Swabian Flädle Soup
I’ve been blogging for almost three years now, and I only just realised I never blog about the Swabian cuisine. I know the world has heard of Spätzle before, but can they make it? Have they ever had any?
So one of the items on my short (but realistic) list of new year’s resolutions is to blog about some Swabian recipes. I feel this requires a little language lesson, though: the ending le is a diminutive meaning little. A Haus (house) can be a Häusle, a cute little girl’s Kleid (dress) can be a Kleidle, and so on.
Which brings us straight to today’s recipe and the word Flädle. It’s the diminutive of Fladen which can be a lot of things – Fladen in general is a round pat, whether it’s Fladenbrot (flatbread), a Kuhfladen (cow pat), or in this case the description of a round, flat pancake. So we’re talking about little pancakes here. And just as a BTW – the WP spellchecker had quite a field day with these last few paragraphs…
These pancakes are flavoured with simple herbs (like parsley and chives), baked, then rolled up and cut into thin slices. Pour some (preferably homemade) stock over them, and you have Flädlesuppe. During asparagus season, you’ll find Kräuterflädle (little herbed pancakes) on lots of menus to go with the asparagus.
This is so easy to make, and yet I haven’t made it in years. Only when a friend had this soup in a restaurant a few weeks ago did I wonder why I never made this at home anymore. You don’t really have to make your own stock, I don’t, but if you want good quality it’s better to buy a jar of quality beef or vegetable stock than using a stock cube. If you’re someone who likes making your own stock, though, that’s the best way to make this soup. For today’s soup I mixed a jar of vegetable stock with a stock cube.
Swabian Flädle Soup
Beef or vegetable stock
vegetable stock cube (optional)
parsley, chopped
chives, chopped
500 ml milk
200 g flour
3 eggs
pinch of salt
butter or oil for baking
makes 10 – 12 pancakes in a 20 cm / 8 in frying pan
For the pancakes, mix together milk, eggs, flour, salt [my pancakes could actually have done with 2 pinches...], and the herbs. Let sit for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, slowly heat your stock. [For today's version I used a 400 ml jar of vegetable stock with 1 stock cube that requires an additional 500 ml of water, so 900 ml of liquid altogether.] Time it so it’s boiling around the time you’re baking your last pancake.
Bake the pancakes one after another and keep warm in the oven or beneath some aluminium foil until they’re all baked. Roll each pancake up, then cut into thin slices. Place slices into a deep plate and add soup to it. Sprinkle with herb leftovers if you have any.
So with today’s lunch I’m off to a good start with sticking to my new year’s resolutions. On that note of starting off 2013 with a little success, I would like to thank Johnny from Feed The Piglet and Fae from Fae’s Twist & Tango for ping-ponging the stars of the 6 Star Blog Of The Year 2012 Award over to me during the last two months. I received the last star from Fae today, and have now a complete 6 Star Award. Thank you both so much – I truly appreciate it!
That looks simple and good! I am definitely looking forward to discovering more Swabian recipes from you!
Thank you, Darya!
Kiki, Your complete badge looks perfect!
))) Thanks for the kind mention. This post is so~ beautiful and I am so~ looking forward to your 2013 posts! Fae.
Thank you, Fae! Happy blogging in 2013 to you, too!
Love the idea of this. Shame I don’t have a ricer as I’d love to sub most of the flour with mashed potatoes instead. Especially as I could use one of my beefed up stocks.
Congrats on all six stars!
Potato pancakes? Interesting idea! Although I think that in this case it would probably make the pancakes too heavy, they’re supposed to be light and airy. I actually used spelt flour, I didn’t mention that in the post as you can use any kind of “plain” flour you like, really. And congrats on your 6 stars, too!
I had this soup on a rainy and cool day while traveling in Germany. It was light and flavorful.
Light and flavourful – very good description, that’s exactly how it should be. I just realised that I never mentioned in my post what it tastes like…