The ski and ski hut season is starting again, and I hope that these delicious dumplings (in German: Klöße) find their way back to your table (or plates) at home.

Yeast dough (in German: Hefeteig), Powidl (plum jam), poppy sugar, and butter – these are the 4 main ingredients of the yeast dumpling - loved by young and old, probably for centuries.

Evolution based on yeast

But how did it happen? How do recipes develop? In a lengthy process of trial & error, mutation, and selection, that exact combination emerged in adventurous alpine kitchens, which was so tasty and digestible that it displaced all other variations. The yeast dumpling is, so to speak, the pinnacle of evolution when it comes to mixing and processing these 4 ingredients. But how stable is this recipe? To what extent can it be altered before it loses its brilliance?

A little more Powidl or poppy sugar is always possible, as long as it doesn't get too sweet. For those who prefer it a bit more robust, a reduction is of course also an option – as long as it stays within limits.

But let's talk about the obvious: What would a yeast dumpling be without yeast? Or poppy? Powidl? Would it still be a yeast dumpling? No, hopefully no one would come up with that idea! At least not if they've ever enjoyed a real yeast dumpling.

What about adding new ingredients? Maybe an extra portion of strawberry sauce? I would be surprised if no one has tried that yet. However, the fewer ingredients a recipe has, the more intense each one tastes. Too many ingredients just create a mush that somehow tastes like everything and at the same time like nothing. That's probably why the yeast dumpling with strawberry sauce hasn't evolved successfully...

So I once had a job interview. I was told that they work according to Scrum. "We take the parts from the framework (Scrum) that fit us and our way of working."

I think of the yeast dumpling. Is a yeast dumpling a damn framework, or a recipe developed to perfection? Sure, I could fish the Powidl out of the dumpling and drizzle it into a goulash soup. I could do that. But an interesting question arises here: WHY?

In summary

Let's take a little stock. We have found:

• The current recipe for yeast dumplings is the result of a long process of perfection.
• If you leave out an ingredient, the taste deteriorates.
• If you add new ingredients, the brilliance of the yeast dumpling flavor blurs, and the dish increasingly turns into an indefinable mush.
• Yeast, Powidl, butter, or poppy sugar can of course also be used in other recipes – but then they are completely different dishes and no longer a yeast dumpling.

Enjoy your meal!

((P)P)PS

PS: What do you think?

PPS: Vanilla sauce instead of butter?

PPPS: Attribution for the wonderful title image with yeast dumpling and wheat beer: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Paddy Published under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0