Worldwide Wednesday - Tiroler G'rostl

The Austrians are a surprising people when it comes to food. They truely utilise the food that they have around them, well that and fish. Some of their cuisine is good hearty simple faire, but tasty and simple to cook.

This dish I first came across when I was 15 or 16. We were on a visit to a preserved farm village and as part of the tour they served foods that are typical of the Austrian farms in the 1700s. This dish, with a few variations, is based on that first dish that I tried.

1 medium onion
8oz meat ) vary amounts to suit
1lb potatoes ) your appetite
Dripping or lard
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 bayleaf
Meat gravy or stock - a few spoonfuls
Salt and pepper


Slice onion finely. Cut the meat into fairly small pieces. Peel and slice the potatoes and boil until just soft, drain. Heat some of the lard and gently cook onion then add the meat and cook. Add salt, pepper, bayleaf, caraway seeds and enough gravy to just cover. Simmer. Keep an eye on the liquid level add more if necessary but not too much. In a frying pan melt some lard and add the sliced potatoes and fry until crisp and brown on both sides.

I usually serve noodles with this, cook as instructions on packet. It is essential that the meat and potatoes are kept separate until served. Don’t forget to remove the bayleaf before serving.

Put potatoes on plate first then the meat and cover with the noodles.

You can poach an egg and add this on top, which, if not hard poached (i.e. solid yolk) adds another dimension to this dish.