The scenic Austrian town of Innsbruck is also a gourmet getaway

Innsbruck has a secret. You wouldn’t guess it by gazing at its old town, all gaily painted buildings and imperial churches topped with green-domed bell towers. Or at its spectacular setting on the Inn River, ringed by the mighty Alps and surrounded by pine-clad slopes that offer world-class skiing just 20 minutes from the heart of town.

But Innsbruck does indeed have a secret. For this Tyrolean city is an under-the-radar paradise for gourmets. The region’s lush farmlands produce a rich organic harvest, which is transformed into local specialties by artisans whose families have been perfecting their skills for generations.

The best way to immerse yourself in this unexplored side of Innsbruck is to take a walking tour with Innsbruck Food Tours. Founder Kurt Reindl, who grew up on a farm in the nearby Ötztal Valley, kicks off our morning adventure in true Tyrolean style with a glass of schnapps – in this case a Zirbenlikör, which Reindl’s brother makes from the local stone pine tree.

“We don’t like waste in the Tyrol, and you can see that in how we use the stone pine,” Reindl explains. “We don’t just use the wood – we use the pine needles, and we make liquor from it.” Reindl’s food tour follows the same sustainable philosophy. Rather than generating food waste, guests are given a tote bag and containers in which they can take their leftovers home.

Stomachs warmed, we wander through the local market hall and then into the old town, with Reindl warning me, “There is just one rule: I talk. You eat.”

He is true to his word. Before I know it, I’m working my way through local specialties, including no fewer than three cheeses with PDO (protected designation of origin) status: Bergkäse, Graukäse and Almkäse. Each cheese is defined by the altitude at which the cows graze – up to 1000 metres above sea level for Bergkäse, and above 1000 metres for Almkäse – as well as the type of milk it is made from.

Graukäse, until recently seen as “the cheese your grandma ate”, as Reindl puts it, has had a sudden boost in popularity since people realised that the skim-milk cheese has a fat content of less than two per cent. “The hipsters love it,” Reindl laughs.

If you are going to eat cheese, you need some bread to go with it, so we stop in at Bäckerei Kröll, where they have been baking bread since 1795. The bakery specialises in traditional varieties such as Schüttelbrot, a crispy flatbread that was stored in open shelves and would keep literally for years, and Vinschgauer Paarl, a rye bread flavoured with fennel and cumin.