You know you are in Italy when a half-liter of white wine costs almost as much as a half-liter of beer. Other than that, you can easily mistake Haideralm for an Austrian hut, with Kaiserschmarren being its most popular dish. Even the name of the cold cuts I ate, the “Marendbrettl,” appears to be a compromise between an Italian Marende and an Austrian Brettljause. (Having said that, Italians seem to be much better at coming up with pleasant-sounding names than Austrians. Curon Venosta sounds by far nicer than Graun im Vinschgau and reflects the spirit of this village much better.)
Getting to the Reschensee (sorry, Lago di Resia) lake with its famous half-submerged tower has long been in my plans. I considered reaching it from Meran, but as it turned out, it is much easier accessible from the Austrian side, to the point that I did not have to pay extra for the bus when it crossed the border. Though the tower itself proved a bit anticlimactic (it is much closer to the shore than tourist guides make you believe), the lake’s mountainous surroundings are quite impressive, and there are even two cable cars next to the lake, one of which I took today to reach Haideralm, and the other now added to my “to-do list.”
The Marendbrettl of Haideralm was more of a Marende then a Brettljause, though not completely. There was more variety, to start with, which is always nice: the Speck was accompanied by some Bresaola; the Kaminwurzen was thinly cut and supplemented by salami, and there were two types of cheese, with a pleasantly strong(-ish) taste. True to Italian customs, fresh horseradish was replaced by a creamy alternative, and the pickles had much more vinegar than necessary. On the other hand, as a tribute to neighboring Austria, no hard Schüttelbrot was provided, the fact I found very disappointing until I tried the garlic-spiced toast bread cut into tiny cubes. Some of the pieces were harder than others and really challenged my teeth, but generally, that bread was the perfect companion to the wine, to the extent that I was seriously considering ordering another half-liter of wine to finish the remaining bread.
During my recent visits to South Tyrol, I had somewhat lost faith in its Marenden, often finding their simplicity more annoying than authentic. The Marende of Haideralm, on the other hand, is quite comparable to its Austrian counterparts while maintaining a distinct Italian flair. And the cheap but quality wine is a good bonus, of course.
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