After a long day’s skiing, you build up quite an appetite and one of the best things about a ski holiday is that you need to eat lots to maintain your energy i.e. guilt-free gorging! Moderate downhill skiing burns an average of 400 calories per hour – that’s two pints or a generous portion of Camembert with a side of crusty bread. Yum.
With unlimited food choices across the Alps to be enjoyed over a ski holiday, it’s hard to know what to choose, that’s why we thought we’d provide you with a trusty guide to some of our favourite gastronomic delights and traditional favourites on the mountain.
Austrian delicacies
Brettjause – a selection of wafer-thin cut Tyrolean ham, loin and belly meat smoked and dry-aged in the mountain air
Kaisershmarren – a shredded pancake popular savoury or sweet
Kärntner Kasnudeln – delicious Austrian cheese noodles
Käsespätzle – rich and tasty Austrian macaroni and cheese
Linzer Torte – a sweet and delectable red current tart
Palatschinken – Austrian pancakes enjoyed with sweet or savoury fillings
Sacher Torte – this delectably rich chocolate cake is an infamous Viennese speciality, notorious for its ‘Sacher’ calligraphy that sits on the top of every slice
Salzburger Nockerl – a light and fluffy dessert created in the shape of the mountains
Schnitzel – breaded and deep fried meat – great with potatoes or chips and veg, veal is an Austrian favourite
Tafelspitz – soft and tender boiled veal
The Prügeltorte cake – great for parties – the best way to explain this is ‘cake on a spitroast’ – layer after layer of cake mixture is added as it slowly turns on an open fire
Tiroler Gröstl – perfect for a mountain lunch – this is fried bacon, onion, potato and agg cooked up together
Wiener Apfelstrudel – or ‘apple strudle’ is iconic Austrian dessert with apples, nuts and pastry – perfect with lashings of cream or custard
Fancy sampling some of the goods? Check out our favourite Austrian resorts
French delicacies
Crepes – (or pancakes) so good they’ve been given their own day to celebrate
Croissants – what’s a trip to France without a croissant or one of its delicious variables? Pastries are ideal for soaking up the après from the night before
Croque-monsieur – something a little lighter, this is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, ideal for lunch on the go
Gallettes – a hearty savoury crepe – pick your filling!
Omelette – this well-known staple is great for breakfast or lunch before a day on the slopes to give you some slow-burning energy
Soupe aux cailloux – or ‘stone soup’, is a vegetable soup with stones added to help mix the vegetables whilst keeping in the flavour as it boils
Steak – entrecôte, filet mignon, bavette de flanchet – whichever your favourite, France is notorious for its perfectly cooked steaks
Tartiflette – a gooey hot pot of potatoes, melted reblochon cheese, lardons and onions
The ‘ouillade’ – for the colder months, this is a deliciously warming hotpot made with pork and vegetables
Check out our favourite resorts in the French Alps
Italian delicacies
Boudin – a regional type of sausage that’s a mixture of cured fat, vegetables, spices and blood (yes, blood!)
Carbonade – a hearty beef stew to warm your cockles
Fontina – one of Italy’s most beloved cheeses can be enjoyed hard or melted
Lardo d’Arnad – spiced lard, delicious spread on fresh crusty great
Gnocco gigante – a giant ham dumpling
Polenta – served with meet stew, sausages or melted cheese, polenta is a popular accompaniment made from maize flour
Pizza – popular worldwide, we know, but the Alps are home to some of the best pizzerias on the planet – you’ll find traditional wood-fired ovens dotted all over the mountains
Speck – a speciality from South Tyrol, speck is salted, spiced and dried ham
Zuppa valdostana – traditional soup popularly glossed with melted Fontina cheese
Check out our favourite Italian resorts
Swiss delicacies
Fondue – championed worldwide in the seventies but all year every year in the Alps, fondue is a large sharing pot of melted cheese served with bread – there are French and Italian variations depending where you are on the mountains
Leckerli – a Swiss specialty, this is a delicately spiced gingerbread biscuit with hazelnut
Papet Vaudois with sausage – a mash of leeks and potatoes that have been stewed for hours served with a lovely plump sausage (saucisson Vaudois)
Raclette – a large wheel of cheese that is melted and thinly sliced – enjoyed with meats, salad and potatoes
Roasted flour soup – for an afternoon warmer – a basic soup containing flour, butter, onion, beef stock and a spinkle of Gruyere
Zurcher geschnetzeltes – a hot savoury ragout made up of diced veal, calves’ kidneys and sweetbreads sautéed in a gravy of onions, butter, white wine, cream and mushrooms
Check out our favourite resorts in Switzerland
You’ll find all sorts of gastronomic delights on the mountain that cater to your mood. If you hadn’t noticed a running theme – you need to know now that creamy, rich and heavy foods are favourites here – the Alps are a haven for cheese and meat lovers and a well-deserved treat for those who’ve been working hard on the slopes.
Bon appetite!