Tafelspitz and Pumpkin

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The meat on the left is Tafelspitz for which my dictionary only gives a translation of prime beef boiled. This you can find everywhere in eastern Austria. But the more important part is the pumpkin stew here as a side dish which makes a good main meal by itself. This style of Styrian Pumpkin I love and it was cooked for me by my mother on 45th birthday.
I didn't have the chance to ask her for a detailed recipe, so for the time being take this one
Styrian Pumpkin It is from the official Styrian government homepage, the design is a bit stern. But what their recipe does not tell you is that the pumpkin dish is best cooked not with butter but with pig fat. This makes the difference in taste but is not likely to be savvoured by everyone the same.

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tafelspitz

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comment_body: 

Sounds delicious...I will try to make it this week as a friend is coming over for dinner...(minus the pig fat, which i doubt i can get here). 2 Qs -- any idea how long the beef is boiled for? i am guessing it is simmered for hours ?? what is the yellow food next to the pumpkin -- apple? potato? something else? ps it is really interesting that the Styrian government value their local food so highly that it features on their webpage ..are the austrians as obsessed by food as much as the italians, only in a quieter, more *private* way?

the humble potato

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comment_body: 

Dear Doll Yoko sorry for not mentioning that the yellow thing between meat and pumpkin of course are potatoe. this is a special way of making them with fried little onions. How to make the onions so crispy brown and everything so delicious is a secret of my mother (ops, start coming across like a mothers boy, but so may be it;-) yes, the beef you boil slowly the same way you would make a clear beef soup stock, so you cook it with carottes and some roots and parsly and similar soup stock veggies which you all throw away after cooking (of course not the meat) you dont need to cook it hours on hours, maybe 1 or 1 and a half is enough. if you are daring add some bone to the soup. this will give you delicious tafelspitz and delicious clear soup stock which you can use for all sorts of things, for instance risotto. yes, Austrians are quietly passionate about their food, especially in Styria (the part where I am from and where this recipe is from) maybe because we are quite close to Italy, there is only Slovenia in between. besides pumpkin further styrian specialities are black pumpkin seed oil and breadcrumbed chicken. you have to see and feel that 'live', it does not make sense to tease you more with words best armin