Frittaten Soup
Category	Soup
Servings	4
Time	prep: 15 min. cooking: 1.30 min.
Difficulty

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| Austrian Cuisine

Frittaten Soup originates from an incident that took place during the Congress of Vienna in the 19th century. This conference involved various European ambassadors and was chaired by the Austrian Prince, Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. At this time the main issues of European politics were not discussed in the conference room but during secret meetings between the key diplomats. These private meetings needed to be kept confidential. This however, was an extremely difficult task, especially in an overcrowded city like Vienna. A number of historians claim that at the time of the Congress, there were more spies in Vienna than normal residents. So, in order to avoid espionage, many ambassadors decided to hold their private meetings incognito in inns outside of the city in an area now called Lower Austria.

It was in this area, in an inn in Langenlebarn, that one of those conspiratorial meetings took place between Metternich, Prince de Lignet, the French ambassador Talleyrand, and the Sicilian ambassador Conte Romano de Frittata.

The disguised aristocrats arrived at the inn and greeted each other in French, when to Metternich´s dismay, the innkeeper refused them entry. The problem was that the innkeeper despised the French because of the suffering of the Austrians at the hands of Napoleon’s soldiers. Unfortunately there was no other inn in the surrounding area and so Metternich was forced to disclose his Austrian identity and to try to persuade the innkeeper to at least provide the diplomats with accommodation. The innkeeper eventually accepted Metternich’s bribe and let them in, but he refused to cook for them.

The innkeeper’s stubbornness led to Metternich ordering his coachman to prepare a meal for his fellow diplomats. Yet being completely overwhelmed with this task he was only able to heat water and add spices. Fortunately, Frittata’s servant came to the coachman’s aid and mixed a batter out of milk, eggs, and salt, which he then fried in a pan.

The soup with the cut pancakes in it was then served to the diplomats. They were content with the meal and the meeting turned out to be a complete success. Later on, the Prince of Lignet spoke of how well the "soup of Frittata" had been received. Therefore, one can say that this soup still serves as an excellent example of cross-national cooperation.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 400 ml milk
• 180 grams flour
• salt
• butter or oil

Procedure

Mix the egg, milk, flour, and salt together. Heat either the butter, or alternatively the oil, in a pan. Pour some of the batter into the hot pan and wait until the pancake has solidified. Flip the pancake and wait for the other side to cook. Let it cool and then cut into thin strips.

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