Flädle is a southern
German garnish and soup ingredient from the region of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
consisting of savory
pancake
A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...
s, cut into ribbons.
[Flädle , Suppen und Eintöpfe]
''schmeck-den-sueden.de'', Retrieved March 23, 2017
''Flädle'' are made by first making plain crepe-style pancakes, then tightly rolling them up and slicing them into ribbons. They are then usually served in a clear
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
or
beef broth in a dish of ''Flädlesuppe''. In other parts of Germany, the dish is known as ''Eierkuchensuppe'', derived from the regional name ''Eierkuchen'' (lit. "egg cakes") for pancakes.
Austria
Frittatensuppe (Frittaten soup) is one of the most popular soups in
Austrian cuisine
Austrian cuisine consists of many different local or regional cuisines. In addition to Viennese cuisine, which is predominantly based on the cooking traditions of the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Empire, there are independent regional traditions ...
. It is considered an Austrian
national dish
A national dish is a culinary Dish (food), dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons:
* It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs ...
. ''Frittaten'' (from the Italian frittata, "frying") are sliced pancakes called
Palatschinken, combined with beef consommé it becomes the famous soup. Even today, "frittata" and "frittella" are used to refer to omelets in Italy; a recipe for one can be found in the "Freiwillig Aufgesprungener Granatapfel" (voluntarily popped pomegranate) cookbook (
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
1699), which is Austria's second-oldest printed cookbook.
France
In
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
there is a similar dish known as ''Consommé Célestine''. It is served with long strips of
crepes as in the Austrian version, but there are other versions in which the crepes are filled before cutting them into strips. The filling can be meat and herbs or herbs and cottage cheese.
Trivia
The Austrian author
Thomas Bernhard had people dine extensively in almost all of his works. For instance in his book: "Der Theatermacher" ("The Theater Maker"), he described a state actor named Bruscon who travels through the Austrian provinces whining about how awful the frittaten soup is everywhere: "Always these grease eyes..." Except at
Gaspoltshofen, which is down to Hedi Klinger (the chef) and the fact that Bernhard frequented the establishment when residing nearby at
Lake Traunsee. Hedi's frittaten soup was one of his favorites. The poet grants his Bruscon the greatest success with his traveling theater at Gaspolshofen out of gratitude.
From this developed a real frittaten soup tourism. Willi Klinger (Hedi Klingers son):
This gave German
comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
and author
Harald Schmidt
Harald Franz Schmidt (born 18 August 1957) is a German actor, comedian, television presenter and writer best known as the host of two popular German late-night shows.
Early and private life
A son of refugees who fled from Sudetenland (now Cz ...
the idea to travel to Bernhard's favorite guesthouses and follow his culinary trail. In collaboration with other authors, he wrote a book titled "In der Frittatensuppe feiert die Provinz ihre Triumphe" (In Frittatensuppe, the Province Celebrates Its Triumphs).
See also
*
List of pancakes
*
References
External links
Flädle RecipeFrittatensuppe Recipe
Austrian cuisine
German soups
Swabian cuisine
Pancakes
{{germany-cuisine-stub