Schwäbische Knöpfle

Knöpfle are the short, round cousin of Spätzle, and they belong to the Swabian and Alemannic south-west: flour, eggs, salt, water, a pan of butter. I set them down two ways, as a weeknight main with onions and Bergkäse, mountain cheese, or on Sunday under the sauce from a roast. They are small because the batter is pushed through holes, not scraped long from a board.

There is the regional argument. In Württemberg the proud cook scrapes long Spätzle, egg noodles, from a wet board; in Baden, the Allgäu, the Black Forest, and over the Alemannic line into Switzerland and Austria, many cooks want Knöpfle, little buttons with a dumplier bite. Same family, different shape. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders, and here the south-west argues with itself.

The batter decides everything. You beat it until it stretches and blisters because those eggs and flour need enough structure to hold when the batter drops into salted water. Stop too soon and the buttons fray into cloudy paste; make it too stiff and it sits on the hobel like a sulking lump. The water should tremble, not rage, so the outside sets before the middle swells.

This is Hausmannskost, home cooking with flour on the board and a spoon in the pot. Flour, eggs, stored onions, a hard cheese if it is the main meal, butter if you have it. Weggeworfen wird nichts: any leftover Knöpfle go into tomorrow's pan until their edges brown. Schön ist, was schmeckt.