Desserts

• A "kaiserschmarrn" is a dessert of shredded pancake and stewed fruit. Another sweet is the cheese Danish, a strudel filled with sweet cheese and raisins. In general, Austrians are known for their pastries and sweets, and Germans for their heavy dumplings. Germans, however, also make well known desserts. The dresdner stolen is a German fruitcake usually sold during Christmas. Germans make it with yeast dough and candied fruit. Germans make tarts using peaches, apricots and, most commonly, plums.
  
  

World Famous Meals

• Germans place importance on craft beer and often hold festivals in their beer gardens. Beer festivals attract tourism. The beer garden emerged from cellars dug to keep beer cool during summer months. Brewers planted chestnut trees to give shade. People would often visit these beer gardens, where they could receive beer straight from the cellars. While Austrians consume a lot of beer, they are known at least as much for their weiner schnitzel. Wiener schnitzel is a meat that the cook pounds flat with a mallet. The meat is usually veal, pork, turkey or chicken. It is salted and breaded in a saucepan, then fried. Austrians often have "erdapfel salat" as a side dish with weiner schnitzel. Germans often have pork.
  
  

Dumplings

• Germans often eat peppered hare, usually with dumplings and mashed potatoes. German potato dumplings use both cooked and raw potatoes. Germans also like potato salad, served with mayonnaise. Germans also put meat and pasta into their dumplings. They sometimes create bread dumplings for their pork chops and egg dumplings for roast pork and sausages. Common Austrian dumplings contain spinach, ham and mountain cheeses. Austrians sometimes make dumplings with plain dough.
  
  

Regional Meals

• Austrian cuisines are highly influenced by region. Southern Austrians eat very little meat and fish, eating mostly carbohydrates and starches instead. People living near lakes eat a lot of fish and crayfish. Austrians often eat game, including boar, pheasant, hare, duck and goose. Some regions of Austria use very strong cheeses, many of which are regional in origin. Germans also have regional foods. Bavaria is known for pretzels, Fraconia for wine, southwestern Germans eat pancake soup and eastern Germans eat yeast cakes with raisins.