the lobby on the free wifi provided.

Mozart's Gebursthaus

Getreidegasse 9

Salzburg  Austria  5020

Phone:- 43 662 84 43 13

http://mozarteum.at/en.html

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Bacon Jam Recipe

"Bacon Jam?  Say what?  Has all this travel finally driven her crazy?"  I can hear you asking these questions of yourself, but no, I'm serious.  I saw this recipe for Bacon Jam yesterday and I'm sooooooo tempted to make it.  What do you think?

If you look at the measurements, you'll see they are VERY precise.  This is because it's an American recipe and I pressed the "change it to metric" button.  I'm a "close enough is good enough" kind of cook, and I am pretty darn sure that it'll turn out fine if you don't have EXACTLY 327ml of cider vinegar.  Oh, and I've posted the original US measurements at the bottom of the page, they might be easier to follow.

Ingredients

• 1.36 kilograms Bacon
• 4 whole Large Yellow Onions, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
• 8 cloves Garlic, Smashed And Peeled
• 237 milliliters Cider Vinegar
• 237 milliliters Packed Light Brown Sugar
• 355 milliliters Very Strong Brewed Black Coffee
• 118 milliliters Pure Maple Syrup
• 4.9 milliliters Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

• Cut the bacon slices into 1-inch strips. Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid. (Save the bacon drippings in the refrigerator. That’s too much flavor to trash!)
• Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Stir well and reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.
• Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.
• Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding 1/4 cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade. Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the bacon jam is a spreadable consistency. Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month.
• Can be served cold, room temperature or warmed.

Here's the US measurement list:-

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Bacon
• 4 whole Large Yellow Onions, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
• 8 cloves Garlic, Smashed And Peeled
• 1 cup Cider Vinegar
• 1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1-½ cup Very Strong Brewed Black Coffee
• ½ cups Pure Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Restaurant Review : Cafe Tomaselli, Salzburg, Austria

After a great nights sleep at the Goldener Hirsch, we decided we'd head out to Cafe Tomaselli for breakfast.  I'd read about it on www.tripadvisor.com and people said they made the best coffee in town.  Cafe Tomaselli has been around for over 300 years and I think we were quite lucky to get one of the gorgeous outside tables so we could sit and watch the world go past.

One of the fab things about Salzburg is that many ladies wear their traditional dress - dirndl.  They wear them as normal day dress, not just for a special occasion, and they are all so gloriously colourful and fashionable. The residents of Salzburg all seem to be very chic and stylish - you can quite easily tell who the tourists are!

We ordered breakfasts and their recommended coffee, Viennese Melange, the traditional coffee for the region which was mocha with milk and big spoons of whipped cream - YUM!  Tomaselli only uses fresh local free range eggs and my breakfast "egg cup egg" was seriously scrumptious.  We sat in the sun and ordered second coffees and watched the promenading locals, horse drawn carriages and wandering tourists - a lovely way to start the day.

Tomaselli is also famous for its cakes and bakery, and dirndl clad waitresses wandered past from time to time with huge trays of glorious sliced cakes balanced on their shoulders - you could stop them and they would lower their tray to your table and serve you a slice.  Very tempting indeed.  Lucky I was full of creamy coffee!

Cafe Tomaselli

Alter Markt 9

Salzburg  Austria  5020

Phone:- 43 662 844 488 0

www.tomaselli.at

Restaurant Review : Blaue Gans, Salzburg, Austria

After a 400km drive, and a good walk around Salzburg old town, we were feeling the need for a sit down, a drink and a meal.  The outdoor dining area of the Blaue Gans really caught our eye and we sat up at a high bar table for a drink and look at their menu.

The food going out looked really good, and we all know that I can't refuse a schnitzel - they kept on coming past!  We decided that we'd stick around for dinner and our friendly waiter took our order and moved us to a larger table when the food arrived.

Of course I ordered the schnitzel, and hubby had some rather yummy nettle filled ravioli (I know that sounds weird, but it was really yum) and fried spatchcock.  Luckily we'd been seated under a protective sail, as halfway through dinner the heavens opened and many people had to be quickly relocated - but we were fine and finished our meal.

It was still raining after we got the bill and our waiter gave us his umbrella, then ran behind us in the rain to safely deliver us to our hotel door - that's service!

Yummy food, reasonable prices and friendly, helpful staff - you can't beat that.

Art Hotel Blaue Gans

Getreidegasse 41-43 (or Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz 3)

Salzburg  Austria  5020

Phone:- 43 662 84 24 91 0

www.hotel-blaue-gans-austria.at