Tasty Vorarlberg treats made at home
If sampling Vorarlberg's delicious specialities is simply not enough for you, then you can also making them yourself on one of Frau Kaufmann's cookery courses.
Date: 12 September 2017
In the picturesque village of Egg in the heart of the Bregenzerwald, Frau Kaufmann has opened a special culinary school. In a former tavern, Karin Kaufmann teaches her pupils the tips and tricks that you cannot learn from a cookery book or TV show. Her creed is that you need to “feel” it with your hands. “Cooking is no work at all for me; it’s more like concentrated relaxation. Above all, it is a sensual handicraft,” says Kaufmann.
Sophisticated hospitality
The central mainstay for Frau Kaufmann’s cookery courses is appreciation. Appreciation of the products as well as the producers, and not least the tradition that lies behind so many of the dishes. With meat, for example, this means that the animals not only need to be well fed, but also that all parts of an animal are put to use after slaughtering. Not only the prime parts either, but everything from nose to tail. Almost all the processed products originate from the region and are of the highest quality. Food is also a cultural asset – this is what Karin Kaufmann would like to convey with her courses.
The programme
In her courses, she interprets traditional cuisine in a contemporary manner. Frau Kaufmann offers a diverse course programme, mostly tailored individually to the attendees. Particularly with “Cooking Made to Measure”, a closed group can define the date, menu and duration of the course themselves; “Cooking in a Team” makes an ideal seminar for companies. Frau Kaufmann’s classic cookery course is “Cooking for Every Day”, which covers the preparation of a 4-course menu. Depending on the subject, interesting guests such as other chefs, farmers or winemakers also take part.
Cooking is no work at all for me; it's more like concentrated relaxation. Above all, it is a sensual handicraft.
Frau Kaufmann to take away
You don’t always need to make everything yourself. Just below the cookery school, Frau Kaufmann has a little shop. Every possible blend of herbs and spices – which Karin Kaufmann prepares herself – can be found here, together with kitchen and table utensils, in an historic cellar vault in the former “Gasthaus Engel”.
If you would like a little taster before travelling to the Bregenzerwald, then here is Karin Kaufmann’s original “Buchtel” recipe for a baking dish measuring 30 x 20 cm:
"Buchtel" recipe
Ingredients
20 grams yeast, dissolved
700 grams “Zopf” (wheat + spelt) flour
1 egg
2 yolks
100 grams caster sugar
approx. ¼ l lukewarm milk
120 grams melted butter
Zest of half a lemon
1 tsp salt
250 grams strained apricot jam mixed with 1 tbsp rum
Knobs of butter
Preparation
Stir the yeast together with 5 tbsp water in a mixing bowl. Add the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, lemon zest and salt, then knead the mixture for approx. 5 minutes in a stand mixer. Add a little more milk if necessary. Let the dough rest for approx. 1 hour.
Cut pieces weighing approx. 40 grams from the dough. Pull the pieces apart, fill each with one tsp jam and lay together. Layer the little pockets (Buchtel) in a buttered baking dish. Space out the knobs of butter over the Buchtel and leave to rise again.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees centigrade for 35 minutes.
