Tyrol | All Things Sicilian and more

This year, the only traditional Christmas dish I’ll be eating is Zelten, a typical sweet, fruit and nut bread/cake of the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy.

I have never made traditional dishes for Christmas obligatory and my menu choices depend on the people I am sharing Christmas with. Last year it was fresh seafood – oysters, prawns and crayfish – simply served and delicious.

This year main course is likely to be duck with cherries marinated in grappa. What comes before and after is to be yet decided.

When my parents were alive, our family Christmas meal was likely to be a combination of offerings from Sicily and Trieste, either a caponata or an insalata russa for the finger food, a good brodo with tortellini for firsts, while the second course varied from year to year, and perhaps there was a cassata or a zuppa inglese for dessert.

Fish on Christmas eve was obligatory, but there was never a set Christmas menu, as there tends to be in many Australian or Italian households.

You won’t find me cooking turkey because it is too much like chicken, for me. As for dessert – I am not a fan of Christmas pudding and the only parts of pavlova I like are the berries and cream. I have made too many cassate (plural of cassata) and panforte on too many occasions to repeat making these or to appreciate them as I once did at Christmas. Panforte now made with so many different ingredients in Australia has become far too common and so removed from the Italian regional recipes, steeped in cultural traditions.

This year, Zelten will be my only traditional sweet.

I’ve looked at numerous recipes and background information about Zelten and found that there are many variations in the recipes. Zelten began from humble beginnings, a bread dough enriched with the typical local dry fruit and spices, the quantity and quality of fruit being poor in some areas (as in Trentino) and extravagant in others (as in Balzano).

The numerous recipes I read varied greatly. For example, walnuts are the principal nut used in all the recipes, but some variations contain almonds and/or hazelnuts/ pine nuts. Apart from figs and dried grapes, there are recipes with dates and/or unspecified dried fruit. To me using dates and mixed fruit do not sound typical of Tyrol.

All recipes include flour, either wheat or rye (some use very little flour, other recipe have large amounts of dough, some use bread dough). There are varying amounts of eggs, butter, sugar, yeast, milk or none of these. The fruit can be steeped in rum, but some recipes specify grappa, so as you can see the recipes vary greatly and some are much more modern.

I can understand the many variations of Zelten in Tyrol and why the recipes differ from family to family and location. Tyrol (German: Tirol) is historically a multi-national region located in the heart of the Alps of Austria and Italy. It is segmented by the compass into North, East and South Tyrol. North and East Tyrol lie in Austria and South Tyrol is in Italy, it is also known as Südtirol or Alto Adige). Bolzano, is the capital.

I was in this stunningly beaiutiful and fascinating region of Italy two years ago and enjoyed its many special features: the remarkable scenery especially in the Italian Alps and the Dolomites with their extraordinary mountainous and rocky peaks, the distinct architecture of cities and ancient villages where people speak German or Austro-Bavarian-German and Italian, and obviously, the culinary delights that reflect these cultures.

Zelten comes from the German selten and it means sometimes/on occasions, and as the name indicates it was only prepared on special occasions like Christmas, in winter with only dried fruit and nuts available.

I finally settled on making a version of a Zelten from South Tyrol and Bolzano, characterized by of large amounts of fruit – mainly figs and a selection of other dried fruit, pine nuts and almonds. I conducted some research into the fruit that is grown in the region and omitted apricots, peaches or plums because these stone fruits are more recent additions to the orchards. I used dried apples, pears, sultanas, strawberries (there are wild strawberries in the woods), a few dried plums and only a little orange peel as I did not imagine citrus to be very common in the area but would add to the flavour.

I chose grappa rather than rum, and plenty of it to soak the fruit and to moisten the cake once it was made.

I used no butter, eggs, milk or yeast and I used rye flour because wheat does not grow well in wet and cold climates. I used honey and not sugar.

I divided the mixture and baked two round cakes.

Eventually, I combined a couple of recipes and came up with:

750g dried fruit – 400g were figs, the rest as described above
350g nuts – 120g walnuts, the remainder almonds and pine nuts
200g honey
grappa – about ½ litre to soak the fruit and another ½ litre to soak into the baked cake
ground cinnamon, cloves, grated lemon peel
rye flour

I combined coarsely cut fruit and chopped nuts in a large container with a cover, added the grappa and left it for four days, stirring it occasionally.
I added the honey and spices and gradually mixed in as much rye flour as it would absorb. The principal recipe suggested to use 5% of the total weight of the ingredients, I calculated this to be about 230g. I mixed a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour as the only leavening, there was no leavening mentioned in the recipes that I sighted that used rye flour.
I lined two round baking tins with brown paper and baking paper. The recipe did not specify heat or time, but I baked them at 200 degrees for 60 minutes. Although my cakes are round, my understanding is that in different parts of Tyrol oval or heart shapes are also common.

I wrapped the cakes in calico (pudding cloth) and I have been dousing it with more grappa daily.

I took a cake to friends last night and we cut it. It is heavy, not sweet and steeped in grappa. It does taste good.

Back goes the calico wrapping. With all that alcohol and fortress – like wrapping, the Zelten will last for a long time.

Grappa is made with grape skins. The wines and grappa from this region is unique.

Recipes of food mentioned in this post.

ZUPPA INGLESE, a famous, Italian dessert

CASSATA Explained with photos

SICILIAN CASSATA and some background (perfect for an Australian Christmas)

CAPONATA Catanese (from Catania) made easy with photos

INSALATA RUSSA (Party time; Russian salad)

Travelling recently through Tyrol, Vienna and Russia, I was struck by how often Goulash appeared on menus. Whether called Gulyás in Hungary or Gulasch in Austria and Trieste, this deeply comforting dish clearly travelled widely through the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, adapting to local tastes and traditions along the way.

Curious once again about its origins, I returned to one of my favourite cookbooks on Hungarian cuisine — Cuisine of Hungary by George Lang — still one of the most detailed and informative books I own on the subject.

Gulasch in Trieste

— for many years. As a child living in Trieste, I grew up with the strong culinary influences of Central Europe. Trieste was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of the First World War, and many dishes from that period remain firmly embedded in the city’s cuisine.

Triestian Gulasch is usually made simply with beef, onions and paprika. The onions and meat are slowly browned in lard and olive oil, but bacon is generally not used. Unlike many northern European versions, Triestian recipes rarely include potatoes, peppers or additional vegetables, and they are never thickened with flour.

Some cooks add caraway seeds or a little tomato paste, but red wine is not traditional.

My Version of Gulasch

Like many home cooks, I have gradually adapted the dish over time.

I almost always cook with wine and have always added red wine to my Gulasch. Perhaps this came from my mother’s cooking; it is something I have never questioned. I also rely heavily on herbs in my kitchen, so bay leaves naturally find their way into the pot. And because I enjoy a little complexity in flavour, I use both sweet and hot paprika.

I do not add potatoes directly to the stew. Instead, I prefer to serve them separately — perhaps as patate in teccia or creamy mashed potatoes enriched with milk and butter.

More often though, I serve Gulasch with polenta, one of the great accompaniments of Triestian cooking.

In Tyrol I was also served Goulash with braised red cabbage, which worked beautifully.

I do not add potatoes to the braise and prefer to present then separately, either Patate in teccia or creamy mashed potatoes with lashings of milk and butter. However, I am more likely to present it with Polenta, a favourite accompaniment in the cooking of Trieste.

Goulash as presented in a restaurant in Tyrol. It was accompanied with braised red cabbage.

What Makes a “True” Hungarian Gulyás?

According to George Lang, a true Hungarian gulyás should contain no spice other than paprika and caraway seeds.

He insists that lard, bacon and onions are essential and famously warns:

“Never use flour. Never Frenchify it with wine. Never Germanize it with brown sauce.”

Traditionally, the only additions should be potatoes or galuska (small dumplings).

But, as with all traditional dishes, variations exist from household to household and region to region. Some cooks add tomatoes or tomato paste, garlic, green peppers or hot cherry peppers for extra heat.

That flexibility is part of the reason why this dish survived across borders and cultures.

George Lang’s Kettle Gulyás Recipe

This recipe Kettle Gulyás comes from “The Cuisine of Hungary” by George Lang (Penguin Books, 1971)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil)
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1.1 kg beef chuck or round, cut into cubes
225 g beef heart (optional), cubed
1 garlic clove
Pinch of caraway seeds
Salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 ripe tomato
2 green frying peppers or Italian peppers
450 g potatoes

Method

Peel and roughly chop the onions.

Heat the lard in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. Brown the beef cubes in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the meat as it browns.

Add the onions and cook gently over low heat until glossy rather than browned.

Return the beef to the pot.

Crush the garlic, caraway seeds and a little salt together using the flat side of a knife.

Remove the pot briefly from the heat. Stir in the paprika and garlic mixture quickly with a wooden spoon, then immediately add warm water. George Lang warns against adding cold water at this stage because it can toughen the meat.

Cover and simmer slowly for about one hour.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the tomato, slice the peppers into rings and dice the potatoes.

After the meat has braised for an hour, add the tomato, peppers and enough water to create a soup-like consistency. Season lightly with salt and continue simmering for another 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes and cook until tender. Adjust seasoning and add hot cherry peppers if you prefer a spicier version.

Food, Memory and Empire

What fascinates me most about Goulash and Gulasch is not simply the recipe itself, but the way food travels across borders and becomes absorbed into local identity.

A Hungarian shepherd’s dish became part of the everyday cooking of Trieste, Vienna and much of Central Europe. Each place adapted it slightly, yet the essential character remained — slow-cooked meat, onions, paprika and warmth.

These are the dishes that tell stories of migration, empire, trade and memory.

And perhaps that is why I continue to cook Gulasch after all these years.

For my recipe of Gulasch, as cooked in Trieste see:

GULASCH (Goulash, as made in Trieste)

Tag: Tyrol

ZELTEN from the Trentino, Alto Adige region of Italy

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Goulash (Gulyás in Magyar) and Gulasch in Trieste