I knew that Brettljausen in Lech were not going to be cheap. Even in simple mountain huts of Vorarlberg the prices reach 13 euros, and Lech is a special place – a winter holiday destination for rich and famous, as the number of five-star hotels and luxurious chalets in this small village can attest. In summer, the hotels become more affordable (especially this year, as they are struggling to recover their COVID-related losses), but the restaurants’ prices quickly eat up whatever you might have saved on accommodation. 16 euros for a platter of cold cuts seems exorbitant even for Lech, so I was actually quite curious to find out what a “celebrity Brettljause” could be.
The short answer is, nothing you could not have made yourself. At the height of the coronavirus lockdown, I was experimenting with making my own “dream” Brettljausen. That involved going to a supermarket and buying all kinds of ingredients that I thought ought to belong on a perfect Brettljause: strong cheeses, special types of Speck, salami and ham and interesting spreads. The results were impressive: very varied, tasty and far too heavy to eat more than once a fortnight. And that was the problem: you cannot buy just two slices of a sausage at a supermarket, and even in the smallest packaging the extra ingredients remaining after the Jause took days to finish, to the point that I could hardly eat them. They were also seriously costly.
Which brings me to the Brettljause of the Rud-Alpe, which was incredibly similar to my own creations, just a bit smaller. Whereas I used at least three slices of each type of sausage or cheese (mainly to get rid of the stock quicker), Rud-Alpe served only one or two, mixing them with a few thickly cut (but still small) pieces. I bet I could recognize some of the ingredients and can confirm that they were high quality and not cheap. The difference is, unlike me, the restaurant could make five Bretljausen and not worry about the ingredients being wasted.
Thus, I can’t really complain. If you have a large family of non-vegetarians and want to treat them with a very good Brettljause, go to a shop and buy the best and the most expensive ingredients you can find. If, on the other hand, you don’t like throwing stuff away or simply can’t be bothered with cooking, a visit to the Rud-Alpe will not leave you disappointed.
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