Enjoy the Gail Valley

Hike and enjoy in the Gailtal

The Gailtal stretches from Kartitsch Osttirol to Villach in Carinthia, always along the Gailtal Alps. In its infancy, the Gail flows through that Lesachtal. There she created the steep slopes on both sides of the valley. At Kötschach-Mauthen you leave the whitewater regions of the Gail. From there the Gail flows in calmer waters to Villach. The Gailtal is wider here and gives the people who live here more space. The places are bigger. The looks further. However, the valley always runs parallel to the border with the neighboring countries of Italy and Slovenia. Especially in the region east of Hermagor you can still feel the proximity to Slovenia in the language. You often hear terms that come from Slovenian.

Enjoy Gailtal specialities

We set out to discover Carinthian specialties during a pleasure holiday in the Gailtal. Carinthia did it to us. According to our Enjoy your holiday in the monastery of St. Paul and Monastery holiday in the monastery Wernberg this time we are on our way to taste the specialties of the mountain valleys on the borders of Slovenia and Italy. Hiking in the Gailtal also gives us pleasure. Holidays in the Gailtal Alps are good for your stomach and your figure.

 

 

In the Slow Food Travel Region of Carinthia, you can look behind the scenes with producers and chefs during the summer. Gourmet hotels, producers, restaurateurs and delicatessens have teamed up to offer gourmet dining experiences. These present specialties from Carinthia. Just the thing to do a foray through the culinary arts of Carinthia.

The offers vary depending on the season. May and June are the best months to get acquainted with the wild herbs of the two valleys. The meadows are mowed later in the year. There are opportunities throughout the summer where you can discover Carinthian specialties. The best part. You can try them too. And, if you want, there are cooking classes and workshops where you can make Austria's delicacies yourself. We tried some of them.

 

 

Gailtaler bacon

We do not need to go far for our first taste experience. The owner of the gourmet hotel Biedermeier Schlössl Lerchenhof, in which we spend three nights, is also a farmer. Hans Steinwender breeds pigs. In a gentle way. During the week, the animals are out in the meadows behind the castle hotel. Only on the weekend he brings her to the stable. Then there are too many visitors on the way. His pigs should have rest.

 

 

He shows us how to prepare the bacon. Thick pieces of bacon lie in a trough in a trough. "With a lot of garlic," he laughs. It smells intense. But garlic is not the only condiment in which Hans Steinwender sorts his bacon. He also makes bacon. Or hay bacon. The Castello Vino, which is sipped with wine from the Lavant Valley, is particularly delicious. After smoking, the pieces of bacon ripen in the air for up to twelve months.

One secret of the Gailtaler bacon is that the pigs' feed is refined with grass and hay. â € œA secret from my grandmother, â € explains Hans Steinwender. The Steinwender family shows us how good it tastes at dinner. Then they serve us a bacon platter on which we can taste the four types of bacon in the house.

You can try the varieties of Gailtaler bacon in the restaurant of the

Biedermeierschlössl Lerchenhof in the Gailtal
Submits 8
9620 Hermagor
Phone + 43 4282 / 2100

A Overnight stay at Schloss Lerchenhof * you can book here

 

 

 

 

Herb garden in Gailtal

Styled and highly professional, the herbal experience in the the daberer. the biohotel, Senior boss Inge Daberer welcomes us in her designer show kitchen. She already made a herbal lemonade there. "She still has to cool down," she says, and places it in the fridge. Then she tells us what she planned.

 

 

Inge Daberer devotes herself to her passion in her herb garden: herb cultivation. The cook has been interested in the herbs from her homeland for many years. She grows part of it in the hotel garden. Or she collects them on the meadows and in the forests of the area. She even wrote a herbal cookbook.

 

 

We are traveling with hotel guests and collecting herbs for our wild herb salad under the direction of Inge Daberer. Rocket and garden herbs of all kinds make their way into our salad bowls. Wild herbs are added on the way through the mountain meadows. And finally, she picks nettles for the dishes she has planned for the lunch menu.

 

 

Even before our arrival, Inge Daberer prepared a herbal lemonade. This awaits us freshly chilled after our tour of the hotel garden. Without added sugar, it tastes delicious after our walk in the sun. Inge Daberer shows us in her show kitchen how she prepares herb salad, kohlrabi carpaccio with mint pesto, potato risotto with mushrooms on green herb cream and a cold fruit bowl with thyme, basil, lavender and raspberry leaves. This tastes particularly good on the hotel terrace.

Here you can join in this herbal experience:

the daberer in the Gail Valley
9635 Dellach in the Gail Valley
St. Daniel 17

Edelgreißlerei

Not far away in Kötschach, Herwig Ertl offers workshops for gourmets in his Edelgreißlerei. You do not know what a greed is? We did not know that before. Underneath you have to introduce yourself to a very special shop that celebrates and introduces the delicacies from the Gailtal, the Lesachtal and the Slow Food Alpe Adria region.

 

 

For Herwig Ertl's workshop you need some courage. Because who combines mountain cheese with anchovies and a drop of thick fruit vinegar? Or grain bread with goat cheese and marinated mountain garlic? Also delicious was the alpine cheese with sun-kissed tomatoes and vinegar from Styria, which matures 25 years in the barrel and tastes like honey. In her workshop, Herwig Ertl gives you the opportunity to combine all these delicacies according to your mood. It's like an adventure through the culinary delights of the Slow Food Alpe Adria region. It is palatial flattering, as it can not be more intense.

There are drinks that you do not get everywhere. How about a juice of wild quince from the fruit farm Retter, which is served in the wine glass? Or a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the winegrower in Mandorf in the Gail Valley, which opens the palate for the pleasures of the region?

A visit to Herwig Ertl's noble grocery is like a stay in the land of milk and honey. It's just a shame that it has to end once. If you want to experience it yourself, you can do it here. â € œThis is even possible for one person, â € Herwig Ertl confirms. â € œOnly you should register.â €

Edelgreißlerei Herwig Ertl in the Gail Valley
Kötschach 19
9640 Kötschach-Mauthen

Email: ertl@herwig-ertl.at
Website: www.herwig-ertl.at

 

 

Carinthian noodles

Last but not least, we visit Ingeborg Daberer in Sankt Daniel. She has been with her sister Gudrun in her Gasthof Grunwald specializing in Carinthian noodles. They play the lead role on the menu in their family tavern.

Upon arrival, the ingredients are already prepared. The dough should rest for half an hour before it can be processed. We fill the noodles with a potato and herb filling. Ingeborg Daberer rolls out the dough on a wooden board. Then she cuts out round shapes. These are about the size of a palm. The dough is stretchy enough to handle it. Shape by shape she fills potato fullness with a big spoon. Then she beats the dough around it and sticks the edges tightly together.

 

 

Now begins the complicated part of the production of Carinthian noodles. The curling. This is the name given to the shapes of the pretty edges that are typical of this Carinthian specialty. It is said that only girls who are good at crinkling can find a man. If it's true, we can not prove it. But one thing is for sure: you have to be able to do it. Ingeborg Daberer shows us. After some practice, my Carinthian noodles do not look as pretty as those of the expert. But at least you can see the curled edge.

For lunch, we try Carinthian pasta with spicy stuffing. From meat to cheese and herbs everything is in it. They just taste delicious. Even so, I prefer the sweet Carinthian noodles. Filled with nuts are my favorites. I know one thing for sure. Carinthian noodles will also be available at home in the future.

If you want to learn curling in the enjoyment of holidays in Gailtal, you can do that here:

Gasthof Grünwald in the Gail Valley
St. Daniel 17
9635 Dellach
Phone + 43 (0) 4718 677 +

 

 

This ends our enjoyable holiday in the Gailtal with our foray through the Carinthian specialties in the Slow Food Travel Region in the Gailtal. A tour through a culinary paradise that we had a lot of fun with. We have learned a lot and will certainly try one or the other delicacy at home.

Slow Travel Carinthia:

• You should not miss a trip to the Lesachtal.
• at Weissensee im beautiful Carinthia - a real insider tip in Austria
• Your Top Restaurant Weissensee Carinthia - Which kitchen do you prefer?
• The legendary gold of the Tauern on vacation in the mountain village Discover Heiligenblut
• Hohe Tauern by car - the Grossglockner High Alpine Road get to know on vacation

 

 

Do you already know:

• Holidays in Austria with hiking for slow travelers
• Chiemgau Alps Panorama Tour
• What does a typical American breakfast look like?
• Gifts for hikers
• Cooking in a motorhome or houseboat
• Baking supplies store
• Dutch oven sizes
• Dutch oven accessories

 

 

We thank you very much Slow Food Travel Carinthia for the invitation. And we would like to thank the producers in the Gailtal for the insights into the culinary art of Carinthia.

Source for holidays in the Gailtal: own research on site.

Text Holidays in the Gailtal: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos of the Gailtal Alps: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Videos: © Copyright Petar and Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline