It is suspicious to visit a Heuriger on a Friday evening and find it almost empty, not counting an odd family, only one member of which dared drinking wine. It is even stranger to be in such a situation in a rather nice, if un-touristic, place with a surprisingly good Brettljause.
It was also one of the most unusual Brettljausen I have ever tasted. Usually a Brettlause is 80% meat, with cheese added as an afterthought or a decoration. Very rarely, it’s 45% meat, 45% cheese and some pickles for variety. The Brettljause of Pötzleinsdorf is 33% meat, 34% cheese and spread and 33% pickles. It contained a separate small plate of pickled zucchini (surprisingly tasty), a pile of salty cucumbers, two Pfefferonis and a couple of hot green peppers – the fact that three quarters of wine were needed to wash all this down was not at all unexpected.
One of the spreads was a rather ordinary (though pleasantly creamy) Liptauer, while the other, a white one, was extremely tasty in a spicy way. The three types of cheese were unfortunately unexceptional; though having three types of cheese is quite an achievement by itself. The meats, on the other hand – consisting of a deer salami, a “non-deer” salami and a Speck were of very good quality and – again – quite original.
This was not the king of Brettljausen to any extent, but a very pleasant and unanticipated surprise nevertheless. In particular, during a warmer season, when the Heuriger’s cozy garten opens, the “Pötzi” may be just the right place to escape from the noise and the tourist crowds.
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