Regional Delights

The white Beet and the schnapps made from it, has helped the Wildschönau to the coveted title 'Genuss Region', thanks to an exclusive right bestowed on the Wildschönau farmers by the Empress Maria Theresia.

Krautinger Schnapps - a miracle cure!
The Wildschönau Region is the 8th area in Austria to be awarded the title 'Genuss Region - Wildschönau Krautinger Beet' - Genuss translated means delights. 
The white beet has been grown in the Wildschönau Valley, one of the most beautiful alpine valleys in Europe, for over two centuries and harvested twice a year chiefly for schnapps distillery. Empress Maria Theresia bestowed the exclusive distillery rights on 51 Wildschönau farmers in the eighteenth century. Today 15 farming families still carry on this tradition.
The schnapps known as 'Krautinger' is produced only in the Wildschönau and is well-loved as a cure-all. The 15 schnapps brewers follow the original recipy. The beets are cleaned, mashed and heated so that the mass is reduced to a third, yeast is added and left for 48 hrs and then distilled over wood burners using beech wood only. Electric burners are taboo. Even the beet seed used is cultivated by the farmer's themselves. 

The culinary beet
The beet is also excellent in soups and stews, served raw as a side dish to cold cuts or in pastry as beet strudel. You can buy this many sided vegetable directly from the farm, at the Farmers Market or in the Farm shop.

The highlight of the beet season is the annual Wildschönau Krautinger Week in autumn where all events revolve around the Wildschönau white beet.