richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
One of the glorious pleasures of visiting with Cathy is her wall of cookbooks, particularly the Antique Cookbook Collection. Cathy pulled books for me to look at and I selected several to search for on Abebooks.com All of them were there, going back to 1903. They were for the most part $3-4 with free shipping.
One of the finds was in "Cooking for Two" published in 1909 that I found for $4.67.
This is a guide for the young housewife to spend her day cooking fabulous meals for her husband, served on fine china, with no servants. The pictures are just fabulous.
And of course, I went off on the recipe for Austrian Kaiser Semmeln, one of my favorite breads when I lived in Austria. It is ubiquitous. Every baker had fresh Semmeln with their wonderful thick golden brown crust, chewy texture, and so versatile.
We ate them at breakfast smeared with Schmelzkäse and Leburwurst. Sometimes Nutella, the forbidden pleasure of Austrian breakfast that finally came to the US a couple years back. I would go to the baker and buy a sack of these for $.50 in 1982.
Understandably, the first recipe I zeroed in on was "authentic as you can get not living in Austria" Kaiser Semmeln. They explained that of course you cannot get the hard Hungarian flour that made the Austrian Semmeln a Semmeln, but the recipe assured me that "this is as close as you can come in an American kitchen."
How could I not? That was a direct throw-down challenge.
So last week I followed the recipe to the last letter (except adding some wheat gluten that the hard winter wheat used in Austria adds).
And?
Yes, it's pretty much dead on. If you desire a chewy, crusty white bread roll resembling the Austrian Kaiser Semmeln, this is it.
After they stale, the Austrians use these for Knödeln.
So here it is, in the photo album you will find the steps in a really off the wall recipe. You start off making a ball of dough with flour, yeast, and water. Then you score the top and place it in a bowl of hot water to make the sponge. Also, the rolls are baked without the second raising. Very different.
But you will end up with a Kaiser Semmeln that pretty much tastes, chews, and smells like the real thing in Austria. And if you've tasted them, you will want to make this recipe.
The only thing I did differently in the recipe was adding 2 tablespoons of wheat gluten to approximate the high protein content of the hard winter wheat flour they use in Austria.
Note: the recipe is very clear about making the balls, slicing ( used a razor blade, slicing on the curve as the Austrians do) and they were very round at the end. I fought off the inclination the flatten them a bit, wanting to follow the recipe. I thought they would spread out. The finished rolls were very rolly-polly. Next time, I will flatten them slightly before making the star cut since that would be much more similar to the Austrian roll.
I did the taste test with a roll sliced and smeared with butter. I was all set for that taste. Wonderful bread smeared with that tangy aged sour butter that the Austrians use. My first taste? ACK!!! The butter was lame. American butter sucks. I helped it along by salting the top of the butter, much closer. But then I bought some real European butter to use on these special rolls.
My favorite restaurant in Cincinnati churns their own butter using aged cream and yogurt to approximate that earthy taste of European butter.
https://goo.gl/photos/DxGewcRouVJ5pwHx7
One of the finds was in "Cooking for Two" published in 1909 that I found for $4.67.
This is a guide for the young housewife to spend her day cooking fabulous meals for her husband, served on fine china, with no servants. The pictures are just fabulous.
And of course, I went off on the recipe for Austrian Kaiser Semmeln, one of my favorite breads when I lived in Austria. It is ubiquitous. Every baker had fresh Semmeln with their wonderful thick golden brown crust, chewy texture, and so versatile.
We ate them at breakfast smeared with Schmelzkäse and Leburwurst. Sometimes Nutella, the forbidden pleasure of Austrian breakfast that finally came to the US a couple years back. I would go to the baker and buy a sack of these for $.50 in 1982.
Understandably, the first recipe I zeroed in on was "authentic as you can get not living in Austria" Kaiser Semmeln. They explained that of course you cannot get the hard Hungarian flour that made the Austrian Semmeln a Semmeln, but the recipe assured me that "this is as close as you can come in an American kitchen."
How could I not? That was a direct throw-down challenge.
So last week I followed the recipe to the last letter (except adding some wheat gluten that the hard winter wheat used in Austria adds).
And?
Yes, it's pretty much dead on. If you desire a chewy, crusty white bread roll resembling the Austrian Kaiser Semmeln, this is it.
After they stale, the Austrians use these for Knödeln.
So here it is, in the photo album you will find the steps in a really off the wall recipe. You start off making a ball of dough with flour, yeast, and water. Then you score the top and place it in a bowl of hot water to make the sponge. Also, the rolls are baked without the second raising. Very different.
But you will end up with a Kaiser Semmeln that pretty much tastes, chews, and smells like the real thing in Austria. And if you've tasted them, you will want to make this recipe.
The only thing I did differently in the recipe was adding 2 tablespoons of wheat gluten to approximate the high protein content of the hard winter wheat flour they use in Austria.
Note: the recipe is very clear about making the balls, slicing ( used a razor blade, slicing on the curve as the Austrians do) and they were very round at the end. I fought off the inclination the flatten them a bit, wanting to follow the recipe. I thought they would spread out. The finished rolls were very rolly-polly. Next time, I will flatten them slightly before making the star cut since that would be much more similar to the Austrian roll.
I did the taste test with a roll sliced and smeared with butter. I was all set for that taste. Wonderful bread smeared with that tangy aged sour butter that the Austrians use. My first taste? ACK!!! The butter was lame. American butter sucks. I helped it along by salting the top of the butter, much closer. But then I bought some real European butter to use on these special rolls.
My favorite restaurant in Cincinnati churns their own butter using aged cream and yogurt to approximate that earthy taste of European butter.
https://goo.gl/photos/DxGewcRouVJ5pwHx7