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The Crackling Dumpling
Grammelknödel
Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm · Schloss Gobelsburg
One plate and its glass, followed together - from the ground they share to the table they were made for.
↓ The Chapter
The Dish
A pig that was given time, a potato that was given cold.
Good crackling begins long before the kitchen. It begins with grüner Speck: fresh Austrian pork back fat, without the rind, from an animal raised slowly and without compromise. Firm, clean fat is the foundation - and its quality is shaped by the land, the breed and the way the animal is raised.
This is harvest food: the first autumn cold, the last herbs from the garden, the potato pulled from the soil, and the richness that comes with the changing season. The dish begins with ingredients at their moment of greatest clarity - products of the land, brought to the table just as the harvest turns toward autumn.
Austria · Styria · autumn
The Wine
Loess deep enough to hold a whole summer of water.
Ried Lamm lies at the southeastern foot of the Heiligenstein, one of the defining sites of the Kamptal. The vineyard is south-facing, gently sloping and well exposed. Its soils combine loess-derived, loamy material with erosion deposits from the Heiligenstein, including Permian red siltstone.
The combination gives Grüner Veltliner both substance and structure. The loamy soils contribute to the wine’s breadth and richness, while the mineral character of the underlying and eroded rock brings definition and length. In the glass, that balance appears as ripe yellow fruit, fine peppery spice and a firm mineral backbone - a powerful yet elegant expression of Ried Lamm.
Kamptal · Ried Lamm · loess at the foot of the Heiligenstein
I · ORIGIN
Terroir
the smell of the earth
The Dish
Worked warm, sealed without a seam.
The technique is slow where it needs to be, and fast where it matters. The grüner Speck is rendered gently until crisp, then drained and cooled; the seasoned lard goes back into the filling cold, with onion, garlic and herbs.
Each portion is shaped by hand. The potato dough is worked quickly while the potatoes are still warm - flour, butter and egg yolk brought together just until smooth. The cold filling is enclosed by hand, the dumplings cooked until they rise, then slowly browned in butter. Around them, nut-butter foam, fermented kimchi, pickled jalapeño, leek ash and chive oil bring acidity, heat, smoke and freshness. Everything is made by hand, with each technique serving a clear purpose.
the full recipe follows
I I · CRAFT
Table
the sound of the crust
The Wine
Chosen for tension, not for agreement.
A wine that merely matched would disappear into the fat. This one is chosen for contrast: bright golden straw in the glass, with a freshness that cuts through the richness. White pepper comes first, followed by ripe yellow pear and stone fruit, with crushed stone and flint beneath.
Ried Lamm is a First Growth of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter, a classification that recognizes the character of a site rather than simply the name on the label. At 13.5 percent, the 2023 carries real weight without heaviness, while its firm acidity and fine mineral backbone keep the wine precise. The peppery spice is sharp enough to meet the marjoram head-on, while the wine’s freshness cuts through the richness of the crackling.
Grüner Veltliner · Ried Lamm 1ÖTW · Kamptal 2023 · 13,5 % vol.
THE RECIPE
Serves 4 · a starter · the kimchi ferments at least a month
Crackling filling
400g green back fat, skinless · 150g ready cracklings · 50g onion, brunoise · 40g lard · 2 garlic cloves · 1 tsp dried marjoram · 2 tbsp chives · 1 tbsp parsley · salt · pepper · a little oil
Potato dough
500g floury potatoes · 200g coarse flour · 2 egg yolks · 50g melted butter · salt · nutmeg
The reduction
½ L white wine · ½ L white vinegar · 300ml water · 100g sugar · 10g rosemary · 10g thyme · 2 shallots · 1 tbsp peppercorns · 1 tbsp mustard seeds
Nut-butter foam
250g butter · 2 egg yolks · 1 tsp tarragon mustard · 5ml lemon juice · salt · pepper · cayenne
Kimchi
1 small napa cabbage · 50g salt · 1 L water · 1 small daikon · 1 carrot · 1 bunch spring onion · 1 Williams pear · 1 Nashi pear · 30g ginger · 15g turmeric · 6 garlic cloves · 1 tbsp chilli flakes · 1 green chilli · 1 tsp coarse pepper · 1 tbsp tamarind paste · sunflower oil
Pickled jalapeño
2 green & 2 red jalapeño, medium · 80g sugar · 80g white balsamic · 100ml water · 1 tbsp mustard seeds · 1 tsp peppercorns · salt
Leek ash
2 leeks · 100ml brandy · salt
Chive oil
50g chives · 100ml sunflower oil · salt
MAKE IT AT HOME
THE dish tells a story · Wine completes the moment.
01
The crackling filling
Cut the back fat into 1–2 cm pieces and render slowly in a large pot, stirring, until crisp. Drain and dry on paper; season the lard with salt and chill until firm. Sweat onion and garlic in a little oil until glassy, then fold in the cracklings, 40g of the cold lard and the herbs. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of dark apple balsamic. Weigh into 25g portions, roll into balls, chill.
02
The potato dough
Boil the floury potatoes in cold salted water until soft; drain, peel warm and steam-dry well — or dry them in the pot over low heat until a white film forms on the base. Press, then work quickly by hand with flour, butter and yolk into a smooth dough; season with salt and nutmeg. Portion at 30g, flatten in the palm, set a crackling ball inside, seal well and form dumplings. Simmer in salted water until they float, about 10 minutes. Before serving, sear slowly golden in butter.
03
The nut-butter foam
Bring all reduction ingredients to a boil and reduce to about 250ml; strain and cool. Brown the butter slowly in a separate pot until the solids separate and toast to a nutty aroma, then pass through a fine sieve. Over a bain-marie, whisk the yolks, mustard and 30g of the reduction with a splash of water, then mount with the warm brown butter. Season with lemon, salt, pepper and cayenne. Use at once, or charge in a siphon and keep warm.
04
The kimchi
Pull off the outer leaves of the cabbage, quarter it and set aside. Make a brine from the water and salt and lay the quarters and outer leaves in it for an hour. Meanwhile coarsely grate daikon, carrot and both pears; add finely sliced spring onion. Blend the remaining ingredients with a little oil into a paste, add it to the vegetables and knead through well. When the ribs have softened, drain the cabbage for 30 minutes and keep the brine. Layer cabbage and paste into jars, three-quarters full, cover with the outer leaves and close airtight — no air pockets. Leave 3–4 days at 17–20 °C over a tray, it can overflow, then move somewhere cool. First results after a week; we ferment ours at least a month. A good bought kimchi works too.
05
The pickled jalapeño
Caramelise the sugar with a splash of water, deglaze with the balsamic and remaining water, add the spices and bring to a boil. Layer the jalapeños in a jar, pour over the hot marinade and seal at once. Rest 1–2 days; before plating, core and slice into rings.
06
The leek ash
Clean and wash the leeks, separate into ribs and dry in an ovenproof dish at 180 °C fan until dark — black is fine. Take them out, douse with brandy and light with a torch. Not indoors, not near smoke detectors. It must be fully black; then salt and blend fine.
07
The chive oil
Blend chives, oil and salt for 5 minutes until the mixture reaches about 40 °C, then pass through a cloth. Hang the clear oil in a piping bag in the fridge overnight so the water settles and can be separated the next day.
Recipe by Yannik Keitel & Thomas Zaniat
The Wine
Cool, not cold. A wide bowl, a long stem.
Eight to ten degrees is the starting point. Colder, and the pepper and fruit tighten; warmer, and the acidity loses some of its edge against the fat. For the sharpest, most incisive pairing, serve it well chilled at around 8 °C. For more aromatic breadth and a fuller expression of the wine, allow it to rise towards 10–12 °C in the glass. No decanting is necessary, but it is a choice. Served directly from the bottle, the young Veltliner unfolds gradually in the glass, keeping the first impression precise and tense. A short decant opens the wine earlier, bringing out the yellow fruit, spice and mineral depth while softening the initial edge. The choice is between tension and openness - both work, depending on how the wine is meant to meet the dish.
Pour a third of the glass, no more, so the aromatics have room to gather.
Cistercian monks have been reading this valley since 1171. They planted on the loess because it held water through dry summers, long before anyone called it terroir. The wine does not accompany the dish - it answers it, and carries the taste back to where it began.
8–10 °C · a wide white glass
The Dish
Halved at the pass, laid low in the plate.
A deep plate keeps the steam close. The dumpling arrives whole, slowly browned in butter until the surface is golden and crisp. Kimchi and pickled jalapeño bring the acidity first; the warm brown-butter foam is poured at the table, while cracklings are scattered last to keep their crunch. A fine dusting of leek ash finishes the plate - dark, almost volcanic against the golden dumpling.
Linen, candlelight, everything within reach. The table is set without unnecessary ceremony: nothing should interrupt the food, the wine or the conversation. The only formality is care.
plating · the set table
I I I · EXPERIENCE
Taste
the warmth of the room
WHERE IT COMES FROM
A landscape you can taste.
The wine from the terraces of the Kamptal, the pork from the hills of Styria - carried to one homebase in Vienna.
Zotter Premium Fleisch
Butcher
A family house in its fourth generation, in the hills of eastern Styria. Zotter does not farm - it selects. Veal and beef come from Austrian operations and are processed in the house's own facility; pork, poultry and the rest from breeders held to the same standard. Welfare is followed from the farmer to the plate.
Buch-Sankt Magdalena · Styria · since 1931
Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg
Winemaker
Winemaking on the Cistercian estate above the Kamp since 1171. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from the famed vineyards of Lamm, Grub and Heiligenstein — stone, pepper and precision, and a house that still moves at the pace of its cellar.
Kamptal · Lower Austria · since 1171
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