European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Food dumplings packaged is. Homemade by Sharon Hudgins special to stripes Magazine pan of the fun of being a food writer is that i Gello develop and test All the recipes thai appear in my columns. In fact i would t consider publish my a recipe that i had t tested successfully in my own Kitchen. Sometimes it s even necessary to rewrite and Relesa a recipe several times in order to get exactly the flavor texture and appearance that i expect in the finished product. I believe that food writers should Slick to writing about topics of which they have knowledge gained from extensive research or better yet from personal experience. Since i publish recipes Only for Hose foods that 1 have actually eaten in their countries r f origin or at restaurants recognized for he authenticity of their cuisine i can guarantee that my recipes for French Boeuf j to Bourgin Nynne indonesian Gido Gado and new Mexico Blue Corn enchiladas for example will indeed produce dishes thai you could serve with Confidence to residents of Dijon Jakarta or Santa be. My recipes Aren t merely clipped out of a Magazine or lifted from someone else s Cookbook. Not Only would thai be illegal and unethical it also would t be a very interesting Way for me to work. Instead i those a topic German Lebkuchen Gingerbread for instance and find As Many recipes As i can for that particular food. My sources include not Only published recipes but also ones that i be inherited from relatives been Given by friends and obtained from restaurants. For any one recipe that finally appears in my food column i will have researched at least 10, and sometimes up to 40, recipes for that particular dish. I compare the ingredients techniques garnishes and serving suggestions from All of these sources then develop my own recipe using what i think Are the Best and most authentic features of All the other recipes 1 have looked at. At that Point it s time to test. The Kitchen becomes my Laboratory and everything has to be measured weighed timed and written Down just so. This is also 1he Point at which my own personal experience of the taste and appearance of a particular dish becomes important. If the first recipe lest does t produce a dish that tastes and looks just like the one i ate in Hong Kong Athens or London then i la keep changing the recipe and retelling until i gel it Correl. One Christmas i made seven batches of Lebkuchen before i go one that duplicated a specific Type of Lebkuchen i had eaten in n Urnberg. Usually however i Don t have to test a recipe More than three times to produce the desired result. And who eats All this food my husband and i of course when we can face testing that seventh Batch of Lebkuchen. My neighbors also Benefit As do my colleagues at work. Neighbors Are no longer surprised 1o answer a Knock on their door and find me standing there with a paper plate full of the latest thing i be been testing in the Kitchen. Not All dishes Are As Well received As others however. My husband for instance has begun referring disparagingly to the recent past As the Days of  it would be More accurate but less alliterative to Call it the weeks of dumplings i admit to having immersed myself in dumpling research lately thus limiting the variety of foods that we be been eating at Home. And my husband has come up win All sorts of uses for the Large number of leftover dumplings around our House the neighbors have refused to take them. His suggestions include using dumplings As ballast for hot air balloons As baseballs for the world series and As feed for Birds who have no intention of flying Over the Alps this Winter. His attempt to coerce the cats into eating cold dumplings was a dismal failure. Although i m a firm believer in cooking from scratch my Kitchen has t seen a packaged commercial mix in 15 years1 decided to Start my dumpling research by finding out what kinds of dumpling products were sold at food stores in Germany. After visiting he two largest discount grocery stores in Muindi warehouse Type places with a huge selection of commercially prepared foods even i was surprised at the Quantity and variety of dumpling products that Are available to shoppers living in Germany. Al one store 1 counted 19 different kinds of dumpling mixes in boxes and bags for smooth potato dumplings shaggy potato dumplings and several types of bread dumplings some with Bacon added. All of these instant mixes merely require that you idd water of the contents of the package stir Well Lei the mixture sit for 10 minutes shape it into Halls and simmer in hot water. For the really Lazy Cook there Are even several kinds of Boll in the bag dumplings including collage cheese dessert dumplings Flavoured with apricots or plums All of which have already been formed into balls and Are just sitting there inside their Little cellulose Bagi waiting for you to drop them into the cooking water. What could be easier answer Frozen dumplings. There Are plenty of these on the Market too. In addition to the pre shaped ready to boil Frozen dumplings there Are also packages of Frozen dumplings dough for those of you who feel the need to have a hand in the process of making your own dumplings. You la also find Large bags of cried or Nocker Griea for Semolina dumplings plus bags of it sliced bread or Semmern dinner Rolls used for making the dumplings known As Semme Knodel All of these instant mixes and Frozen products come in a variety of sizes from the Small four dumpling Box of Frozen dessert dumplings to the Gigantic 5-kilogram 11 Pound bag of instant mix which makes a whopping 180 potato dumplings to to Al i found 50 different commercial dumpling products at Only two Large food stores. My interest was piqued so i decided to try out some of these packaged dumplings and mixes. My husband thought i was crazy and it happened that he was right. Out of the six different commercial dumpling products that prepared Al Home we agreed that two were edible but nothing special three were almost tasteless and Only one was even Worth trying  too bad. I had hoped that at least those fruit Flavoured cottage cheese dessert dumplings would have lived up to my expectations but they Coulon l compare with the ones i be been served Al Good restaurants in Austria and Germany. At for the heavy flavor less dumplings that i be eaten at lesser Quality restaurants in those two countries Well now i know what kinds of commercial mixes Are being used in their kitchens. None of Hose instant mixes Frozen cannonballs or boil in the bag concoctions could begin to compare with the turf Gedacht homemade dumplings that 1 like so Well. The Large number and great variety of dumpling -4171v