The House at the End of the Valley

Location:Rauriser Tauernhaus
Website:No web site
Address:Seidlwinkltal 116, 5661 Rauris
Status:Open (last checked on 11 August 2018)
Eaten:Brettljause, ½ beer (Stiegl Goldbräu)

Common sense says that the further a hut is from the nearest town or village, the more likely it is to serve an authentic Brettljause. I would argue, however, that if the said hut is located at the end of a valley reachable by a tourist “valley bus,” the question is not so clear cut. Any clueless tourist would certainly take the bus to the furthest point possible, so the end of a valley is a perfect place to serve the visitors something they could have bought at a supermarket themselves for a fraction of the price, had they known the supermarket’s location.

Fortunately, this observation does not relate to Rariser Tauernhaus at any rate. Put it simply, it served me the best and the most authentic Bretljause during my far too short stay in Rauris. First, it was a no-fork Jause – a knife was all that was provided. As they show on TV, really. All the ingredients, apart from the creamy, spicy and wonderful (but insufficient) cheese, were thickly-cut, so the knife came really handy. Cutting the skin off the two types of Speck was a must, too. And the butter was served as such a huge slice that it became an important ingredient by itself.

The cheese was perfectly tasty without overdoing it, the Hauswurst had a different character from the standard “Handl Tyrol” stuff, and the smoked sausage was better smoked (read: longer) than any other smoked sausage I’ve tasted in the area. Both Specks were superb, quite on par with what one gets in South Tyrol.

Importantly, the hut was thoroughly “urig” – no pictures of the dishes, no English menus. No electricity, either, as far as I could see. Though as it turned out, it was not really the last hut in the valley; the cheese-making Litzlhofalm was reachable via a comfortable 45-minute walk. Looking at the Google Maps later on I was surprised to see that it was actually closer to Heiligenblut am Grossglockner than to Rauris. And I have actually walked all the way from the Tauernhaus to Litzlhofalm and then back to Rauris, despite my still hurting knee. By the way, no thanks to the valley taxi driver who drove past me standing at the stop sign and thus lengthened my hike by 12km or so, despite my buying the return ticket the same morning.

4.0

Brettljause
Variety
Authenticity
Size
Atmosphere/service
Value

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