Mehlkneppscher
I came across this dish while participating in an international, online scavenger hunt. One of the items required five recipes from other participants, each from a different country. Mehlkneppscher was a popular dish in small mining towns across Germany during the industrial revolution. The dish is simple, quick, and easy to cook and provides a lot of energy, making it an excellent choice for hard-working miners on their lunch break.
Recipe
• 3 Eggs
• 300g Flour
• 4 Potatoes
• 100mL Sparkling water
• 6 strips of Bacon
Peel, cube, and boil the potatoes. Fry and chop the bacon into squares. Mix the eggs and flour in a bowl. Slowly stir in the sparkling water until the mixture forms a loose dough. Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop in small balls of dough. Remove the dough balls from the water once they float. Add the potatoes, bacon, and dough to one bowl and serve.
My Experience Cooking Mehlkneppsher
Watching three pots on the stove at once was hectic, and it certainly kept me busy. The one portion of the recipe I was most unfamiliar with was boiling dough. Of all the recipes I’ve come across this is the first I’ve prepared that called for dough to be boiled in a pot of water instead of baked in an oven. I quickly learned that the dough expands a lot and had to halve the size of the dough balls I was originally using to keep them a manageable size. Watching the dough expand and float was a new and welcome experience.
The recipe made quite a few servings and kept very well, enough to be enjoyed by my family for a couple of days, and at all times of day. I found the recipe to be quite bland, and ended up throwing my own, albeit experimental, twist on it for subsequent meals. For instance, one morning I tried putting a fried egg on top of the mehlkneppscher, and frying it up with onions and mushrooms became a family favourite. Even my little brother, who is an extremely picky eater, came to enjoy this wonderful dish. I’m grateful that this recipe was able to provide some joy to both me and the rest of may family in these trying times.
