Browse Techniques

The definitive baked strudel of the Alto Adige — paper-thin strudel pastry (not puff pastry or phyllo) stretched by hand over a flour-dusted cloth until translucent, then filled with sliced Renette apples, raisins plumped in rum, pine nuts, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter, rolled and baked until golden. The stretching technique is the foundation of the dish and cannot be replaced with commercial pastry.

Fermented sauerkraut (crauti) braised with speck Alto Adige, juniper berries and caraway — the definitive side dish of South Tyrolean cuisine. The crauti are first rinsed to control acidity, then slowly braised with rendered speck fat, onion, apple and white wine until soft and deeply flavoured. Served alongside smoked pork knuckle or cotechino, they are the acidic counterpoint that makes the rich pork digestible.

A buckwheat and chestnut flour pancake (schmarren) torn apart in the pan while cooking — the South Tyrolean adaptation of the Austrian Kaiserschmarrn, made with chestnut flour instead of plain flour for an earthier, nuttier character. Served with lingonberry jam (mirtilli rossi) and dusted with icing sugar. The tearing technique is what defines it — the irregular pieces caramelise at the torn edges.

Spinach-enriched egg pasta droplets (spatzle) made by pressing a soft batter through a perforated board directly into boiling salted water, then tossed in hazelnut-browned butter with crispy Speck Alto Adige and Trentingrana. The spinach turns the spatzle vivid green. A staple of South Tyrolean mountain cooking, bridging the German and Italian culinary traditions of the region.

The apple cake of Bolzano — a tall, moist cake enriched with butter and eggs, packed with sliced Renette apples and spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Unlike the Apfelstrudel, this is a leavened cake (not a pastry) and is baked in a high springform mould, producing a domed top of caramelised apple. Eaten at Kaffee und Kuchen (mid-afternoon coffee and cake) — the South Tyrolean institution that bridges German and Italian café culture.