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Meat tigers or convinced veggies? A domestic survey from October 2024 provides facts: around 70 percent of households rely on a “both – and”, i.e. mixed diet. But the trend towards avoiding meat is clearly increasing. According to this, 6.9 percent of the population are currently vegetarians and 2.7 percent are vegans. Vienna, or rather Viennese cuisine, is traditionally more meat-focused, such as Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz and fried chicken. Of course, bread dumplings, apple strudel and Sachertorte are also classics, but they are considered side dishes and desserts and not as main courses.
As far as the meat side is concerned, Jakob Lehne and Sarah Pichlkastner, both from the Vienna Museum, present a book weighing around 40 days. It is tellingly titled “40 dag Fleisch” and accompanies the special exhibition of the same name (until February 22, 2026) in the Vienna Museum. First, a look at the foreword: "This book follows Vienna's meat history from the stable to the plate and beyond. It links the developments of the past with the perspectives of the present and raises the pressing question: What will happen next with meat eating?" (Intro, page 3).
A broad approach is taken in six chapters separated by transparent meat wrapping paper. Starting with "In the stable and on the pasture" animal husbandry is discussed at the beginning. It's about fully slatted floors as well as animals that live in Vienna. There are also photos from the Maurer organic farm in Floridsdorf. The cattle in the pasture, who don't care at all about the Wiener Linien bus passing by in the background (page 22f), are obviously doing just as well as the pigs in the wallow (page 26f).
"On the way and in the slaughterhouse" (from page 29) is not only about the central cattle market in St. Marx, which was one of the largest in Europe at 300,000 square meters, but also about the cattle drive that used to take place through the streets of the city. The chapter “In the cold store and in the sausage mixer” on page 49 is dedicated to meat processing. Beginning in the 19th century, improved refrigeration and freezing techniques revolutionized the use of fresh meat on a large scale. On page 50 there is a drawing of a cow with the names of the meat parts. While terms like Beiried or Wadschunken are still in vogue among gourmets, only a few people know which piece of beef is called Kruspelspitz. A photo series (pp. 56 to 71) with eight historic butcher shops shows the proud staff in shops full of sausages, pork legs or pork sides.
The part “On the Budl and in the Basket” is dedicated to the topic of selling meat. While in the Middle Ages there were the so-called Fleischbänke, which were selected places in Vienna (on Lichtensteg and Graben), where meat was offered outdoors, sales increasingly shifted to shops, later to market halls and, from the middle of the 20th century, also to supermarkets. A picture on page 82 shows a horse carcass being dismembered on the street in 1945, when there was a food shortage in Vienna. "Under the knife and in the pot" not only pays tribute to the type of Viennese cook, but also shows Vienna's first (around 1870) vegetarian restaurant, the "Ramharter" in the inner city. Current color photos take you to former slaughterhouses, such as the one in Hernals, where the MA 48 manure yard is now located, and to the business portals of former butchers. Finally, the chapters "On the plate and in the mouth" and "In the body and in the environment" deal, among other things, with religious aspects (keyword lamb or sacrificial lamb), horse meat, which always carried the stigma of being poor people's food, and the topic of hygiene (keyword: Trichina infestation and meat inspection). Not to be forgotten is a banner from Greenpeace from 2022 with the demand: “Take a stand: meat labeling now!” (page 143).
The passionate cook and landlady Ingrid Pernkopf (1959 to 2016) and Renate Wagner-Wittula, non-fiction author with a focus on culinary art, are responsible for the 336-page cookbook "Today I'd Rather No Meat" (2020). Wagner-Wittula has taken the "light to medium level" meat-free recipes from Pernkopf's wealth of recipes and combined them into a cookbook where even "amateur cooks" will get their money's worth. On page 8 she invites you: "Browse through this treasure trove of fine salads, dumplings, dumplings, strudels and casseroles or indulge in sweet pastry heaven - and suddenly meat-free cooking has nothing ascetic about it, but becomes pure enjoyment." After a few tips that encourage variation but also meat (!) ("And if you ever feel like eating meat, many of the recipes can be spiced up with bacon, sausage or meat"), 13 sections follow, from small bites to salads, soups, vegetable dishes, strudel, dumplings, sweet dumplings and cakes in the final chapter "From the bakery".
The book is a collection of classic recipes from traditional Austrian cuisine. Here are some examples and insights. Liptauer (page 17) is made with curd cheese, butter and Brimsen, alternatively Gervais can also be used. The list of ingredients and their alternatives can be found in the side column. If you prefer a fuller taste, add crushed curd cheese; this tip can be found under “Variations” at the bottom of the page. Sometimes there is also a “veggie tip”, such as with clear vegetable soup (vegetable stock). The vegetable stock, which has a limited shelf life, can be easily frozen or sterilized by filling it into jars (at 98 degrees for approx. 40 to 60 minutes). For dumplings or spaetzle (page 200) it depends on the flour, which has to be grippy. The basic dough is prepared with flour, eggs and milk, or water or mineral water. If you have spinach spaetzle on your menu, simply use creamed spinach instead of milk. In addition to this variation, there are seven others.
The last chapter, “Basic Recipes”, from page 300 onwards provides the basics for numerous other dishes. Here you will find recipes for yeast dough (smooth flour), shortcrust dough ("The dough should never be kneaded for too long"), strudel dough (strudels with fruit fillings must be baked at a higher temperature than strudels with soft fillings). Pasta dough can be prepared in “two ways” (page 310), with and without water. A "veggie tip": "From 100 grams of flour (grippy) and 1 egg you get approx. 300 grams of cooked pasta."
A register from apple curry soup to onion soup with gratinated cheese croutons concludes the lovingly designed book, which is enriched with drawings.
Conclusion: "40 dag Fleisch" falls into the Viennensia category and shows the city from a meat perspective with numerous pictures, photos and objects from the Vienna Museum. The great thematic breadth also opens up insights into the less well-known. "Today I'd Rather No Meat" is a classic cookbook that covers the diversity of Austrian cuisine - but without meat. Tips and recipe variations encourage you to try your hand at being a cook. (Thomas Hofmann, October 17, 2025)