Undercheesed

On my first full day in the pretty and convenient Wildschönau, I was looking forward to visiting Kasalm, because – as its name says – it makes its own cheese. Reaching it from Niederau is very easy thanks to the Markbachjoch cable car – a bit too easy, in fact, because the hike is less than an hour long. Unless, like me, you walk the Wildschönauer Höhenweg a few kilometers more and then come back.

The Alm’s location is great, offering a panoramic view of Wilder Kaiser and Kitzbühel Alpen. Considering the touristic potential of such a location, the hut itself is surprisingly low-key. It is self-service only, the beer is bottled and comes from a fridge and, apart from the locally produced cheese that is only available for takeaway, the only food choice is a Brettljause.

With my high expectations, it was an unpleasant surprise to find only one type of cheese on the board (I don’t count a lump of fresh cheese as cheese). Because of having been cut extremely thinly, the cheese had lost most of its flavor, and only a subtle aftertaste identified it to me as a Bergkäse. It is beyond me why the hut’s owners did not offer the entire assortment of their cheeses as part of the Brettljause. It addition to making the Brettljause more interesting, that would have certainly improved the cheese sales.

The way the Brettljause was, however, the Verhackertes was probably its most enjoyable ingredient. Speck was OK taste-wise, but very tough and with lots of fat on one side, so chewing it quickly became a nuisance. The Liptauer spread was simply bad, but expecting a good Liptauer in Tyrol is like expecting strong cheese in the Wachau. Just to add more unpleasantness, the vicinity of a cowshed resulted in a large number of highly annoying flies.

Kasalm is OK for a quick beer with a nice view, but if you expect an exciting cheese-tasting experience, prepare to be disappointed.