ottawa foodies

A co-worker of mine has a spätzle maker that resembles the cheese-grater-type sliding model, but each hole is shaped differently to give it a more rustic and hand-made appearance. Since I'm heading to Germany in a couple of months, I'm going to look for one to bring back for myself. It'll make me *want* to make spätzle.

Yeah, this is how we learred to do it in school - perhaps it is the "french" way or something lol.

Whenever i make spatzle at work (for a special) i use a piping bag and cut off the individual pieces with a pairing knife directly into simmering water. takes a couple minutes to get the hang of it but i would argue that once you master it, it is as quick as specific tools with greater precision on the size created.

I'm somewhat aghast that my copy of Dr Oetker's "German Cooking Today" does not have Spaetzle! At first I thought it was just due to my common complaint with this book - they give English names for everything. Is there even an English name for Spätzle? But I went through the whole thing, and nada. Fortunately I have the German version too "Schulkochbuch" (School Cook Book - used in German cooking schools) and it does have what looks like a good recipe.

Doing some google.de'ing on "Spaetle geraete" (devices) brings up some good sites including of course www.spaetzle.de/ and more.

www.google.de

But even searching google.de images I can't find a picture of FF's Betty Bossi

Avoid the Spätzle maker in this photo! I made the mistake of buying one several years ago. The fatal flaw is that it covers the top of the pot completely, meaning steam comes up through the holes and cooks your spätzle batter on contact. I spent 90% of my cooking time poking a chopstick through all of the holes to unclog them!

I currently use a nifty Betty Bossi gadget that my mom gave me (she doesn't like it but her sister in Switzerland swears by it). I can't find a picture of it online but it looks a bit like a plastic french press. You add the ingredients, mix them using the plunger thing, then you uncap the bottom and use the plunger to force the batter out through holes in the bottom.

When I was a kid, my mom used to simply use a wooden cutting board (with a handle). She'd scoop some batter onto the board, then hold it at an angle over the pot of boiling water, slicing off little bits of batter with a sharp knife. Kind of like this ( ) but much faster and with more finesse. :-)

I think Mom now uses the slider model like FiH. As batches of cooked Spätzle come out of the pot she layers them in a serving dish with caramelized onions and a little bit of grated cheese. Yummmo!

I have the "slider" model (bottom left corner). Works awesome for me. Before I got that one, I had tried to use the a ricer, however I found it very difficult to find a disc for with big enough holes for it, and I also found the spatzle was more likely to meld together as it came out of the ricer - of course that may just be specific to MY dough recipe.

When making this lovely noodle at home, and not from a package, what is the best way to do it ?

A device like an extruder or slidder-cutter, or a pan with holes and a scraper ? ... or by cutting the batter/dough, which is held on a bottom of a pot, with a knife ??

here's a photo of 'button' spätzle which kind of looks like very small gnocchi

I'm just removing this photo from JIJ's Schnitzle House and putting it under general Spätzle

JIJ's has some of the yummies ones I've had either side of the pond - I order them as my starch with just about everything I have there. Of course they serve theirs with the sauce already on top.

Some of the best I've ever had and I lived in Germany for 2 years where my GF of the time's mom was a trained chef.

I had the tongue-in-cheek-named Mac 'n' Cheese, which is described on the menu as "sour cream spaetzle, Le Coprin mushrooms, mixed artisan cheese sauce, extra old Pine River cheddar, bread crumbs."

Tasty and satisfying to say the least! Also rich, but that's rarely a problem for me. I appreciated the accompanying salad, which was prepared with a fresh and light vinaigrette.

We asked for a side order of Spätzle ($6.99) because we love it so much. Splashed with a little gravy, it was carbalicious! The portion is probably enough to feed someone for a meal. Good to have a place to go for this!