It’s not an Austrian Brettljause in its classic sense, but it’s not the Marende of South Tyrol either. It’s something in between. It’s also something between good and not good, or more exactly between good and boring.
Honestly, at a location like the Seegrube, they could have offered a Brettljause made out of marinated toads and still have success with it. The Seegrube, the middle station of Innsbruck’s cable car, must be the most visited location of the city, and on a clear sunny day easily the best place to be. Unfortunately, today was not a clear sunny day by any definition. It rained heavily over the Seegrube and snowed over the Hafelekar, the cable car’s top station. The city panorama was totally hidden behind thick fog, so the only sight to enjoy was the sight of the Marende on my table.
Which showed a bit of creativity, if only a very tiny bit. The Tyrolean Graukäs was present, adding a bit of strong taste, especially since the second type of cheese did not have much of it. Like that cheese, the Speck was cut into small Soletti-like sticks, which is generally a bad decision, since the meat cut this way loses most of its flavor. The typical Tyrolian salty sausage was also cut into tiny square slices, making it difficult to eat and even more difficult to appreciate. Only the Schweinsbraten and the ham were cut normally, but both were rather industrial and, featured as two slices each, rather insufficient. Finally, there was some Grammelschmalz in a separate glass, and it was… well, cold.
Generally, the Marende was too big to be a starter but too small to be considered a main dish. If you take it with a small salad (like I did), it will be perfectly adequate for a mid-day snack and you’ll have enough space in your stomach left for a proper dinner in the evening. I won’t say you should go up the Seegrube just to try it, but if you are already there, relatively hungry and can find a nice place to sit outside, then why not.
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