This is one of those workhorse recipes that anyone living out in the countryside in any one of the Kingdoms would reach for when just a little something extra is needed to accompany a main dish. It’s also superb in soups and stews, and takes very little time to throw together.

The preference would generally be to use wheat or spelt flours for these, as those flours’ gluten is mostly responsible for the softness and lightness of the dumplings. However, in the “deeper south” where barley, rye or oats are more readily available, those are routinely substituted, and the cook will normally beat in another egg or so (or fold in some separately-beaten egg white) to compensate for the denser batter and help lighten the dumplings.

These are also extremely good allowed to go cold overnight, and then (some time the next day) fried in butter or the preferred local fat, and served as a side for other dishes.