SEISER ALM, SOUTH TYROL – PART I
SEISER ALM - ALPE DI SIUSI
Berghaus Zallinger, Prossliner Schwaige, Mahlknechthütte, Alpe Di Tires, Sasso Piattoand Rifugio Bolzano are the foreign sounding, desirable destinations on my 10-day hike in the Seiser Alm region of South Tyrol.
A “Schwaige” refers to a building which is used for cattle-rearing. Usually these are rustic wooden huts built on the mountainside, which in the past housed the cattle on the ground floor. People would live on the top floor above the animals and would profit in the winter from the cattle's warm “emissions”.
Nowadays they are desirable places for hiking tourists, because farming was replaced by the hospitality business and the lonely huts became highlights after hours of deprivation on rough trails along dizzying slopes.
When finally reaching the hut, it's always the same ritual: First a wee-wee, then out of the Gore-Tex jacket to let off some steam, and - what could be better than this? - eating with your last bit of strength a “Kaspressknödel Bouillon” made with beef broth and topped with chopped chives, blissfully feeling its warmth spread through the body.
The strength which seemed lost in the mountains begins to return as my fork smoothly cuts through the cheesy dumpling. On this reflection, I now have the courage for a second order.
“Gnädiges Fräulein, one more shandy (or Alsterwasser, as we say in Northern Germany) and a Kaiserschmarrn, please!”. Nodding brightly, the waitress in a Dirndl takes my order, bends over slightly to take away my soup bowl and cutlery, and her friendly alpine manner perfectly adds to my mountain hut experience at over 2000 metres. A new waiter, a fetching Bub in a check shirt and Lederhosen, serves the traditional dessert. The colour of my Schmarrn appears so orange, you’d think that the hen had nothing to eat but turmeric and carrots. And the homemade cranberry compote makes you believe that the innkeeper’s daughter picked them herself in the forrest, Little Red Riding Hood style.
Traditional Kaiserschmarrn
(for 2 people)
6 tbsp flour
6 eggs
2 pinches salt
2 pinches vanilla sugar
1 tbsp sugar
250 ml milk
2 cl rum
1 heaped tbsp clarified butter
icing sugar
(Recipes by Christoph Steinhauser)
Directions:
Put flour into a bowl. Add salt and milk and stir until smooth. Then add vanilla sugar, sugar and eggs to the mixture and carefully blend. Add rum to taste.
Now, heat a pan and melt the clarified butter. Then pour the dough into the pan. Important: As soon as the Kaiserschmarrn is in the pan, cover it with a lid. Fry on both sides for about 2-3 mins until it rises slightly and has become golden-brown.
Next, use a fork to pluck the Kaiserschmarrn apart and sprinkle some sugar on top. Wait until the sugar dissolves and begins to caramelise. Lastly, dust the Kaiserschmarrn with icing sugar and serve.
In addition to the body’s endless gratitude for a break, these euphoric taste experiences seem to result not only from the honest and simple cuisine but also from the idyllic mountain world surrounding me. The blue sky, the scent of freshly mown alpine meadows, Simmental cattle everywhere, and the diversity of soft and rugged alpine landscape sharpen the senses and heighten the experience more than in most other simple fair restaurants around the world.
The taste of holiday! Just a pity that we have to motivate our legs to tramp the same way back to the Goldknopf Hotel. We swear that we’re coming back, but then we’ll be hiking from hut to hut!
Further Links:
Berghaus Zallinger
Prossliner Schwaige
Mahlknechthütte Hütte
Tierser Alpl
Plattkofelhütte
Schlernhaus
Goldknopfhotel
Associazione Turistica Alpe Di Siusi
Getting There:
The Seiser Alm/Alp de Siusi is within the Dolomites mountain range in South Tyrol, north of Bolzano. The largest alpine pasture of Europe is a traffic calmed area – the road is closed for motorists between 9:00 and 17:00. Whoever intends to arrive or depart during this time requires a special driver’s permit that can be obtained at your hotel. Available are busses between the villages of Tiers, Völs, Seis and Kastelruth, and there are also gondolas (Info: Phone 00 39/04 71 70 42 71).
Arriving by plane: There are bus transfers from the airport in Bergamo, Verona, Venice, Treviso, Innsbruck and even Munich.
Arriving by Train: IC and EC trains stop in Bolzano and Brixen; there are bus connections to the villages around the Seiser Alm.
More Under www.seiseralm.it/de
