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Canederli
canederlisay kah-NEH-der-lee
Alpine bread balls, first painted in 1180.
ALArchaeological or primary sourceFamily E · Central European unfilled
About
Stale-bread dumplings bound with egg and milk and studded with speck. A fresco at Hocheppan Castle (c. 1180) shows a woman eating one.
Tastes of
- speck
- bread
- chives
- broth
Texture
- dense, moist
How to eat it
In broth or with melted butter and cheese.
When
Everyday in the Alps.
Did you know The Hocheppan fresco is nicknamed the "Knödelesserin", the dumpling eater.
History
Hocheppan fresco c. 1180; innkeeper/mercenaries legend (L)
Where
- OriginSouth Tyrol · Tyrol · historical or cultural region · Tyroleans
Sources
This entry is drawn from the World Dumpling Atlas, §6.17, the project's source report. Its grade, A archaeological or primary source, says how far that has been checked against a primary source. How grading works.
Related
Speck canederli (Speckknödel) in broth
Ingredients for 4
Dumplings
To serve
Method
- Put the bread cubes in a large bowl.
- Soften the onion in the butter, add the speck and stir for a minute, then tip it over the bread. · timer 2 min
- Beat the eggs with most of the milk, the herbs, salt and pepper, and pour over the bread.
- Mix gently with your hands and leave to soak, covered. The bread should be moist but not mushy; add the remaining milk only if it is still dry. · timer 15 min
- Sprinkle in a little flour and mix; stop as soon as the mixture holds together when squeezed.
- With wet hands, press the mixture into 8 firm, smooth balls about 6 cm across.
- Bring a wide pot of salted water to the boil, then lower to a bare simmer. Test one dumpling first; if it falls apart, add a little more flour to the rest.
- Slide in the dumplings and poach without a rolling boil. · timer 15 min
- Lift them out with a slotted spoon and serve two per bowl in hot broth, scattered with chives.
Notes. The bread dumpling of South Tyrol and Trentino, eaten "in brodo" or "asciutti" (dry) with melted butter and Parmesan, or beside goulash and sauerkraut. Cooking in salted water rather than the serving broth keeps the broth clear. Variants replace the speck with spinach, cheese (Kasknödel), liver (Leberknödel) or beetroot; some cooks add a spoon of buckwheat flour. A dumpling being eaten appears in the c. 1180 fresco in the castle chapel at Hocheppan (Appiano). The Accademia Italiana della Cucina deposited a reference recipe for speck canederli in Bolzano in 2003. South Tyrolean sources disagree on bread-to-binder ratio: some brown the bread with the speck and use more flour (up to 4 tbsp for 500 g bread).
Written for the atlas from several sources, cross-checked: Canederli con lo speck (ricetta depositata, Accademia Italiana della Cucina 2003), Cucina Regionale Italiana; Canederli allo speck, Genussland Südtirol (IDM Südtirol). Not yet kitchen-tested.
The tagline and story are editorial; facts trace to the atlas research. History sources are from the atlas and not yet independently checked.
Family E