Gastronomy with History - A Very Sweet Story (The Dampfnudeln)

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There are many recipes and desserts that abound around the world, it is inevitable not to feel like eating some of them, however we forget that this sweet temptation has a history, an origin, so in Virtual Variety we will tell you about it, and we will start with a very special one. The Dampfnudeln is a traditional German dish, made from wheat flour, with a varied filling according to taste, the preparation is quite peculiar, but before knowing how we prepare such a divine dish, we will know its history.

In the seventeenth century, in Germany, a tragic event called "The Thirty Years' War", which kept the country in a severe economic crisis, food was scarce, legend has it that in a small town called Freckenfeld, arrived a large army, hungry, however they ran into a town equal or hungrier than them, however that gave them the same, and threatened the entire population, if in a few hours they did not give them some food to satisfy their food needs, they would devastate, kill the entire population and even go to loot all Freckenfeld, the news spread throughout the town, to such an extent, that people began to fear for their lives, they saw each other's faces thinking, how to give so much food to this feared army. But something happened that changed the course of this story, a baker named Johanes Muck, took on the challenge of feeding these men, to save the lives of the entire population, so he went to his bakery, and with the little he had, he decided to create a dish that would satisfy the hunger of these dreaded men. So with only flour, water, salt, other ingredients and his great ingenuity, he created a dish that without thinking, would change his life, the course of the history of his town, and the German gastronomy, in a few hours, this brave and intelligent baker, managed to make 1286 masses of balls in total, which served to feed the soldiers. This invention, and great feat marked so much the lives of all those who lived in that population, that annually a festival is celebrated in honor of the Dampfnudeln, the grandson of Johanes Muck, paid tribute to him by creating an arch, with the same amount of dumplings, in cement, the same amount that his grandfather did, to save his people. Incredible right?.

And how do we prepare this delicious stuff?

Ingredients:

• 500gr flour

• 20gr baker's yeast

• 1/4l whole milk

• 80gr melted butter

• 60gr sugar

• 1 or 2 eggs

• 1 pinch of salt

Now that we have our ingredients, we are going to make some very simple steps, remember that if you are not of legal age, you need to be with an adult to make this delicious German dish.

• This first step is very simple, it is as if we were making a bread dough, where we are going to pour the ingredients, in a container we place the flour, in a cup, we pour the warm milk, with the yeast and a touch of sugar, and wait about 5 minutes, until it is activated, then we place the container with the flour, we add the melted butter 1 or 2 eggs, and in a little side the salt, we begin to mix, while we slowly pour the milk with the sugar and yeast, then we begin the kneading process, until we have a consistent and hard dough, we let it rest for 60 minutes, in a floured container we cover it with a towel or cloth, which is clean, this depends a lot on the place where we are, the temperature plays a fundamental role, so between an hour or ½ hour we expect it to multiply its volume.

• The best thing about this delicious dish, is that we do not need the oven, we will place a container that is large enough, and place it on the stove with water, which reaches half, while we let it go into heat, we will place the container where we have our dough, and we return to give another kneading, to remove the accumulated gases, when it is ready, we begin to divide it into pieces, When the water in the pan is boiling, we are going to add one ball by one ball, until all of them are united, as if it were a net, we cover it very well, and we will let them begin to boil and cook for 13 or 15 minutes, we must be very aware of the time and that it does not pass.

• After that time, we begin to remove our rolls or balls, and we will see that golden hue that will have, we leave them on a base where they can dry and cool, this dish is accompanied with sauces, whether sweet or salty, with a custard, semi-liquid, or some jam that is not so acidic, some even dare to season the dough with spices, it is a matter of each person.

Dear food lovers, so far this section of Gastronomy with History, we hope you like this recipe, we encourage you to make it at home, it is noteworthy that in Germany, this is a strong dish, because it caused such a furor in that century, that people of low income, had breakfast and lunch with a rich Dampfnudeln, so we invite you, and if you do share it on this platform, we are eager to read your comments, How did you like the History and Recipe?.

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This text was translated from Spanish to English thanks to the translator Deepl.