Spaetzle: a regional specialty that’s gone international.

Spaetzle have been well-known as a feature of Swabian cooking since the Middle Ages. However, they’re found in many areas outside Swabia too: and the derivation of the name ‘spaetzle’ has given rise to a variety of theories. One of these is that the cooks cut them up into small pieces from a lump of dough the size of ‘a sparrow (Spatz) in the hand’. Or maybe it comes from the Italian ‘spezzato’, which means something like ‘sliced up into pieces’. Spaetzle don’t have to be longitudinal: they are rounder in Baden, in the Allgau and in parts of Austria, and in Switzerland they’re called ‘Knoepfli’ (= little buttons). Whatever – the delicious mixture is minced, shaped or sliced into smaller pieces, put into boiling water and is ready in 2 minutes. We’ve got the right kitchen gadget for you in this catalogue whichever method you choose.
The dough is easy to make – just flour, eggs and a little salt and water, beaten up until the mixture begins to bubble. Spaetzle taste best freshly cooked.

A cleaning tip:

Always use cold water to clean equipment that’s come in contact with spaetzle dough. Don’t use the dishwasher! Hot water makes it stick to things and hard to remove.

Make your own spaetzle with the ‘Flotte Lotte’.

The ‘Flotte Lotte’ – the German popular word for fruit and vegetable strainers – can be turned into a veritable ‘spaetzle mill’ with the aid of this perforated form. The holes have been given little ‘tabs’ inside (see illustration) that stick to the dough and make the spaetzle pieces longer and also give them an irregular look – as if they’d been made by hand.