Styrian Spring

It is a tradition that every spring, around mid-April, the square and the park in front of Vienna’s city hall are handed over to Styrians for a four-day festival of tourism, ham, horseradish and wine. Especially the wine – including the famous Uhudler, which, true to its name, is said to make your eyes look like that of an owl after excessive consumption. It is a festival of heavy wine drinking and is the most crowded event of the year. Even more crowded than the Christmas market, I believe.

This year, however, it seems that that the rainy colder-than-usual weather had scared some of the attendees. As a result, I managed to approach at least some of the stands, in particular, the ones of the Schladming/Planai region, which included a makeshift restaurant serving a Brettljause. A devoted fan of Styrian Brettljausen that I am, I still take any festival food with great suspicion. Normally, it is overpriced, insufficient and not very good.

This Brettljause was an exception, however. At under 7 euros, it was very reasonably priced, bigger than expected, and generally very representative of the region. Its ingredients included Verhackertes and Liptauer spreads, some ham (not the famous Vulcano ham, but a totally acceptable one), a whole Hauswurst, two thick slices of cheese and a huge thick cut of Speck. A sharp knife was provided, but no fork, in the authentic “mountain hut” fashion, and indeed, the dish looked very much like something one would eat on the top of a mountain with a view over the Schladminger Tauern.

I am afraid, however, that had I encountered such a Brettljause during a hike in Styria, I would have enjoyed it much more. Unfortunately, the noisy and stressy atmosphere of the festival did have effect on the experience, and I was not ready to try improving it by drinking large volumes of alcohol. The ingredients’ taste, too (especially of the Speck and the cheeses) was not strong enough to compare it with the high Styrian standards. The horseradish, luckily, was as fierce as one would expect from the Styrians.

The Styrian spring festival is a kind of a must-visit event of the year, even if one quickly runs away, having been scared by the crowds and the noise. If, however, you are lucky enough to find a Brettljause and a table to sit at, you may have a near-Styrian experience to pump you with a bit of strength before your next holiday. The Jause is not as good as in Styria, of course, but it is still far ahead of the most Viennese alternatives.