Burgenland cuisine and cold turkey

Vinod

Some years ago my late father, Anil Moonesinghe, served as Sri Lanka's ambassador in Vienna, in which post he was accredited to Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia and Slovenia.

This area covered the pre-1914 Austro-Hungarian Empire and Kingdom of Serbia. It was an area replete with history - the Ottoman Turks captured most of it and were stopped only at the very gates of Vienna; not once, but twice.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was created by the union of the Empire of Austria with the Kingdom of Hungary. The Emperor was hence given the epithet 'Kah und Kah' ('K & K'), an abbreviation of 'Kaiserlich und Koeniglich', meaning 'Imperial and Royal' in German.

The two parts of the Empire were, in its latter stages, defined by their position vis-a-vis the river Leitha. The Austrian part was Cisleithania, the Hungarian, Transleithania; meaning, 'this' and 'that' side of the Leitha - a necessarily Vienna-centric view.

Richest cultural capitals

Vienna itself is one of the richest cultural capitals of Europe, filled with museums, baroque palaces, churches and, of course, opera houses. It was home to composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and the Strauss family (the Blue Danube flows through the city's middle).

In 2002 a seminar took place to familiarise Sri Lankan politicians and members of 'civil society' (i.e. non-governmental organizations, religious organizations and journalists) with the concepts and practicalities of 'conflict resolution'.

The seminar was organized at the behest of the Austrian Foreign Ministry by the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Schlaining, in the heart of Burgenland, South-West of Vienna.

The present province of Burgenland was in Transleithania and was ruled by a series of Magyar feudal dynasties, the Esterhazy, Batthyany and Nadasdy. These landowning potentates built the castles and fortified churches for which the province is famous, using mainly Italian labour.

Multifarious culinary

In 1921, following the Versailles Peace Treaty, majority ethnic German Burgenland was separated from Hungary and joined to Austria. The area was home not merely to Austrians and Hungarians, but also to Croats, Italians and (until their near-elimination by the Nazis) Jews and Gypsies.

This ethnic mix and its chequered history led to the creation of a vibrant culture. This is exemplified by the fact that the region's most famous composer, Joseph Haydn, wrote the music for what was to become the German national anthem, based on a Croat folk song.

The area has historically been famous for its wines, but the cultural mix has also led to the creation of probably the richest cuisine in Austria, from Hungarian goulash to Jewish chicken livers. Much of the food is adjectivised as 'Zigeuner' (Gypsy) or 'Serbisch' (Serbian).

The food is generally spicier than in the rest of the country, and the region was known as the 'Paprika Equator'. Hungarian Paprika Chicken ('Paprikasch') spread to the rest of Austria from Burgenland. The participants spent a week in Schlaining, during which they were able to savour the multifarious culinary and vinous treasures of Burgenland. After that, they visited Vienna for a sightseeing tour. The seminar party was to go to the Embassy residence for lunch. At the time I was on a break in Europe and was staying with my father in the residence on Kahlenberg Strasse, close to where Beethoven used to live - the Heiligenstadt Park, with a statue of Beethoven in it, is just a few minutes' walk away. My father wanted to give the seminar crowd a hearty continental meal with all the varied delicacies of Vienna. However, my stepmother Joan said that they would be heartily sick of European food and would want rice and curry. So it was rice and curry which was duly cooked.

Rice and curry

Came the appointed day and the seminar party arrived at the residence, looking glum and tired. They had driven up from Schlaining, had driven around Vienna enjoying the visual delights and were due to visit the famous Vienna Opera in the late afternoon.

The gathering included Susil Premjayantha, now Minister of Petroleum Industries, but then an Opposition Member of Parliament. I knew him from the time we were both Urban Councillors in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte.

He smiled and sidled up to me and said, sotto voce, 'buth thiyanava neyda?' ('There is rice, isn't there?') Joan had been vindicated: they had all been living in fear of getting another European meal and being deprived of rice and curry once more.

The fool and his money may be soon parted, but the Sri Lankan and his rice and curry can never be parted for long. Some Sri Lankans, particularly those from the regions beyond the Bentota river, need rice and curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The lack of any one of these meals can cause them to become weak and ill. The average Sri Lankan has the same need of regular doses of rice and curry as a heroin addict has for their habitual fix.

The seminar party were all suffering from the symptoms of rice-and-curry withdrawal, the unbearable discomfort caused by the absence of the addictive substance, the technical term for which is 'cold turkey'. The party tucked into the repast with gusto and when they departed they all had beatific smiles on their faces. I doubt that it was the joys the Vienna Opera had to give which occasioned their cheerfulness.