After a week at the Original FX Mayr on Lake Wörthersee, I have to say that I didn’t feel hungry for a second. I suppose it wasn’t easy, especially at the beginning. The idea of eating less (1000 calories a day), not drinking alcohol or coffee, and following a diet without sugar or carbohydrates would have been impossible for me at home. I still have three more days to go, but I feel much more energetic and inspired with new ideas. Not only for my job, but also for cooking when I get home.
Today I spend some time in the kitchen with chef Andreas Wolff, who is responsible for Original FX Mayr’s dietary cuisine. Together with a team of nutritionists, they are constantly coming up with new ingredients and dishes that match the season and the DNA of the Mayr concept.
Here’s what I learned and what I’m taking home with me:
For Andreas, the most important tools in the kitchen are also the simplest: Good knives and pans. The classic Tefal pans are the best because you don’t need much oil or butter for frying. They are easy to use and good knives are needed to cut vegetables very finely so that they gain flavour rather than lose it. The nutritionist adds: “This way the vitamins are better absorbed by the body.” It’s all about preparation and presentation. Andrea’s plates look very good, of course, but the art of arranging food also lies in the fact that he always combines different consistencies on the same plate. Soft purées, crunchy vegetables and crispy vegetable chips. The meal is never boring, especially when you use different colours.
Regional and seasonal cuisine is a must at the Original FX Mayr, but of course tomatoes and courgettes are sourced from Italy. Most dairy products are locally produced from March onwards. In winter, dairy products cannot be produced in Austria by the smaller regional producers.
The food at Original FX Mayr is seasoned only with salt (Himalaya salt) and freshly cut herbs. Some dishes also use lemongrass and ginger, but mostly you get a tasty meal with these ingredients.
Inspiration also comes from food trends, such as fermentation, which comes from Korean cuisine and has many benefits for gut health. When you get smoothies, always in a small glass, they are usually fermented because the vitamins and minerals have a much stronger effect. Communication between the nutritionist and the cooking team always brings new challenges.
For example, how do you make an Italian pasta dish without “real” pasta?
No problem, because the original Mediterranean Italian cuisine uses a lot of lentils, beans and chickpeas anyway. Many flavour combinations are built on lentils or chickpea pasta is a good addition by adding dried tomatoes and fresh basil, for example.
Cooking according to F.X Mayr is quite simple.
You use less, but only the best products, sourced locally and cooked carefully.
You find alle recipes here and two of my favourites below:
Buckwheat curry-crepes (cook book page 27)
For 4 Mayr servings:
150 g buckwheat flour
1 egg
2 tsp (approx. 10 g) starch
A pinch of salt
400-500 ml rice milk
1 teaspoon of Curry powder
½ tsp ghee
Mix all the ingredients and set the dough aside for 15 minutes.
Ensure that the dough is not too firm, if necessary, soften with a little rice milk.
Heat a little ghee in a pan. Bake thin crepes, spread parsley purée onto them and stuff with
vegetables.
Stuffing
8 tablespoons of parsley purée
(steamed celeriac blended with salt, fresh parsley)
Approx. 200 g of blanched chard
Approx. 50-60 g of sautéed mushrooms
Approx. 30 g of sautéed courgettes
Approx. 30 g sautéed fennel
Buckwheat crackers
(Basic recipe: buckwheat rolls – approx. 10-12 rolls, each weighing approx. 40 g)
250 g finely ground buckwheat flour
260 ml soda water (sparkling water)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp bread spice
Briefly mix all ingredients until a creamy dough is formed.
Then spread the dough onto baking paper and bake for approx. 10 minutes at 190 °C. Pumpkin seeds
or black sesame seeds can also be sprinkled onto the crackers.
Health facts: Buckwheat is gluten free, easy to digest and full of minerals and vitamins.
It contains B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium. It is also an important source of
carbohydrates and amino acids such as lysine.
In the Mayr cuisine buckwheat plays an important role and is served in different shapes and textures.
Our buckwheat roll is our chewing trainer and our crackers/bread sticks are variations of it with a
different consistency.
