When visiting Damüls in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, there are two Löffelspitze to distinguish between: one is a local mountain, the other is a fine dining restaurant at the Alpenstern Panoramahotel. It’s not just the striking backdrop that will take your breath away here, the cuisine is also out of this world. Three days a week, the restaurant serves up a tasting menu for a maximum of 12 people. Host Peter Bischof and head chef Sandro Abel source their ingredients from the region.
They even venture the woods themselves to pick blueberries and mushrooms and gather spruce needles. Their dishes are creative yet traditional. What would one of the courses look like? Below is a recipe for pear slices with basil jelly and Champagne foam – using the Speckbirne regional variety of pear from Vorarlberg, Veuve Cliquot Champagne and home-grown basil.
PEAR SLICES WITH BASIL JELLY AND CHAMPAGNE FOAM
SPONGE CAKE:
4 eggs, 40 g sugar, 100 g flour
PEAR MOUSSE:
20 g sour cream, 100 g pear purée, a little lime zest
80 ml cream, 1 sheet gelatine, a little rum
BASIL JELLY:
10 basil leaves, 40 ml water, a little lemon juice
A little sugar, 1 sheet gelatine
CHAMPAGNE FOAM:
100 ml Champagne, 60 g egg whites
60 ml cream, A little sugar
METHOD
For the sponge, beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, then fold in the flour. Spread out on a tray at around 1.5 cm thick. Bake in the oven at 200°C for 7 minutes. Whip the cream for the mousse. Soak the gelatine in cold water then dissolve in some rum. Combine the remaining ingredients. Stir in the gelatine, fold in the cream and spread out on the sponge base in a suitable mould. Make sure it’s smooth then leave to cool for three hours. For the basil jelly, mix all of the ingredients except the gelatine and pass through a sieve. Add the soaked gelatine at the end. Leave to cool a little and spread over the cold pear mousse. For the Champagne foam, blend all ingredients and pour into an ISI whipped cream dispenser. Spray onto the pear slices before serving.
WINE SUGGESTION FROM HOST MAXIMILIAN STEINFELD: Maximin Grünhaus – Riesling Grünhäuser 2022
