Dumplings
Dish with a long history
Dumplings are Tyrol‘s unofficial emblem, they were the protagonists on the menu of farmers: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday were „dumpling days“.
The oldest testimony of Tyrolean dumplings is to be found on a fresco from the 12th century in the chapel of Hocheppan Castle: Mary watches a maid sitting in front of a pan with round dumplings that are delightfully taken to her mouth. Thus, the artist gave a local culinary touch to a biblical scene.
Dumplings are Tyrol‘s unofficial emblem. Every valley has its own particularities: Buckwheat dumplings are famous in Val Passiria and in Merano and surroundings, people from Val Pusteria are proud of their meat-free dumplings (Fastenknödel) and their pressed dumplings. In Upper Val Venosta, cooks prefer dumplings that are steamed and not boiled. Dumplings were the protagonists on the menu of farmers: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday were „dumpling days“. Between Bolzano and Merano buckwheat dumplings were eaten every day in summer, whereas bacon dumplings were only served on Sundays and on feast days. Turnip cubes often substituted bacon in times of need.
Dumplings were served in a broth and eaten „one in the water, one on the land“, which means that the first dumpling was eaten with the broth, whereas the second dumpling was eaten with salad or cabbage. When dumplings were served, everybody had his or her own plate. Otherwise everybody ate from the pan which was put into the middle of the table on the „pan servant“. We still have to give you a last warning: Never dare cutting a dumpling with a knife if you don’t want to offend the cook.
To look up:
Colleselli, Franz: Essen und Trinken bei der bäuerlichen Bevölkerung Tirols. In: Ausstellungskatalog „Essen und Trinken“, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. Innsbruck 1967
Fink, Hans: Südtiroler Küche Tisch und Keller. Im Lauf der Jahrhunderte. Bozen 1980
Fink, Hans: Verzaubertes Land. Volkskult und Ahnenbrauch in Südtirol . Innsbruck Wien München 1969
Grape, Wolfgang: Unerwartetes und Unterhaltsames in der Kunst des frühen und hohen Mittelalters. München 2008
Hubatschek, Erika: Über Alltagskost beim Tiroler Bergbauern. In: Beiträge zur Volkskunde Tirols. Festschrift zu Ehren Herrn Wopferns, 2. Teil (Schlern-Schriften Nr. 53), Innsbruck 1948, S. 159-178
Perwanger, Hanna: Südtiroler Leibgerichte. München 1967
Wiegelmann, Günther: Alltags- und Festspeisen in Mitteleuropa. Innovationen, Strukturen und Regionen vom späten Mittelalter bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Münster 2006²
Wiesmüller, Maria: Knödel. Innsbruck 1998
Wopfner, Hans: Volksnahrung und Volksgetränk. In: Tirol. Land und Natur, Volk und Geschichte, geistiges Leben. Hrsg. vom Hauptausschuss des Dt. und Österr. Alpenvereins. München 1933, S. 198-205
Dumplings are Tyrol‘s unofficial emblem. Every valley has its own particularities: Buckwheat dumplings are famous in Val Passiria and in Merano and surroundings, people from Val Pusteria are proud of their meat-free dumplings (Fastenknödel) and their pressed dumplings. In Upper Val Venosta, cooks prefer dumplings that are steamed and not boiled. Dumplings were the protagonists on the menu of farmers: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday were „dumpling days“. Between Bolzano and Merano buckwheat dumplings were eaten every day in summer, whereas bacon dumplings were only served on Sundays and on feast days. Turnip cubes often substituted bacon in times of need.
Dumplings were served in a broth and eaten „one in the water, one on the land“, which means that the first dumpling was eaten with the broth, whereas the second dumpling was eaten with salad or cabbage. When dumplings were served, everybody had his or her own plate. Otherwise everybody ate from the pan which was put into the middle of the table on the „pan servant“. We still have to give you a last warning: Never dare cutting a dumpling with a knife if you don’t want to offend the cook.
To look up:
Colleselli, Franz: Essen und Trinken bei der bäuerlichen Bevölkerung Tirols. In: Ausstellungskatalog „Essen und Trinken“, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. Innsbruck 1967
Fink, Hans: Südtiroler Küche Tisch und Keller. Im Lauf der Jahrhunderte. Bozen 1980
Fink, Hans: Verzaubertes Land. Volkskult und Ahnenbrauch in Südtirol . Innsbruck Wien München 1969
Grape, Wolfgang: Unerwartetes und Unterhaltsames in der Kunst des frühen und hohen Mittelalters. München 2008
Hubatschek, Erika: Über Alltagskost beim Tiroler Bergbauern. In: Beiträge zur Volkskunde Tirols. Festschrift zu Ehren Herrn Wopferns, 2. Teil (Schlern-Schriften Nr. 53), Innsbruck 1948, S. 159-178
Perwanger, Hanna: Südtiroler Leibgerichte. München 1967
Wiegelmann, Günther: Alltags- und Festspeisen in Mitteleuropa. Innovationen, Strukturen und Regionen vom späten Mittelalter bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Münster 2006²
Wiesmüller, Maria: Knödel. Innsbruck 1998
Wopfner, Hans: Volksnahrung und Volksgetränk. In: Tirol. Land und Natur, Volk und Geschichte, geistiges Leben. Hrsg. vom Hauptausschuss des Dt. und Österr. Alpenvereins. München 1933, S. 198-205
15.06.2017
