THE VIENNESE CUISINE (and some similarities to FILIPINO CUISINE)

Before we left for Vienna, Austria, I read many things about the city that is known to be "The City of Dreams" and "The City of Music." I wanted to know, before hand, about its people, culture, weather, what to do, where to go, the beautiful sights to see and, of course, because I am a food lover, I read about info about the Viennese cuisine.  In my research, I found about the Schnitzel (crispy breaded pork chop that was pounded thinly and fried), the Goulash (beef with tomato sauce cooked with browned onions) and, the different varieties of frankfurters and wurstels available in this city.

Whatever would be quickly available was what we would try first.  So, after checking in at the hotel, I googled the nearest restaurant and found "Petrus & Paulus Stuben."  This fine dining restaurant met my expectations.  It offers a variety of authentic Viennese cuisine.  The first two in its menu were Schnitzel and Goulash.  Though the restaurant servers hardly spoke English, we managed to order what we wanted.

In a short time, our Schnitzel and Goulash were served to us complete with warm and cold Sauerkraut and matching very cold local beer. We learned that because the Austrians are beer drinkers, there are many small and large breweries scattered around the country.

Days went by and we tried the city's different varieties of Frankfurters and Wurstels.

What was surprising was when we were looking for other varieties of Viennese cuisine to try, we discovered its Tafelspitz (boiled beef) similar to our own Beef Bulalo, Heuriger Stelze (crispy pork knuckles) very much like our Crispy Pata and its "Ribs of Vienna" charcoal grilled spareribs seasoned with salt and pepper.  The Viennese eat these food with bread or boiled or fried potatoes while we eat them with rice complete with condiments and dippings sauces.

"Did we independently come up with these similar dishes or was there a point in our history when we influenced each other somehow?"

Radatz' famous Heurigen-Stelze

This photo was taken from the internet.