THE CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS OF AUSTRIA HAVE BEEN INSTILLED IN GEMLIFE MAROOCHY QUAYS HOMEOWNER LENORE SIEBER SINCE SHE MARRIED HUSBAND RON AT THE AGE OF 17. THAT WAS 48 YEARS AGO.
When the Austrian-born professional musician met his wife, she was young and lacking cooking skills.
“I could ruin a boiled egg … that’s how bad I was,” admits Lenore today.
“I had lost my mother in an accident when I was just four years old and when Ron introduced me to his mum, she took me under her wing and that’s where our family’s Christmas traditions all began for me.”
According to Austrian tradition, the main Christmas meal is enjoyed on Christmas Eve with large gatherings of friends and family commonplace.
“In carrying on the Austrian tradition we cook up all the popular festive dishes such as goulash, knodel (German bread dumplings), roast pork with crispy crackling, sauerkraut, potato salad with egg, cucumber salad, stuffed mushrooms crumbed and deep fried, plus veal, chicken and pork schnitzels,” said Lenore.
Catering for large numbers of anywhere from 12 to 15 people was all part of the Christmas Eve meal experience, and for Ron, Lenore and their daughter Emma who now has a family of her own in California, it was a major annual event that would see them driving from Brisbane to Sydney each year to enjoy.
“We had to arrive before 6pm on Christmas Eve and would be greeted with a huge spread of food. Dinner would take about two hours, then everyone would grab a spot in the living room for the giving of Christmas gifts. That would be followed by poppyseed and apple strudel with a coffee. Christmas Day would be very quiet, a recovery day when we would eat leftovers while the kids played with their new toys.”
About a decade ago, Ron and Lenore joined with eight of their friends to start a new tradition to celebrate Christmas lunch with each other annually on 22 December.
“We cook up turkey, duck and chicken rolled up and baked in the oven, served with roast vegetables or salad plus a special serving of prawns.”
Sparkles and decorations on the tree and throughout the home are also a must for the self-professed `sparkles kid’ Lenore.
Austrian Goulash
INGREDIENTS
- 3 large onions
- 1 tbsp garlic, heaped and crushed
- 1kg rump steak, trimmed and cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 250ml beef stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste, heaped
Method
Fry the onions and garlic.
Cut the beef into cubes and trim fat and coat with flour, add to the pan. Sear to cook.
Add salt, pepper, paprika, tomato paste, stir and then add stock. Combine, lower to simmer and cook for 3 hours.
Serve with spaetzel, noodles or best with knödel.
Tip: Lenore says it’s very tasty the next day when all the ingredients have combined beautifully.
Knödel
German bread dumplings
INGREDIENTS
- 5 loaves stale bread
- 250ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 100g Tyrolean speck
- (a type of smoked prosciutto) into cubes
- 30g butter
- 2 bunches chives
- 1 – 1½ cups beef broth or vegetable
METHOD
Heat some of the milk while cutting the bread into small pieces. When the milk is hot pour it on the bread and let it soak for 5 minutes.
Cut the speck into small cubes and sauté them in butter.
Finely chop the chives. Beat the remaining milk with the eggs and add it to the bread along with the speck, breadcrumbs and ¾ of the chives. Season with salt and mix everything quickly with your hands.
Heat some salted water, when it comes to a boil, lower the heat. With wet hands, form 12 meatballs. Cook them by gently sliding them into the water. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
While they are cooking, heat the broth. When the meatballs are ready, drain them with a slotted spoon and serve them in the hot broth sprinkled with chives.
In Austria, freshly boiled knödel is served as a side dish to accompany hearty fare liked braised meat, gravy, roast pork, and lentils.