''Tirggel'' are traditional

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

biscuits A biscuit is a Flour, flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and Unleavened bread, unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing (food), icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also ...

from

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Made from

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

, they are thin, hard, and sweet.

History

''Tirggel'' are first recorded in Zürich as ''Dirgel'' in 1461. They have been manufactured there ever since with elaborately carved wooden moulds depicting Biblical or regional themes. More recently, the wooden moulds—four of which are exhibited in the

Swiss National Museum The Swiss National Museum () is a museum in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, adjacent to Central Station and the '' Platzspitz'' park. It is part of the ''Musée Suisse Group'', which is itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture ...

—have been replaced by

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...

casts, which are easier to handle.

Preparation

Tirggel dough is composed of flour, 29 percent honey, some sugar and water; although one source reports that it is or was made without sugar, which is taken to be an indication of the ''tirggel'''s pre-Christian origins. The dough is pressed very thinly into elaborately carved moulds of varying shapes and sizes. The biscuits are baked in a high-temperature oven at for only 90 seconds and require good timing to get right.

Consumption

Because ''tirggel'' are hard and dry, they are best when sucked on for a while, which allows the honey flavour to become more pronounced. ''Tirggel'' are also very durable. Swiss writer Emanuel Stickelberger reported in 1939 that "the ''tirggel'' has the admirable quality of not becoming stale, and the harder it gets, the more enjoyable is it to nibble on." On account of their elaborate ornamentation, traditionally manufactured ''tirggel'' are often not eaten at all for months or years and are kept as decorations instead.

References

External links

* * Hans-Peter Schifferle, Christoph Landolt
''Wienachtsguetsli – die Klassiker''
in: ''Wortgeschichte'' of December 15, 2016, published by ''Schweizerisches Idiotikon''. {{Portal bar, Food, Switzerland Christmas food Biscuits Swiss cuisine Culture of Zurich Culinary Heritage of Switzerland Swiss confectionery

History

Preparation

Consumption

See also

References

Further reading

External links