A Traditional Farm Life - Zwieback Bread
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! Leaves are falling, coats are coming out of
storage, and yet our two youngest children (4 and 6 years) are still resisting
giving up the carefree barefoot days of summer.
Even with new shoes—if we can find them—it’s a pretty tough
sell. (We searched here and there, up
and down, and in and out for several days about a week ago for our six-year-old
boy’s brand new shoes. They were
eventually found—to his parent’s great relief—in his papa’s rubber chore boots,
one shiny new shoe neatly stuffed into each knee-high boot.)
Today found us preparing for something other than cold
weather. We received a special formal
invitation to my parent’s house for an extended family gathering this Sunday
afternoon. It is to be a “Penner
Gathering,” which means catching up with distant family on my paternal
grandmother—Lena (Penner) Schmidt’s--side. (For my children, this means rubbing
shoulders with their great-great aunts and uncles.)
We will gather to talk about “old times” and partake of the
traditional Mennonite afternoon meal, “faspa.”
Now, you might be wondering, just what exactly is faspa? My treasured “From Pluma Moos to Pie” cookbook,
a collection of ethic favorites from the Goessel community, explains it this
way:
“Faspa is one of those Low German words for which
there is no direct English translation. Faspa
meant a light lunch about 4 p.m. on workdays. Faspa also meant the gathering
of family and friends, usually at 4 p.m. Sunday, for a light meal and
fellowship, with an emphasis on fellowship.
The meal always included zwieback and coffee and might also include
cheese, cold cuts, and jelly.”
Our family ate faspa at 3 p.m. daily. (To this day I know if I want to catch my
parents in the house, 3 p.m. is the best time to call. I also know not to talk
long, or their coffee might get cold!)
For this Sunday’s gathering I offered to bring the zwieback
(pronounced swee-bock). These
“double buns” were traditionally baked on Saturday to be fresh for Sunday’s faspa. Milk and butter rich dough is kneaded and
formed into double buns by pinching off small balls of dough. The bottom one is slightly larger than the
top. The top one is firmly pushed onto
the bottom one in order to keep the top one from becoming “the leaning tower of
Zwieback.”
Making good zwieback in an art, and unfortunately it is a
skill set I do not possess. I love
working with yeast breads, so the making of the dough isn’t a big deal, but the
shaping of the dough into zwiebacks is a whole different story.
Perhaps I don’t make them often because I know I won’t be
able to keep the tops from sliding off, silently admonishing me for my lack of
zwieback shaping skill.
Casting my fears aside in order to teach my three daughters
how to make this classic table staple from their Mennonite heritage, we had a
fun afternoon in the test kitchen doing our level best to shape them correctly.
First we all tried our hand at “pinching” off small balls of
dough. This was great fun for all, and
our eight-year-old in particular was a natural at it.
Now for the hard part—firmly attaching the top. After consulting numerous recipes in several
cookbooks, we pushed, poked, and knuckled our way through about five-dozen
zwieback, trying all the tricks in the cookbooks to get those naughty tops to
stay on. When all were baked, we had a
measly grand total of eleven perfect looking zwieback. (Visit www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com
for a picture of some of the good ones.)
How embarrassing!
My only consolation of taking less-than-perfect zwieback to
a gathering of veteran zwieback bakers is the opportunity it affords the
Hamilton ladies to learn how to do it right next time. We should have plenty to talk about over faspa!
Zwieback
4 cups milk
1-1/2 cups (3
sticks) butter
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons
instant yeast
2 tablespoons salt
Enough all-purpose
flour for a medium soft dough (approx. 14 cups)
1. In a saucepan,
heat milk and butter until butter melts and milk bubbles around the edges; cool
until warm to the touch, about 115 degrees.
2. Combine water,
sugar, and yeast in a measuring cup; let proof until bubbly.
3. In large bowl or
bowl of mixer, combine milk and yeast mixtures, salt, and about 8 cups
flour. Beat until smooth; let rest 15
minutes. Continue adding flour
gradually, kneading until a smooth, satin dough has formed that cleans the
sides of the bowl. Spray top of dough
with non-stick cooking spray, cover, and let rise until double.
4. Pinch off balls of
dough about 1-1/2 inches in size; place on baking sheet leaving about 2 inches
between rolls. Pinch off slightly
smaller balls and place on top of larger ones (try making a dent in the center
of the bottom ball to cradle the top, but no guarantees!) and press down firmly
with flat of fingers to adhere top to bottom bun. Cover and allow to rise 10-15 minutes while
preheating oven to 400 degrees.
5. Bake 15 to 20
minutes or until golden brown. Serve as
dinner roll with butter, jam or jelly.
Traditionally served with cold cuts and wedges of cheddar cheese.
Yield: About 6 dozen zwieback
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.
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