In the Slow Food Villages, southern hospitality, honest food made with love, culinary heritage and the good life sit together at the large wooden table in the parlour. A seat is always free here! If you take it, you can look forward to good conversations with the producers, freshly caught fish, golden honey, fragrant farmhouse bread and many other foods with soul.
In hardly any other Slow Food Village do the products come from more varied altitudes. The basis for the flavoursome Alpine cheese grows on the lush green Alpine pastures high above the lake. On the plateau, farmers produce sausage, bacon, eggs, honey and many other delicacies. Even wine ripens on the sunny slopes, and far out on the lake the Reinanken farmers cultivate their lakeside fiefdoms. The slow food producers in Millstatt offer their products from the farm, on the alpine pasture, at the country market, in the Bauernschmaus-Häusl, in the gourmet shop or in the Greisslerei.
In the middle of the 19th century, the Emperor granted the Bacher fishing family the right to fish on Lake Millstätter See and elevated the family members and their descendants to imperial and royal court fishermen. Today they call themselves Reinankenwirte. They manage demarcated lake areas, the so-called lake fiefdoms, and serve the freshly caught lake fish in their restaurants.
The farmers in Millstatt work GMO-free. A look behind the scenes is expressly permitted! Some opportunities for a culinary foray through the slow food kitchens:
In Seeboden, the colourful flowering gardens extend all the way to the lake. Much of what is essential for everyday life has been produced on the farms in the village for generations and there is a tangible sense of togetherness in the village. This is also the reason why almost a dozen farms have founded the slow food village Seeboden. Visitors should try a Reindling, a cheese dumpling or a Brettljause with apple cider. Toast with a Seeboden wine. The Strudelfest, which takes place every year in September, is a great opportunity to get to know innkeepers, producers and direct marketers in person.
Carinthia's meadows and forests hide many treasures that can be used to flavour dishes or make natural cosmetics. Some are also true medicine. Maria Winkler is a pharmacist, herbalist, herbal educator and ‘green cosmetics educator’. She is happy to pass on her knowledge during the weekly herb walks that take place in summer.
On Fridays, fresh food from local farmers and producers is offered at the country market and Seeboden producers are also represented at the local grocer ADEG Haller and in Haller's Genussladen. Farm specialities can also be purchased from the farm. There are also several self-service huts where you can sample specialities around the clock. In the Slow Food hotels, inns and huts, authentic dishes are prepared, sometimes using produce from the farm. Sometimes according to an old family recipe, often creative and not infrequently at award-winning level.
Hot springs and the Ski World Cup have brought Bad Kleinkirchheim a lot of international attention. The backdrop that gives the high valley its character was created by the local farmers over the centuries and their rural roots are now more firmly anchored in the village than ever. Their old, flower-decorated farms are now run by the ‘youngsters’, who have set themselves the goal of establishing and expanding every conceivable cooperation with restaurants, hotels and gourmet shops in order to present regional products to guests in the village.
The "culinary nights" show that this can work well. The slow food community, the Genussland Kärnten producers and the Kirchheim chefs form a culinary triad at the ‘culinary nights’. On the gourmet weekends in September and October, regional themed menus are served in selected restaurants. A gourmet market marks the start of the ‘culinary nights’.
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Some opportunities for a culinary foray through the Slow Food shops and kitchens in Bad Kleinkirchheim:
In Albeck, nature is both role model and teacher. Centuries-old values and traditions are practised in the Slow Food Village in the Sirnitzbach valley. Grain is still grown in the valley and ground into fine flour in the mill by the stream. This is still used today to bake Albeck bread. The mill is powered by clean water, a treasure that Sirnitz takes special care of. It is also the basis of life for Carinthian salmon, huchen and char, which grow in the ponds of the Payr fish farm.
There is a pleasantly relaxing aroma in the air when guests take a seat in the Hiasl Zirbenhütte. You don't necessarily have to order a Swiss stone pine schnapps to notice it. If you want to take the scent of the forest home with you, the best thing to do is to buy some carved Swiss stone pine or a bottle of Swiss stone pine oil from the Greiler Swiss stone pine oil distillery.
In the Slow Food Village Sirnitz/Albeck, people like to buy from the farm. Game and meat from the Nockberge mountains are available at the abattoir and large markets are held three times a year. The Sirnitz annual market, a typical grocer's market that has been held for 150 years, is well-known far and wide. A market is also organised at Easter and in Advent, and if you want to sample slow food specialities in between, stop off at the country inn ‘Zum Scheiber’ and the innkeepers on the Hochrindl.
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Slow Food is basically the exact opposite of fast food. It stands for the conscious selection of enjoyable and, above all, regional food. This worldwide movement has set itself the goal of raising awareness and encouraging people to think about what exactly they are eating.
Slow Food is based on sustainable, natural products from the region with quality, authenticity and history. The Slow Food movement acts according to the criteria GOOD - best products with traceable origins, CLEAN - resource-saving and sustainable and FAIR - fair conditions, fair prices and added value.
