As the covid confinement period continues to shift, I find myself thinking about where I’d most like to travel, if anything was safe and possible.
This time of year, in early summer, I would most like to be in southern Austria, in Styria, or Steiermark, as it’s called in the German language. Styia is known as the green heart of Austria. In May and June, the landscape is extraordinarily verdant and lush. The wines pair especially well with vernal flavors, like fresh farmer’s cheese, spring peas, and even asparagus, a food that can be unfriendly towards wine.
I got to travel there in early May 2019 with an importer we work with, Jenny Lefcourt from Jenny & Francois Selections. All the winemakers we met were warm, intelligent and kind people. A visit from an importer means winemakers usually go all out to make them feel welcome - in this case as it has been so far in my experience, this felt very sincere. Our first stop was to Franz and Christine Strohmeier, situated on the northern end of the Styria region. My first thought upon arriving was a sense of relief. I felt so comfortable there. A lot of their furniture is low to the ground, bigger and open - I don’t think I would have noticed if I didn’t sense something in them that felt intentional about this choice - to make their place feel relaxed and more continuous with the earth. Their home is built into a hillside, among their vineyards, with small vegetable gardens and their chicken coop placed around little shelves they’ve carved into the steep slopes. Their winery is built underneath their house.
They believe strongly that vibrancy in the wine depends on biodiversity in the vineyards. Franz has had some difficulty with his own family, including his father who also made wine there before him, and his neighbors, who challenge his philosophy - one that prizes healthy, symbiotic relationships with the land and all organisms over productivity and profits. He seems only to respond with patience. I think maybe this slight conflict also strengthens his resolve, and pushes him to be more bold. For instance, they have a significant sized vineyard that is growing wild, reflecting a willingness to experiment in pursuit of working with nature.
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| the wild vineyard |
The Strohmeiers are vegetarians and served us a delicious risotto with white asparagus. My first taste of wine at their home was their rosé, from the grape variety called Blauer Wildbacher. Franz makes many dynamic wines - from much admired traditional method sparkling wines, to complex, macerated white wines and expressive reds that he waits to bottle not based on market demand but solely on when he thinks the wine is ready. I love the rosé because it shows his deft hand with maceration and retains the lightness of being that I think is imparted from their harmonious way of life.
the rosé Karmin I got to taste in bottle was No 8, mostly 2017. We also tasted from barrel what would be the 9th edition. We have the 10th edition in our store now.
We went south towards the Slovenian border the next day to Sepp and Maria Muster. Like the Strohmeiers, the Musters view their work as winemakers as keepers of the natural balance in their land and region. Their home is also situated around their vineyards, with their winery just across a small courtyard from their living space. They also love to cook and are invested in the cultural lineage of their area. They have a large traditional stove that works like an Aga, holding heat, giving the powerful presence of a warm hearth to their beautiful home. Their wine labels feature the work of their friend, the late artist Beppo Pliem. The paintings represent the natural interaction between earth and sky. For years prior I had been enamored of the Erde wines Sepp ages in anfora and puts in a clay bottle. Erde means soil in German, and this line of wines stands for the commitment to holistic farming and winemaking.
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| sepp in the vines |
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| anfora at muster |
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Memorial Day weekend coincides with my partner’s birthday, and we almost always have a bbq.
Like every time this year, I started thinking about sides and salads that maintain or improve when sitting out at a table in the yard or in a tupperware at a picnic for hours, in the heat, probably, too.
I knew I wanted to share this amazing wine we have in from Sepp and Maria Muster, Erde, at the bbq. It marries so well with spring flavors, but it also seems to have the power to slow time a bit. It elicits attention and study but it’s not so serious. Its presentation in a clay bottle is fairly commanding. I thought it would make for a nice moment during the day to stop and sip it for a second, to try to make the beautiful afternoon last a little longer.
When I went to the Muster’s house and winery, they served a delicious bean salad, a staple of the Styrian table. The bean salad is a perfect dish for something that keeps its integrity over time. It really has just two key ingredients - the beans, which are very large, scarlet runner beans, and pumpkin seed oil, a delicacy identified with the region, called kernol. The oil is expensive because it takes about 5 pumpkins to produce a quarter of a cup. It has a low smoke point, and is not suitable as a cooking fat.
I’m not usually a fan of ‘finishing oils’ - coming of age in the aughts as a little brat foodie I grew to hate truffle oil, walnut oil, etc. From what I can tell pumpkin seed oil had a celebrity chef moment when Austrian chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck put it on his pizzas - but it was somehow spared the overexposure of truffle oil. Maybe because it’s quite a bit more earthy. It is also a rich, dark green, almost black color, something maybe not all diners would go for. I love that about it. The richly colored runner beans coated in ‘the green gold’ of Styria look like gemstones in your dish.
When I’ve made this, I find the pumpkin seed oil is beautiful, but I longed for some fruitiness from olive oil to balance its pungent nutiness. We have a fruity olive oil from Paterna that worked well - I added just a little. If you add olive oil make sure it’s not too green and sharp.
Marinated Bean Salad inspired by how they make it in Styria but a little different
Scarlet Runner Beans
Pumpkin Seed Oil (you can find this online, that’s what I did. Buy in small quantity as it doesn’t keep long after opening)
Olive Oil
Salt
Lemon or Wine Vinegar
Big handful of chopped parsley
A recent email from Steve Sando, the owner of Rancho Gordo, offered the best bean cooking instructions I can imagine:
“My current, and so far fool-proof, technique is: bring the beans and water up to a full boil and keep it there for 15, maybe even 20 minutes. Not a gentle simmer but a rapid boil. This initial bullying makes it clear to the beans that you are in charge and there’s no turning back. Then reduce the heat as low as you can take it. If you’re in a hurry, a nice simmer is fine. If you’re cooking for pleasure, the gentlest of simmers is best. Low and slow and loaded with love.”
His general advice is to soak if you have time, but if you don’t, it’s not a problem - it just means the cooking time might be a little longer.
He doesn’t mention anything about aromatics, but since I had things in the fridge to make a bouquet garni, I did. I don’t know really how much flavor it adds, but in the spirit of ‘loaded with love’ the tied bundle of aromatics feels like a little present for the beans on their journey.
The rest of this salad is pretty much just seasoning to taste.
Before adding any oil or acidity, season your beans with salt. This will take some time, and, in my experience, a lot of salt. Add pumpkin seed oil, and taste, add more if necessary. Same with olive oil. Then add lemon juice or wine vinegar or both. Add your chopped parsley. The parsley is key because it absorbs any excess dressing and then wraps around each bean.
Let marinate for a few hours if you can before enjoying, or eat some right away then savor it over a few days, kept in the fridge.
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