European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Food a dumpling by any other name by Sharon Hudgins for the past two weeks i be spent most of my waking hours and some of my dream states tracking Down dumplings. Thai should t be so difficult you say after All dumplings Are heavy and slow and they re not known for being too Sharp on the the Ball. It ought to be easy to catch them you d think with Only a Little Effort on the part of the dumpling detective. Besides most of them can be found floating in soups keeping company with meats or soaking up sauces. But linguistically dumplings can be very Slippery indeed. And when it comes to ingredients and cooking methods the Earnest dumpling tracker finds himself on treacherous ground. Dumplings Are Good at disguises and they can assume different sizes shapes and colors. Some remain solid others take on fillings ranging from the plainest bread cubes to rather elaborate concoctions. A few of them have Many aliases the same dumpling being known by different names in different countries. Not Only do the devious Lille devils change their names the minute you look away but you never know whether to search for them in a pot of boiling liquid or in a frying pan full of sizzling fat or hiding away in a hot oven somewhere. Dumplings Are Clever let me Tell you and they do get around. Some of the ones who were born in Asia and migrated Westward speak several Oriental dialects in addition to All the slavic languages. A few of the biggest european ones Delight in travelling incognito seeming to be As huge and heavy As cannonballs when in reality they re As Light As a souffle. And those that you thought showed up Only for the main course of the meal occasionally Surprise you by waiting until dessert to make their appearance. The first thing any serious dumpling detective has to discover is that the old Anglo Saxon term Knoll a meaning to Pound to grind gave birth to a whole slew of progeny from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean All with their names rooted in that same ancient word. Once you realize thai German Knodel Klosse and Nudeen austrian a Ockerlin czech Knedlik Yand Nocky yiddish Knadle knt imlach and Klishes russian Kletskiy polish Kluski fined a and Nelki hungarian Galuska italian Gnocchi French quenelle Are All linguistically and Culina Rily related to each other you have reached a crucial Choice Point. You can choose t to spend the rest of your life discovering that you la never be Able to learn Alt there is to know about dumplings or b to turn in your dumpling tracker License and gel a Job As a consultant for Miami vice. Since no one from Miami vice has made me an offer yet i be spent the last two weeks researching dumplings. Forty cookbooks and three Hundred dumpling recipes later i be Learned things about dumplings that you Don l even want to hear. Well of i la Tell you just one some Central european dumplings Are made out of poultry blood. Want to hear More maybe i should refer you instead to Kund urn die Knodel All about kno dete by Berti Schwarzbach. This modern German Cookbook published in 1984 and devoted exclusively to Knodel contains one Hundred Twenty eight recipes for dumplings All but nine of which get this Are from the a Penland regions of Germany Austria and Northern Italy. By restricting the Book to Only that Small area of Europe the author has wisely avoided getting bogged Down in the hundreds of other dumpling recipes from the remainder of the continent. I have another Cookbook in English whose topic is soups. In the Section on soup garnishes it gives sixty recipes for Small dumplings made out of ingredients ranging from Peanut butter to Pale de foie gras. With dumplings it sometimes seems that the More you learn the less you know. It s obvious that dumpling is a term As Broad As the derriere of a person who eats too Many of them. But by combining the information in my files with the Mug shots of various dumplings it is possible to come up with a composite picture and general description that fit most dumplings. Your typical average dumpling is composed basically of some Farinace Ous ingredient or combination of them flour potatoes raw cooked or both Semolina bread pieces or bread crumbs ill moistened with a liquid such As water milk or Stock not to mention poultry blood which we won tand usually held together with some egg. Lightweight dumplings insist that the eggs be separated and that the stiffly beaten Whites to pc Jmel into the dough All kinds of Flavouring can be added _ some As fillings in the Center of the dumpling a some sothers distributed throughout jjou8 common additions Are cheese of Cottor a chopped meats or vegetables Hersk and Succes. Dumplings assume Many different guises so already mentioned spheres ranging in size from Liny marbles to huge cannonballs Oblong Nante. Squares or Semi circles All with some sort of Fil no. Inside and free form shapes such As spa Fate. Then they Are cooked by boiling or steaming in water milk Stock soups stews or sauces. Some dumpling sleuths will also admit that a few kinds can be baked or Fried finally fully cooked and dressed to the nines they arrive at the dinner table the Small ones As soup garnishes the larger Savory ones As accompaniments to meats the Sweet ones As desserts and some of the nonconformists As main dishes or snacks. For those of you who Are interested in pursuing a career As a dumpling detective i be compiled a Short dictionary of dumplings found in most of the German speaking areas of Europe. If i had included czech polish hungarian and russian dumplings the newspaper would have had to print an extra edition this dictionary is by no Means Complete but it should be sufficient to help you translate the dumpling terms you la encounter on menus in Germany Austria Switzerland and Northern Italy. If the term is preceded by the word Hausgen Macbet homemade All the belter meanwhile those of you who Are serious dumpling trackers can memorize the following list eat your Way through it then add that information to the work experience Section of your resume when you apply for a Job with Miami vice. A dictionary of germanic dumplings Amplis specially of the Graubunden Region of Switzerland fist sized dumplings made from Semolina flour milk lard and Small grapes or chopped pears individually wrapped in Small Muslin bags and boiled for an hour with a heavy meat Stew. Baue Klosse German farmhouse dumplings made from Oatmeal mashed potatoes Bacon onion and herbs formed into spheres or ovals placed together in a. Baking dish and baked until Golden Brown served with Gravy and mixed vegetables. Bohmisch Knodel Oblong shaped Bohemian style bread dumplings made from Rolls or White bread and Flavoured with onions Parsley and Bacon fat served with Niche butter and or browned onions on top Brothel Vikul Knodel whose main. Ingredient is bread crumbs. Baba Spitzle swabian potato dumplings Cigar shaped served As an accompaniment to roast meats and sauerkraut or browned in hot fat and served As a main dish with salad or applesauce. Bud Terl very Large yeast raised austrian dumplings often served with Vanilla sauce. Bunter Ham specially of Holstein and North Germany very Large very Light dumpling made from breadcrumbs tied in a cloth and poached in boiling water served either with stewed vegetables or with fruit compote. Dampf Nudeen Large yeast raised $1630160 dumplings especially popular in Southern Germany served As an accompaniment to meats with Gravy As a meatless main cow i itself often garnished with miam Foiw / dessert with a Nita sauce or fruit sauce  As Hefe  austrian potato Dumpf Ingv the dough Flavoured with chives and with Croutons in the Center. Fitch Utschen Smalt Flash c served at a soup Garnish. Larger Are often served with mushroom Sau main course