It wasn't until 1921 that Vienna became its own state within the federal republic of Austria. Until then, it had been part of Lower Austria, but by the turn of the 20th century radical, urban, and social democratic Vienna and rural, Catholic, conservative Lower Austria were very much two horses pulling in opposite directions. Even without the capital, Lower Austria remains the largest state in the country and a region of tremendous importance for the country's economy. The state is subdivided into four regions: in the south-east, the Industrieviertel, Lower Austria's industrial heartland; in the south-west, the Mostviertel, so-called because of its coverage of fruit trees; in the north-east, the Weinviertel, one of Austria's largest wine-growing regions (and it's also home to the Marchfeld, where many of our vegetables are grown); and finally, in the north-west, the wooded Waldviertel, home to the subject of today's post, the Mohnzelte, a small, round pastry made from a light potato-based dough, whose core brims with poppy seeds.
The relationship between poppy seeds and the Waldviertel goes back to the 12th century, when monks grew and cultivated the lilac flowers of the Waldviert'ler Graumohn around and about the monasteries in which they lived. By the second half of the 13th century, documents show that the monks were beginning to use the seeds of the plant to make poppy seed oil, using as fuel to light churches and monasteries. In order to find an authentic Mohnzelte from the Waldviertel in Vienna, a product traditionally associated with Christmas and wintertime, look out for the name Kasses. Their products are available throughout the city from Julius Meinl to Kaas at the Karmelitermarkt in the second district, but if you're on the tourist trail, perhaps you're most likely to stumble across them at the Naschmarkt at the delicatessen Pöhl.
