Passport & Plate - Ovocné Knedlíky - Czech Dumplings
Czech Republic | Tuesday, March 11, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
400g Medium Fine Flour – roughly 1 ¼ cups
25g Fresh yeast – roughly a 1 ½ pack dry yeast
1 Tsp castor sugar
Approximately 200 ml milk
Pinch of Salt
Flour for Rolling out
Fruit: Strawberries (apricots or plums also common)
Powdered sugar
1-2 sticks butter
How to prepare this recipeStep 1
1. Sieve flour into bowl
2. Add 1 tsp sugar to flour
3. Combine yeast with ¼ cup hot water, stir yeast into it, once that is mixed in feed in 1 tsp sugar, do this in a separate container
4. Pour yeast mixture into flour
5. Add a pinch of salt
6. Stir in 100ml milk
7. Mix into paste
8. Dust with flour and leave to rise
9. Once dough has risen mix until it reaches a rubbery consistency (add remaining milk if necessary)
Step 2
1. Boil a large pot of water
2. Roll dough onto cutting board, about 1/8” thick
3. Cut out an appropriate amount of dough to wrap a single strawberry in an even layer, mold dough into a sphere around the strawberry
4. Let dumplings sit for 5 min
5. Once water is boiling, gently drop “dough spheres” into water, boil for 8-10 minutes
6. In a small pot, melt a stick of butter and add sugar, whisk into a syrupy consistency
Step 3
1. Pour butter/sugar mix into shallow bowl/plate
2. Place dumplings onto bowl/plate (drip dry dumpling before placing on bowl/plate)
3. Top with strawberries (or fruit of choice) and a healthy coating of powdered sugar
4. Buon Appetito !
The story behind this recipeSummer in Prague, winding through cobbled streets overlooked by soaring windows. An ornate wrought iron gate leads into a court yard, I descend through a heavy wooden door. Discovering a cavernous architecturally lit hideaway, echoing with boisterous intimacy. Klub Architektu housed my first epicurean experience with ovocné knedlíky, traditional Czech dumplings.
Plump spheres kissing each other in a bath of sweet butter. Steam tendrils lifting to my nostrils. The dense dough resisting then finally giving way to a strawberry, its red essence tinting the bath of gold. My first taste left me captivated. I seek out all varieties. Gnocchi with fruit on top, dough meshed with fruit preserves, fruit encased in dough, the latter being the most savory.
A design student at the Praha Institute, my challenge was to design an innovative product for the Czech consumer. An openness to experiment, in tandem to instinctively think with my hands, I chose culinary design.
Research; I interviewed chefs and locals. Discussing ovocné knedlíky, Czech cuisine, and the rarity for recipes to escape familial barriers. I shopped in neighborhood markets, traveled to various cities, and observed the life of a Czech. Prototyping: I tackled many recipes: potato, ricotta, and flour based dough. Altering shapes and sizes, adding and subtracting ingredients. Result: although the form is unappealing, the recipe is timeless and the taste unmatched. Solution: altering the one component I have great skill in; aesthetics.
I designed a serving platter informed by Czech history, design and architecture and a silicone-cooking mold inspired by cubism and Bohemian crystal to shape the dumplings. Putting a modern twist on a traditional recipe, I embraced a culture through design, my love of food and my desire to travel.
Cooking ovocné knedlíky years after my first encounter has brought back so many fantastic memories, for that I thank you.
