Dampfnudle

In the Outre-Forêt, that corner of northern Bas-Rhin where Alsatian is still spoken on a daily basis, Dampfnudle held a special place in the week: on Friday, a day when no meat was eaten, families turned to starches, and Dampfnudle was often the children's favourite dish. It was dipped directly into vegetable soup, without even the help of a spoon, before returning for dessert accompanied by apple compote or bottled fruit — peaches, mirabelles, pears. The cooking itself was surrounded by little superstitions handed down by grandmothers: whatever you did, you were never to lift the lid during cooking, on pain of seeing the Dampfnudle “rebel and deflate” — instead, they were left to announce themselves once ready. This recipe, give or take a few adjustments from one family to another (with or without butter, more or fewer eggs, in a frying pan or casserole, with water or milk), continues to be passed down from mother to daughter.

The dish enjoyed an unexpected revival in the late 1990s: a resident of Niederroedern, invited in 1998 onto the Alsatian programme Sür un Siess, presented her grandmother's family recipe — with such success that strangers stopped her in the street in Strasbourg to share their own childhood memories. Touched, she set about safeguarding the recipe: cookery classes, demonstrations at exhibition openings and festivals, victory in the best Dampfnudel competition in 2015, and the founding with friends of a Strasbourg association dedicated to passing it on. She even prepared some for the singer Alain Bashung when he came to perform in Strasbourg in 2004: having grown up in Wingersheim, Alsace, he is said to have rediscovered a taste of his childhood.