Kaiserschmarrn

Emperor's Mess[1](Kaiserschmarren)

Kaiserschmarrn with (top left) apple sauce
Type Pancake
Place of origin Austria
Main ingredients Flour, eggs, sugar, milk, butter
[[wikibooks:Special:Search/Cookbook:Emperor's Mess<ref>Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148</ref>(Kaiserschmarren)|Cookbook:Emperor's Mess[2](Kaiserschmarren)]]  [[commons:Special:Search/Emperor's Mess<ref>Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148</ref>(Kaiserschmarren)|Emperor's Mess[3](Kaiserschmarren)]]
Kaiserschmarrn served with whipped cream, blueberry and fruits

Kaiserschmarrn or Kaiserschmarren[4] is a shredded pancake, which has its name from the Austrian emperor Kaiser Franz Joseph I of Austria, who was very fond of this kind of fluffy shredded pancake. It is a popular meal or dessert in Austria, South Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and northern Croatia.

Etymology

The name Kaiserschmarren is a compound of the words Schmarren (shredded pancake) and Kaiser (emperor). Schmarren is a colloquialism used in Austria and Bavaria to mean "trifle, mishmash, mess, nonsense and folly". Kaiser Franz Joseph's love for this dish was referred to humorously as his "folly". The word "Schmarren" is related to scharren (to scrape) and schmieren (to smear). Its Slovenian name is "cesarski praženec" or "šmorn". Its Hungarian name is "császármorzsa";[5] its Czech name is "trhanec" or " kajzršmorn".

Description

Kaiserschmarrn, original size bits
Kaiserschmarrn with lingonberry sauce

Kaiserschmarren is a light, caramelized pancake made from a sweet batter using flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and milk, baked in butter. Kaiserschmarren can be prepared in different ways. When making Kaiserschmarren the egg whites are usually separated from the yolk and beaten until stiff; then the flour and the yolks are mixed with sugar, and the other ingredients are added, including: nuts, cherries, plums, apple jam, or small pieces of apple, or caramelized raisins and slivered almonds. The last mentioned ingredients (nuts, cherries, plums, apple jam, or small pieces of apple, or caramelized raisins and chopped almonds) aren't in the original recipe and just additions made by some cooks based on their personal preferences. In the original recipe there are only raisins (before cooking they are soaked in rum).

The pancake is split with two forks into pieces while frying and usually sprinkled with powdered sugar, then served hot with apple or plum sauce or various fruit compotes, including plum, lingonberry, strawberry, or apple. Kaiserschmarren is eaten like a dessert, or it can also be eaten for lunch at tourist places like mountainside restaurants and taverns in the Austrian Alps, as a quite filling meal.

Traditionally, Kaiserschmarren is accompanied with Zwetschkenröster, a fruit compote made out of plums.

Varieties

Closely related dishes are the Erdäpfelschmarren (with potatoes), Äpfelschmarren (with apples) or Kirschschmarren (with cherries),[6] shredded pancakes, that were usually prepared on an open fireplace.

History

Emperor (Kaiser) Franz Joseph I. of Austria-Hungary

It is generally agreed that the dish was first prepared for the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830–1916). There are several stories. One apocryphal story involves the Emperor and his wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach. Obsessed with maintaining a minimal waistline, the Empress Elisabeth directed the royal chef to prepare only light desserts for her, much to the consternation and annoyance of her notoriously austere husband. Upon being presented with the chef's confection, she found it too rich and refused to eat it. The exasperated Francis Joseph quipped, “Now let me see what 'Schmarren' our chef has cooked up.” It apparently met his approval as he finished his and even his wife’s serving.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148
  2. ↑ Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148
  3. ↑ Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148
  4. ↑ Sheraton, Mimi, The German Cookbook, Random House, New York , 2002
  5. ↑ June Meyers Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes Cookbook
  6. ↑ Sheraton, Mimi, The German Cookbook, Random House, New York, 2002
  7. ↑ Meehan, Monica; von Baich, Maria: Tante Hertha's Viennese Kitchen; New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland; 2011; page 148 (Kaiserschmarren)

External links