Food & Drinks In Schwaz

The cuisine of Tyrol, a territory spanning the Alps and borders Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, shapes Schwaz’s food. Tyrol’s cuisine is distinguished by simplicity, freshness, and diversity as well as by local foods including cheese, meat, bread, potatoes, and herbs. Tyrol’s cuisine also combines aspects of the surrounding cuisines, including Italian, German, and Swiss, so producing a special and mouthwatering mix of flavors and techniques.

The history and culture of Schwaz, once the epicenter of European coin minting and silver mining, also shape the cuisine of Schwaz. As the second-largest city in the Holy Roman Empire, Schwaz attracted traders, bankers, artists, and academics from all around Europe, so reflecting the wealth and power of Schwaz in the 15th and 16th centuries. The cuisine of Schwaz also reflects the decline and rebirth of Schwaz in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it faced many difficulties and crises and turned into a provincial and rural town.

Schwaz’s cuisine thus combines traditional and modern, rustic and elegant, local and international, and provides a range of dishes and specialties to suit different tastes and preferences. Schwaz features some of the following dishes and specialties:

• Tiroler Almkäse: Made from raw cow’s milk, Tiroler Almkäse is a hard Alpine cheese produced in the Tyrolean Alps at least since the late Middle Ages, when cheesemaking was the only practical method to preserve the valuable Alpine milk. Tiroler Almkäse’s milk comes just from summer cows kept on Tyrolean pastures where they eat aromatic Alpine herbs and fresh grass. Aged for at least six months, the cheese has a nutty and spicy taste, a yellowish color, and a firm and crumbly texture.
• Schlutzkrapfen: Popular both in Italy and Austria, particularly in the South Tyrol region, Schlutzkrapfen is a distinctive pasta variety. Because of its semicircular form, the pasta is known in Italian as mezzelune—half-moons. Usually comprising semolina, eggs, olive oil, wheat and buckwheat flour, the dough is Like ravioli, the pasta is stuffed with other ingredients. Typical stuffing calls for cheese, mushrooms, potatoes, meat, or spinach. Made in boiling water, the pasta is presented with grated cheese and melted butter.
• Tiroler Graukäse: Made from skimmed cow’s milk, Tiroler Graukäse is a sour milk cheese having been produced in Tyrol since the 13th century. The cheese gets its grayish hue from surface mold growth, which also defines it. The cheese tastes sour and bitter, has a soft and crumbly texture, smells strongly and powerfully, and is at least two months old. Usually eaten with bread, butter, and onion or vinegar, oil, and herbs, the cheese is also consumed alongside.
• Tiroler Speck: Made from pork, Tiroler Speck is a smoked and cured ham produced in Tyrol since the fifteenth century. First dry-salted and seasoned with a unique combination of spices—juniper, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves—the ham is The ham then cold smokes over beech wood, then dries and matures in the clean Alpine air. The ham smells strongly, has a reddish hue, and a firm, lean texture.