Kasknopfle

Kässpätzle, in Vorarlberg Käsknöpfle, is the regional dish: a soft egg dough scraped or pressed into boiling water to make irregular small dumplings, then layered with grated cheese so it melts through, and topped with onions fried dark. What separates the Vorarlberg version from the Swabian and Allgäu ones next door is the cheese - the Bregenzerwald has a dense network of small alp dairies making Bergkäse and Räskäse to a defined Käsestrasse standard, and the local practice is to use a mix of ages so that a young cheese gives the melt and an older one gives the flavour. It is served with apple sauce, which sounds odd and works. It is hut and tavern food, heavy, and portioned for people who have walked.

What you actually see

• Hand-scraped dough dumplings - irregular knöpfle rather than uniform pasta.
• Bregenzerwald alp cheese - a mix of ages for melt and for flavour.
• Dark fried onions - piled over the top as the finish.
• Apple sauce alongside - the standard accompaniment, and it works.

When to go

All year; on the alps in summer, in taverns in winter. A meal.

Honest expectations

It is extremely rich and portions are sized for hikers. Quality depends entirely on the cheese - industrial versions are stringy and bland. Vegetarian, but not light.

Nearby

The Bregenzerwald cheese road villages and the alp huts above them.