The Knitting Songbird: Demel

It's strange how cities or countries can rever some of their fellow citizens and yet revolt against others. On every street, on every street corner, in every store you'll find something or other with Sissi's likeness on it. From chocolates to mugs to plates to china dolls, there's some item or other with her face or figure printed on it. And yet, you can't find a thing with her fellow country woman, Marie Antoinette on it, despite the fact that, funnily enough, she was more "Austrian" than Sissi. In fact, Sissi was not Austrian at all, except by marriage. Rather, she was a German Bavarian. And yet, no female figure is more prominent in the Austrian capital than Sissi.

Funny thing history, isn't it? As George Santayan said "History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten." It now seems that MA wasn't as bad or silly a woman as many historians have made her out to be. For example, the phrase that she apparently coined "let them eat cake" was in fact meant to be benevolent - she just perhaps didn't put it quite the way she should have. The site www.phrases.org.uk says the following:

The original French is 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche'. It has been suggested that the speaker's intention wasn't as cynical as is generally supposed. French law required bakers to sell loaves at fixed prices and fancy loaves had to be sold at the same price as basic breads. This was aimed at preventing bakers from selling just the more profitable expensive products. The let them eat brioche (a form of cake made of flour, butter and eggs) would have been a sensible suggestion in the face of a flour shortage as it would have allowed the poor to eat what would otherwise have been unaffordable. It's rather a mouthful, so to speak, but if the phrase had been reported as 'let them buy cake at the same price as bread' we might now think better of the French nobility.

Now wouldn't it be nice if "cake" was cheaper than bread nowadays? I wouldn't have spent a small fortune in Demel were that the case. Mind you, a small fortune that I was and am happy to have parted with. As the author of the book "Kaffeehaus", Rick Rodgers, says "to pastry lovers, it is impossible to visit Vienna without a pilgrimage to Demel, the doyenne of Vienna's Kaffeehauser." And being a pastry lover (well, more cake than pastry. Not too fond of puff or filo pastry unless I make it myself. A totally different taste experience), I have to agree.

Founded in 1786 by Ludwig Dehne, it is a Viennese landmark situated just across the road from the entrance to the Hofburg. This wasn't always the case. It was first located on Michaelerplatz, about 50 metres away. When Dehne died, his widow moved just down the road and made sure that the kaffeehaus became the "Imperial Sugar Bakery", or Hofsuckerbakerei (try saying that after a couple of beers!) which is logical seeing its location. But my favourite Demel story is that for a time, the renowned baker Franz Sacher worked there. When he moved on, the recipe for his world famous cake stayed behind. And it took more than 100 years for the courts to settle who was the owner of the brand "The Original Sacher Torte". Unfortunately, it was not Demel but Hotel Sacher.

But who cares? A name is just a name. It's what's on the inside that counts, isn't it, you know, l'essentiel and all? I'm lucky enough to have a son who enjoys eating as much as I do. So while while we were in Vienna, we made daily pilgrammages to Demel. Even though my favourite cake is bischottentorte (I think that's how you write it...), I promised myself to try a different cake every day. So on the first day, I HAD to have a slice of bischottentorte, the next I had russichepunschtorte (almost the same as the bischottentorte to be honest...and just as difficult to write...) and on the last some himbeertorte. And every single morsel of every single cake was absolutely divine and worth every Euro cent.

And that's the thing - even though high quality does have a price, it's a price that I'm willing to pay. I like the French philosophy - have a little bit of something good than a lot of something bad. Even though the kaffeehaus "Aida" is a bit cheaper, I'd rather just one slice of Demel than a whole Aida cake.

I do go on, don't I? Well, enough from me, let the pictures do the talking: