Travel: Fine food and perfect panoramas in Tyrol
Reach culinary heights around Ischgl while exploring the Paznaun Valley in summer
When I go hiking, I usually have an egg sandwich and a satsuma in my backpack.
But mountain walking in Austria’s Paznaun region is a foodie’s treat. The ancient pilgrims’ path of Jakobsweg crosses this steep-sided Alpine valley, sited in the western corner of Tyrol. As a celebration of the spiritual scenery and delicious local produce, the annual Culinary St Jacob’s Way starts each July.
Feed the senses
Paznaun is a ‘Genuss Region Österreich’ (Austrian region that provides special culinary highlights), known for excellent cheese, ham and sausages, but menus in rural Alpine Association lodges weren’t always so exciting. Since 2008, however, different teams of award-winning master chefs have been creating signature dishes for ravenous ramblers and attracting gourmands from all over the world.
Every year, new recipes are devised from fresh ingredients and served at five rustic Paznaun huts for the summer season.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be serenaded by accordion players in Tyrolean lederhosen and served by waitresses in dirndl outfits with buttoned waistcoats over puffsleeved blouses and long aprons. This part of Austria takes pride in its folk traditions.
On foot
Sturdy boots – tick, sunscreen – tick, brimmed hat – tick, huge appetite – tick.
Based in the charming village of Ischgl, it took me around two hours to hike from Valzur to Friedrichshafener Hütte, a remote stone inn at 2,151 metres on the edge of a pristine lake filled with trout.
The Paznaun Valley is sunnier and less rainy than more northerly valleys, and the slopes on the way up are covered in wild meadows, with spears of lilac lupins and golden heads of arnica
montana, long used as herbal medicine. Honey bees buzzed around the blooms and plucked bunches of flowers decorated the tables at the Friedrichshafener.
I dined by the edge of a brook with fabulous views of the Silvretta Alps and the mighty Fluchthorn mountain. It was the ideal location to enjoy sugared pancakes with apple sauce, cowberry jam, plums and vanilla.
Explore the region
A trip that focuses on leisurely hiking and eating is a great combination. Mountain biking looks far too strenuous, as does rock climbing, but walking is a joy and so peaceful. I’m not a cattle connoisseur but the apricot and cream cows in the Paznaun look exceptionally pretty, unbothered by passers-by as they chew the cud.
You don’t have to be a winter skier to sip hot Jägertee, a punch made from rum and spiced black tea. And you can’t go to the Austrian Alps without singing Edelweiss.
The mountain flower that’s celebrated in The Sound of Music likes a remote limestone area over 1,800 metres and requires a little effort to see. It was lovely to find a decorative pot full of the downy-haired flower at the Almstüberl.
As a special treat on my last evening in the Austrian Alps, I decided to try the seven-course Tasting Menu at Hotel Yscla’s gourmet restaurant Stüva, and it was truly excellent. In the end, 13 courses were served because inspired chef Benjamin Parth added all sorts of extra gift dishes. Chanterelle mushroom timbale, sea bass with verbena, lamb harissa… too hard to pick a favourite. And yes, I ate it all.