Spätzle

Spaetzle [ ʃpɛtslə ] or sparrows ( elongated shape ) and Knöpfle ( round shape ), in Switzerland and in Markgraeflerland: called spaetzle or Chnöpfli and in the Lower Alemannic region Knepfli are Swabian or Alemannic pasta as a side dish or with other ingredients as a separate court are served. In Hungary ( nokedli and galuska - where there are both names naturalized foreign words! ) And Slovakia is an equivalent court of common ( or galuska halušky ), with Austria joining the two cultures. In northern Austria noodles are called dumplings (about also in the form of preparation Eiernockerl ), while in Carinthia and Tyrol cams also denote dumplings.

Spätzle are egg pasta from fresh eggs with irregular shape and rougher, more porous surface, wherein the chewy dough is placed directly into boiling water / steam - with their shape varies between thin and thick, long and short. The only pasta they are already cooked for the first time during production. Your moist dough is pressed by either perforated plates or it drips through these sheets into the boiling bath.

Name

Spätzle is the Swabian diminutive of Spatz and possibly means " sparrow " or " chunk, chunk ". As water sparrows, the court is occupied in the 18th century. In the Swabian one usually uses the plural form Spätzlâ or Spatzâ.

The name probably refers to the shape of the noodles in the 18th century, which was compared with sparrows. Some linguists reject the name also applied to the word chunk of ( Dough ) clumps.

Depending on the shape is between long spaetzle (the length exceeds the diameter by more than four times ) and Knöpfle (the ratio of length to diameter is less than two) distinguished. Wayward, großklumpige noodles are also called ravens, storks, Sable, nightingales, Grandpa (t ) he or eagle.

History and Significance

Spaetzle and Knöpfle have a centuries-long tradition of manufacturing and of great importance for the Swabian cuisine in the region of Swabia. The Swabian literature is rich in poetry around the " favorite dish of the Swabians ", such as the 1838 published in the Black Forest messengers poem " The praise of Schwabenknöpfle ," the poem " Swabian Leibspeisa " or the " Spätzles Song ".

The tradition of Spätzle production in Swabia can be traced back to the 18th century. In 1725 the Württemberg advice and personal physician Rosino Lentilio " Knöpflein " and " Spazen " summarized as " everything is made ​​from flour " together. At the time, spelled was widely used in the Swabian- Alemannic region. In the small rural structured and poverty-stricken region enjoyed the undemanding cereals, which also thrives on poor soils, very popular. Because spelled flour contains a lot of gluten, so that the dough is achieved at time of need without the addition of eggs, is primarily spelled was used for the production of noodles.

Traditionally, Spätzle are hand scraped, handgeschabte spaetzle from the board are still considered special cachet. For practical economic reasons since the beginning of the 20th century came the machine processing of Spätzle " with home-made character ," that is scraped as if by hand, at. With the onset of industrialization and advancing prosperity the spaetzle advanced by the ordinary everyday fare for culinary specialty on feast days. In the description of a Swabian village dating back to 1937 spaetzle are called as solid food. A year earlier, rose the local poet Sebastian Blue spaetzle a symbol of regional identity of Swabia: "... the noodles are the foundation of our kitchen, the glory of our country, ... the nuts and bolts of the Swabian menu ... ".

Swabian spaetzle or Knöpfle are now out in Swabia by almost all pasta manufacturers and restaurateurs in the range and also successfully exported since the eighties. They find their mention in numerous Swabian festivals and customs and also touristy marketed in the form of weekly specials or courses, seminars and competitions for spaetzle cockroaches. There are numerous culinary competitions and several world records in the noodles scraping.

Several exhibitions documenting traditional knowledge for the production in the region of Swabia from the beginnings to the present. The importance of spaetzle for the Swabian cuisine, testifies the 1827 first published novel, " The Story of the Seven Swabians ", according to which there is the habit of Swabia, " that you täglichs Tags eats five times, namely five times soup, and twice to Knöpfle or spaetzle ." Elise Henle explained in 1892 that it was for a woman in Swabia befitting the production of noodles to dominate: " s isch koi richtigs Schwobe - Mädla, the net Spätzla kocha ka. '" For the modern era is one of the Swabian author Siegfried Ruoß in the cookbook " Swabian Spaetzle kitchen " over 50 different spaetzle recipes for the region Swabia.

Dough ingredients and preparation of noodles

Ingredients

The Spätzle is made ​​from flour, eggs, warm water, some places with the milk, and salt, which can vary the amount of information. Are regarded as rules of thumb: For one serving per 100 g of flour, a pinch of salt, an egg and: always an egg more than people sitting at the table later. Commercially offered noodles flour is usually grainier ( double grip ) wheat flour type 405, partially mixed with spelled flour or fine semolina. It clumps less than plain flour.

Preparation

Unlike pasta dough is Spätzle moist, soft and rapid, so that it can not be rolled out. For further preparation there are various ways:

• Scraped: In the classic preparation of fresh dough is scraped directly into boiling water on a damp, ideally front beveled, board and spread with a spaetzle scraper or a knife into thin strips. This traditional form is complex and requires practice.
• Pressed: The spaetzle press the dough is pressed vertically into threads into the water. This long arise uniform spaetzle.
• Planed: The Spaetzle is available in two different versions: the planer with round, smooth holes generated short, thick noodles ( Knöpfle )
• The plane with downward pointing noses at the holes generated long noodles.

When the noodles are cooked in a short time, they rise to the top and removed with a slotted spoon. They should not ( cold water ) quenched, but served while hot.

In addition to these manufacturing processes, there are also dried noodles or as a chilled ready commodity that can be boiled directly in hot water.

Spaetzle dishes

• Apple dumplings are a sweet version, which will be found in the Allgäu and Lake Constance. Sautéed noodles are added steamed apple slices or apple sauce and then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.
• Back noodles are baked golden brown and are a pure soup ingredient.
• Meat dumplings soup
• Spelt noodles are made with spelled flour.
• Eispätzle: The noodles are swung in a pan with butter and mixed with creamed eggs.
• Fiery noodles pot: ground beef, onion and cabbage and chicory are boiled and mixed with noodles.
• Gaisburger march is a classic Swabian stew with spaetzle.
• Hazelnut Spaetzle: roasted and ground hazelnuts.
• Potato noodles: The noodles are added riser grated boiled potatoes.
• Kässpätzle are probably the most famous noodles dish. Special Tradition has it in Swabia, in the Allgäu and in Vorarlberg as Käsknöpfle. Common to many variants that spaetzle, abgeschmälzte onions and cheeses are layered. Typical cheeses are Emmental and Alpine cheese, but also Limburger cheese, Weißlacker cheese or Vorarlberg mountain cheese. Side dishes are mostly green salads or potato salad. In Vorarlberg Oberland and in Liechtenstein is to Kässpätzle also applesauce usual. Remains of the spaetzle can be fried with butter in a pan.
• Herb Spaetzle: The spaetzle riser are added various chopped herbs, such as parsley, lovage, tarragon or sorrel.
• Herb spaetzle are heated together with sauerkraut and bacon in the pan until the herb is partially browned.
• Liver spaetzle made ​​with a paste which additionally contains pureed, raw liver. They are served with fried onions or used in soups.
• Lentils with spaetzle and strings Würstle: Are a typical Swabian spaetzle dish.
• Milk noodles: noodles, together with cook-up milk and eggs the basis of a dessert with apple sauce or boiled dried fruit.
• Poppy noodles: The noodles are browned with ground poppy seeds and sugar in a pan.
• Pinzgauer Kasnockn Salzburg are a variant of the Pinzgauer cheese spaetzle with beer cheese, a spicy and strong smelling specialty.
• Schinkenrahmspätzle be mixed with a sauce of cooked ham and cream.
• Spaetzle with dried plums represents a dessert with layers of noodles or Knöpfle and dried plums that are abgeschmälzt with melted butter and provided with sugar and cinnamon.
• Spaetzle bake: The noodles are mixed together with cooked ham with cabbage and baked with cheese.
• Spaetzle stew: The spaetzle are added to a meat and vegetable soup.
• Spätzlesomlett: Eggs and bacon are fried together with the noodles.
• Spaetzle buffer: spaetzle or Knöpfle be like fried potato pancakes.
• Spinach noodles made ​​from a dough, the addition of finely chopped spinach, more recently, wild garlic, is added. They are served with bacon or Schinkenrahm sauce.
• Troffi made ​​with a paste, which is additionally mixed with pesto. This variant is located in northern Italy.
• Onion spaetzle: The dough can be attached grated onions.

Protected Designation of Origin

Since March 2012 Swabian Spaetzle and Swabian Knöpfle may with the EU quality seal for " Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) " are provided and are protected throughout Europe as a regional specialty. In order to be able to display this symbol, must have taken place in each defined region of origin, one of the stages of manufacture of the product ( production, processing or preparation ). As an area of ​​origin for Swabian Spaetzle and Swabian Knöpfle quite Baden-Württemberg ( including the non- Swabian parts of the country such as bathing, Palatinate, Hohenlohe, etc.) and the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia is allowed.