Zipping past three-story houses lining the main drag in Schwechat, a Vienna suburb, I tried to catch every word my passenger Anna was saying about life here in Austria. Anna and I had gone to college together and failed miserably at keeping in touch. Now, thanks to Instagram and that cute pin marking ‘Vienna, Austria’ on her profile, we were back in touch, and en route to her house.

Anna married her Austrian husband Paul after meeting him on a ski vacation in the Alps and the two of them have been living here, in this quaint suburb, for several years now with his parents. Her German is exceptional as is her knowledge of Austrian cuisine.

Anna Making Venison Goulash

A fellow cook, Anna had invited me to join her family for a home-cooked meal my first night in town. As we drove out of the city, she told me what was on the menu. Anna had spent the weekend preparing venison goulash and apple strudel and tonight we would make the venison tenderloin and spätzle. I was drooling as she spoke and beyond excited because there is no better way to learn about a cuisine than in a local’s kitchen.

It didn’t take long for me to see these, and I would come to see many, Austrians are bon vivants, relishing a good meal with great company and, let’s hope, decent company! Paul’s parents’ kitchen has a good sized island at the center featuring a cooktop at one end so people can enjoy appetizers while the cooking continues and no one is left out. It’s a kitchen designed for dinner parties.

Appetizers are accompanied by sturm, an Austrian “pre-wine” that’s only in season at this time of the year, in October. It’s sweet and slightly fizzy with a relatively low alcohol content. While Anna and Paul’s dad prepare the venison tenderloin, procured from a hunter friend, Paul offers some of his home brew. He’s currently becoming a brew master and he and Anna have plans to open a brewery in the States soon. I’m no beer connoisseur, but Austrians are serious about hops and I am liking whatever it is that Paul’s serving me.

Venison Tenderloin

His mom, a woman slight on statue but heavy on personality – I could tell all this despite her mediocre English and my nonexistent German – is a great cook and whipping up a tomato sauce to accompany the venison which, get this, has chocolate in it. I’m learning the idea behind mole is not just a Mexican thing. Once the venison is ready, we migrate to the table where clean glasses await for red wine to pair with the meat. We talk about beer brewing, the prevalence of venison in Austrian cooking, and what I should do during my time in Vienna.

After the first course, we all head back to the island to watch Anna prepare the goulash and chat with Paul’s mom while she makes fresh spätzle. It’s a simple dough of flour, eggs, milk and salt and once combined, she pulls a spätzle maker from the kitchen cabinet. A very necessary kitchen gadget here, it looks like an open-ended bowl sitting atop a large cheese grater. It rests above a pot of boiling water and once you fill the bowl with dough, you slide it back and forth against the grater and small nuggets of dough fall into the water below. They cook quickly and we scoop them up with a slotted spoon.

Venison Goulash and Spatzle

We return to the table, with more clean glasses, for our main course which, I’ll be honest, pictures just don’t do justice. Brown venison goulash spills into yellow spätzle and the lone pop of color comes from the red jelly, a fruit much like our cranberry, that goes with the game. But I am in heaven. I love a good beef stew and the history behind goulash, which came originally from the outer reaches of the Hapsburg Empire, but is now a very traditional Austrian dish is an interesting one. To see the spätzle you’re going to eat being made takes eating to a whole new level.

Apfelstrudel with Fresh Whipped Cream

Conversation continues to flow and I love the way no one is in a rush for the meal to end; it’s as if I’m not the only one on vacation. At this point in the meal, there must be 20 glasses on the table for the five of us because there have been so many wines, beers and schnaps. We make ready for dessert and some of us clear dishes while Anna whips up some fresh cream to go with her homemade apfelstrudel which looks fantastic.

To make it, Anna tells me, you roll out the dough into a large, very thin rectangle and pile your apple filling in a line down the center. Then using the kitchen towel that you’ve laid the dough on, you coax the dough into a log by lifting the towel to lay the dough over the filling little by little.  It seems like such an old school technique, one your grandmother would teach you.

My first meal in Austria was a real treat and I am so grateful Anna invited me into her home and gave me an introduction to Austrian food. It was all so memorable and reliving that night as I sit here and write, I’m inspired to make a few of those dishes but scratching my head wondering where I’ll find venison!