Beate Erlmoser

Cheese dumplings and wedding things

On the search for a secret recipe from a local mountain restaurant hut, I set off with my sister to Flachau! The “Gipfelstadl“ (which can also be reached from Wagrain), was our destination! I had heard that the cheese dumplings (Kaspressknödel) were especially good there and that there was an extra special recipe for these!

On the search for a secret recipe from a local mountain restaurant hut, I set off with my sister to Flachau! The “Gipfelstadl“ (which can also be reached from Wagrain), was our destination! I had heard that the cheese dumplings (Kaspressknödel) were especially good there and that there was an extra special recipe for these!

On reaching the top, we were lucky enough to get a table. Despite it nearly being the end of the season, people still seemed to be highly motivated to go skiing or better said, to amble to the nearest ski hut! I must admit that it was truly inviting, the music fitted perfectly and it was warm enough to sit in the sun without a jacket on! A little bit later on, a German couple joined us at the table! ”We are from Berlin, don’t you know!”

At the beginning I was very preoccupied with trying to draw out the famous Gipfelstadl cheese dumpling recipe, from the very busy sous chef. I always just got a very polite smile to put me off, but I could see that all the staff were very busy. We passed the long waiting time by drinking a tasty wheat beer and then another one and ...

TASTE Ski amadé - the finest flavour from the Austrian mountains in cozy mountain huts

What will be will be, we started talking with our German neighbours! It just so happened that this couple were extremely nice. Both in their prime, guessing about mid forties, early fifties, good looking and as I have said already, very nice! After we had named all the mountains surrounding us, well at least we really tried too; we also started talking about more private and personal things.

This is how we found out that this couple had met exactly ten years ago in Flachau at the “Jagdhof!“ They had clicked straight away, as only after just three months, the lady moved from Stuttgart to Berlin to be with him! They carried on telling us, that they come back here every five years to celebrate this chance encounter. “If we can’t make it up here, then we will just stay down in the valley on our Zimmer frames!“ How romantic!!!

As the couple made their way back to the slopes, we also decided to make a move, albeit completely blinded by this love story. Whilst in a deep discussion, the waitress called out to us: Hey girls, I have got something for you!” As we turned around, she walked over to us waving a note. She said “with greetings from the kitchen” and “have a safe trip down!” She waved goodbye to us and pushed the note into my hand! Well, sometimes thinks work out differently than you expect!

Beate Erlmoser

22 article
Read more