Op-Expat

In one of my first blog posts, I wrote about the coffee culture in Vienna here Coffee in Vienna

Just to add to this post I want to talk about coffee milk. It’s milk that you can buy in every grocery store that is specially designed to be added to coffee. What makes this particular milk so special you ask? Why the percent of fat in it of course! Try a whopping 12% fat. Yes!

In case you’re interested in this oh so special milk for your coffee, you can pick up the original from Austrian food company Maresi at any grocery store.

Coffee Milk in Vienna

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Today in the mail I got a fruitcake from the company that I bought my water heater from. Yes, you read that correctly. I got a fruitcake. From the company that I bought my waterheater from. Um… okay…..

Being an expat is full of new experiences. A fruitcake is one of them. I’ve never actually seen a fruitcake in real life, let alone received one. So naturally I was curious if its reputation is as bad as its taste. Yep. It is.

I cut off the edge piece, popped it in my mouth and thought for all of 0.5 seconds, “Now come on, this isn’t so bad.” But then I felt the moisture get sucked from my mouth. Then a weird taste spread over my tongue. I felt my lips pucker in distaste. I bravely let the intro piece to fruitcake meet my stomach, but I promptly chucked the whole thing in the trash.

Thanks for nothing waterheater company. Merry Friggin Christmas to you too.

Fruitcake in Vienna

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Once again me with giant chocolate. This isn’t a joke. I am, in fact, holding real chocolate. My arms actually got a little tired from posing for the photo.

Toblerone in Vienna

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Whoa! Look at this Nutella jar that I am holding. 7 kilos (15 pounds) of chocolatey deliciousness

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I was grocery shopping the other day. I wanted to cook some chicken so made my way over to the meat department. I was looking things over when I saw…wait for it… a bag of chicken hearts. A lot of them. In one bag. What do you do with chicken hearts? Ugh…

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Now this is interesting. BusinessWeek just reported that Swiss coffee giant Nespresso is making a play for the US market. The BusinessWeek article states valid reasons for this move. You can see the article here BusinessWeek Nespresso Article

Nespresso is HUGE here in Austria. The stores are glitz and glamour. They have tasting bars so you can decide which of the 10 flavors you want to buy. The extremely expensive machines are on display like artwork. The catalogs are slick and a marketer’s dream. George Clooney is the spokesperson for Nespresso and you see the commercials all the time on TV. My husband’s 75 year old grandmother has even stated, ‘That coffee guy, he sure is good looking.’

Nespresso is a machine over here. No pun intended.

It makes sense in Austria where coffee is such a big part of the culture. Check out my blog post concerning how big coffee really is Coffee Post

I have to confess. I have a Nespresso coffee machine at home. I buy the capsules. I drink the coffee. It’s good coffee. I mean really good. So good that I won’t drink the American coffee and I sure in hell won’t drink the Starbucks coffee. It tastes burnt to me. My little Nespresso machine chosen in a color to match my kitchen produces smooth, rich, flavorful coffee. Not watery, not burnt tasting. I look forward to my cup every morning. And hey, I don’t have to stand in line for it either!

I’ve invited a lot of people over to my place on a Sunday afternoon to have a cup of coffee and chat. Everyone says the coffee is good. Aunts, cousins, my father, uncle, and friends. That’s a lot of happy, satisfied, impressed people. My cousin actually called me two days ago out of the blue to ask me a few questions. He asked if I was really happy with it and I said yes. He then said that he was going to buy one for his office. And he didn’t mind that he was going to have to order the capsules online.

Keeping the Nespresso machine clean is easy. I wipe it down once in awhile. I put the plastic parts in the dishwasher. Due to the capsules, there is no fumbling with the coffee grinds which usually go everywhere. I just drop the capsule of my choice into the machine, and done. Coffee.

There is one draw back that I really don’t like. The machine only makes one cup of coffee at a time. When I have guests, I make one cup, then run to my first guest and give it to that person, then run back to deliver the second when it is done. I don’t want anyone to drink cold coffee. Also, the coffee could be a little bit hotter. What I do to make up for that though is heat up the milk in the microwave. For those that don’t take milk, I put their cup in the microwave to heat up the porcelain.

I think Nespresso has a shot in the United States. People don’t want to spend the money that they have been at Starbucks anymore. People are pulling back from gathering at restaurants to socialize. What’s left is inviting people to your home to entertain. Entertaining goes well when you have good coffee to serve.

Also Nespresso is a marketing machine. They know how to push their product. As a marketing manager myself, I wouldn’t mind working for Nespresso. It would  be fun.

Nespresso Website

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I have a new favorite restaurant in Vienna.

http://www.palmenhaus.at/ 

It’s a hot house turned restaurant. It’s beautiful! Light and airy because it’s mostly made out of glass. Huge plants everywhere. Hip, trendy, modern, and fun. The service was quick despite being very full and busy. The staff was friendly, which is unusual for Viennese waiters.

I went once for breakfast and they offered a traditional Viennese breakfast. A coffee of your choice, fruit, a roll, and a croissant. The croissant flaked just like it should, which I find hard to get in the United States.

I also went again for coffee on a Sunday afternoon (a traditional Viennese activity and should never be missed when visiting). The dessert was very good.

The crowd was hip and trendy both in the morning and in the afternoon. Heads swivel when you walk by because people are watching people. It was a very high, energetic atmosphere and I loved it.

The location is great so getting there is easy. Be sure to make reservations.

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Vienna has a lot to offer in the way of entertainment. It isn’t called the cultural capital of Europe for nothing. Amazing theater, opera, museums, balls, concerts, you name it they have it here. Yeah okay, that’s all really great if you want to be proud of yourself for being so cultured. I myself like doing the above. But sometimes, some of us just want to go out and shamelessly party.

Not too long ago my husband and I enlisted two friends of ours and went out for a very fun Saturday night. Our first stop was Wein & Co Stephansplatz in the Inner City. It’s a very cool wine bar. We arrived at 6:30pm, which seems to be the happening time for the Viennese to visit a watering hole. Reservations are not accepted and the place was packed.

The wine list was surprisingly small, but the red bottle we settled on was divine. We stood around at the crowded bar for awhile until we had the luck of snagging a table. There we ordered cheese platters and proceeded to have a roaring good time with a few more bottles of wine.

Wein & Co Vienna Austria

We were at Wein & Co for about two hours when Toni Polster, one of the most famous and successful Austrian soccer players, came in. The whole crowd hushed for a few minutes as he rolled in with his entourage. As an L.A. girl myself, and having experienced celebrities before, I almost laughed until wine came out of my nose. Where do these people get this from, a celebrity handbook on how/what to do? It was funny watching him “be” a celebrity. Well anyway, I digress.

Wine & Co slowed down after 8pm as people went to dinner. We hung in there until around 11pm and then made the short walk over to the Sky Bar on Kärntner Straße. This is a very cool bar. It has a lounge atmosphere with dim lighting and comfortable chairs that you just sink into and never want to get up out of. The drink list was lllooonnnnggg with any type of drink that your heart could desire. I really liked the place, but do have to smile a bit at the name. Sky Bar sort of indicates high up. I think the bar is on the 8th floor. No no, pay attention. I said 8th floor, not 80th floor. But what’s in a name.

We kept an eye on our watches and noticed that after one drink at Sky Bar we had to scoot. The public transportation system stops running at 12:30am. You have to make sure you get home before then. Taking a cab isn’t really that expensive though because Vienna isn’t that big a city. From the Inner city you can get just about anywhere for €15.

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As I mentioned in my Breaking Your Fast in Austria post, I will be talking about food in Austria. Since breakfast has already been covered, let’s move on to lunch.

It’s still the big meal out of the day for most Austrians. Out in the country they seem to have the luxury to drive home, cook something up real fast, and hurry back to work. In Vienna, they are like most city folk, and scurry off to a restaurant.

What an Austrian might have for lunch is the beloved Wiener Schnitzel. No, I am not talking about the fast food chain. Wiener Schnitzel is veal pounded very thin, breaded, and fried. A wedge of lemon is served on the side to sprinkle over it. A potato salad is served in a bowl. Potato salad is not mixed with mayonnaise, it’s mixed with oil and vinegar. But if you are being a real Austrian, you won’t just use any oil, you’ll use pumpkin seed oil. It makes the potatoes look green. It’s actually really rather good, it’s just a surprising sight at first.

Wiener-Schnitzel

A variation of the Wiener Schnitzel is the Cordon Bleu. It is also veal pounded very thin, but with cheese and ham included. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s tasty. If you’re going to go this very bad route, go all the way and have some French fries on the side.

cordon-bleu

Lunch is a big topic and I’ll continue to address the more popular items on the Austrian menu.

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I have had some interest in my last post concerning Glühwein. Here’s the recipe on how to make it. Make a big batch, invite friends over, and have a grand holiday time.

6 cloves
4 Tablespoons sugar cubes
Rum to pour over sugar
4 cups red wine (dry)
1 orange to zest
1 lemon to zest
3 cinnamon sticks

Pour red wine into a pot with the cinnamon, cloves and zest from the orange and lemon. Let it warm up (but don’t cook it, just warm it).

Put some kind of metal grate over the pot to place the sugar cubes on. Pour a little rum on the sugar and light on fire (be extremely careful please!!). Let the sugar drip into the wine. (If this seems too unsafe for you, just drop 4 tablespoons sugar into the wine mixture and add a dash of rum in).

Use a strainer and pour the Glüwein into cups and serve hot!

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