HonigFest @ Hermagor

One of the many events held during Summer is the honey festival at Hermagor, an eastern district within the state of Carinthia.

The road was closed down on this particular sunny afternoon but were instead lined up with countless makeshift stores selling different housebrands of honey as well as products that were somehow related to honeys or bees.

honey extractor

I spotted one particular store which was selling a traditional Austrian cuisine - Eierschwammerl-Rahmsauce mit Knödeln. Absolutely nothing to do with the festival theme but which caught my attention nonetheless. Smacked right in the center of the store was this giant flat-based wok with thousands of eierschwammerl stewing in a thick brown creamy gravy. And seriously, who could resist it?!?

Unfortunately, one plate cost us a damning €10 so we ended up sharing it and had to instead scout around for a cheaper alternative lunch. And salad was the natural choice - healthy with some stripes of turkey to top up my daily protein requirement. :)

And lastly, I would like to add that bees are not only a hardworking lot, they can be rather clever....or a more apt description would be innovative...what do you think?

New favours from Ferrero Rocher

Found two new favours from my all time favourite - Ferrero Rocher.

Ferrero Garden - Lemon Favoured

Ferrero Rondnoir - Dark Chocolate with Black 'Pearl' Center

Are these available in Singapore? Or am I super outdated?

Quack...Quack....

It all started on a beautiful sunny weekend and a bag of bread crumbs.

The drive around a nearby lake provided us with a stunning view of the mountainuous range in the backdrop and the crystal blue lake in the foreground. This is the view that has drawn thousands and probably millions of city dwellers flocking to peaceful and tranquil towns dotted throughout Austria.

People could be seen paddling idly across the lake, others on their sails breezing past the docks and many more sun tanning on the grass patches. Nevertheless, the object of our pursuit cannot be found. We drove around the lake, stopping at locations where we thought were further away from the throngs of human activities which might have driven them to hide in the remote spots. Alas, we were disappointed.

While heading back with our heads almost drooping into the bag full of crumbs, the distant memory of a feeding dispenser located along the river pushed its way through the clouded memories and surfaced to my mind. River Drau it shall be!

Upon passing the onion-shaped dome churches, we knew that it would be a matter of minutes before arriving at the all-too-familiar river which flows next to the town center.

Almost instantly, we spotted them! At first, there were only a few along the river. And as we descended the steps and started sprinkling bread crumbs at them, more and more simply appeared from nowhere!

Somehow, they reminded me of the Navy and Air Forces, with high-tec communication gadgets to inform others in the vicinity of their discoveries and also theirs magnificent manoeuver towards the target before the smooth water landing from flight. Amazing!

It was not until the bag was emptied out and dusk approached before we decided to head back. Mission accomplished. :)

Maroni a.k.a Chestnut

The first image that popped into my mind at the mention of chestnuts is that of a pushcart manned by a man in bermudas hard at work frying the dark brown chestnuts amidst a big wok of charcoal....never, never as fruits growing from a tree. And this explains my look of amazement to find them staring at me within such close proximity!

However, the joy was short-lived as I learned that the one I'm witnessing is a Horse Chestnut tree which produces inedible chestnuts, unlike the Sweet Chestnut tree, it's edible counterpart.



Nevertheless, this is definitely one thing for me to look forward to in the cold, cold Winter - steaming hot chestnuts wrapped in brown paper bags, drawing customers with the smell of roasted nuts wafting down the streets, into the tiny alleys...hmmm..... :)

The Old World @ St. Paul

Walking leisurely through a large manicured garden to the St. Paul's Benedictine Abbey, one could never have imagined it's huge collection of ancient books dating back to more than 900 years ago.

Rows upon rows of impressive towering shelves full of books with brittle pages greeted us at the entrance. It's a wonder than I even dare to heave a sign of breath near them - for fear that the pages would simply be reduced to ashes and lay scattered on the floor.


Plugged into the audio guide, I was led into the ancient world of monks who had the privilege to read and copy countless volumes of manuscripts when literacy was rare. This is the first time the Abbey's opening it's doors and exhibiting it's priceless documents to the public; from centuries-old documents to the World's oldest printed book to the oldest manuscript dating back to the 4th century found outside the Vatican City.


What intrigued me the most was the section on "Forbidden Books". In today's world when most scientific studies or discoveries are made quickly known to the public, it was a forbbiden subject in the past. Forbbiden because it provided an alternative, scientific explanation to things other than the powers of God which might possibly shake the very foundation of the Monasteries and Abbeys' preach of faith to the believers. Even so, the monks were actively researching and recording their scientific findings only to have the documents locked away from the prying eyes of the public.

The Secret Recipe for Carbonara

Some years back, I was imparted the recipe for Carbonara by a Slovenian. Five years later, in the very same continent, I was told that the recipe is not authentic....by Italians! So here goes the superseded version:

Carbonara

Ingredients:

olive oil

diced onion

bacon strips (I only had ham but bacon would be recommended)

egg

pasta (cooked in a pot of salted water and drained)

grated parmesan cheese

sliced garlic (optional)

milk (optional)

Method:

(1) Fry onions and garlic in olive oil.

(2) Lower the heat and add the bacon strips. Stir fry till golden brown.

(3) Meanwhile, add grated parmesan cheese to the egg. If you prefer a wet carbonara, moderate amount of milk can be added as well.

(4) Add the pasta and egg mixture into the pan.

(5) Stir in the yolk.

(6) Cook for ~ 1 minute until the eggs are dried.

Verdict:

(+) It's easy and tasty!

(+) No cream of any type if needed which makes it that little bit less fattening.

An insight into the past....

I was awestruck when I was shown a pair of binoculars from World War II.

It was heavy alright but it worked fine and was very well preserved till date. Instead of staring glassy-eyed at it from a high security bullet-proof casing in a museum, I got to handle it! How cool is that! :)

Mushroom Hunt!

Mushroom as we all know is a kind of fungus. As such, it trives especially well in Summer together with the rain! The best time to go mushroom picking would be a few days after the rain stops, just enough time for the fungus to sprout from the earth.

We did manage to harvest quite some mushrooms, small ones though whilst the insects already beaten us to the bigger and matured ones.

It was quite an experience for me, a city dweller whose encounter with mushrooms are limited to either that at the supermarket or those grown in farms.

Here, in the wild, we had to literally pick our ways through the forest - brushing through prinkling branches, uneven grounds, sometimes even steep declines just to pick that one golden mushroom 'shimmering' in the faint sunlight. And of course, the eyes must be trained to spot the tiny mushrooms hidden amidst the dead leaves, fallen branches and similarly coloured earth.

At the end of our somewhat satisfatory harvest, we treated ourselves to some Jause, bread and hot drinks. Jause is a typical snack served in higher altitudes and consist mainly of thick slabs of fatty air-dried meat, thinly sliced hams, cheeses and gherkins. In the past, it is a fatty diet, an ideal one in fact for workers dealing with labour-intensive work in the harsh climate at higher altitudes. Now, it is tradition passed down and a form of comfort food which should only be indulged occasionally.

And lastly, a joke we often share whenever the topic of mushrooms crops up:

The last words from a mushroom picker are: "Those...I do not recognise..."

Villacher Kirchtag - Part 02

Umzug, the highlight of the Kirchtag, is a colourful parade of traditional costumes, headdresses, more folks music, bigger-than-normal horses from the breweries and many, many more!

Participating performers came from neighbouring states within Austria as well as from nearby Italy and Slovenia. Hours before the procession, the city center were already dotted with these performers and their colourful costumes transformed the town center into a wonderful display of colours.

Flags representing each state were flying along the bridge across River Drau and spectators were all hyped up, queuing along the street to occupy the best possible spot to witness the grand procession. Airplane with the Kirchtag banner could also be seen circling around town, giving last notices to those still cooped up in the comfort of their own apartments to join in the fun! Meanwhile, tentages in the city center were filled with smoke from the big woks, cooking up a feast to satisfy the constantly hungry crowd. What better ways to show the festivity of the procession than with pictures and videos? :)