Where it comes from
Hafalaab is a traditional Liechtenstein specialty: dumplings of flour and cornmeal in a ham- or bacon-flavored broth, historically a poor-man's dish using the valley's maize.
On the plate
Spoon up hafalaab — a smoky, savory broth full of little tender dumplings and soft vegetables. Bite: the bacon gives the broth a deep smoked-pork backbone, the dumplings are soft with a slight maize chew from the cornmeal, the carrot and leek sweet. Plain, warming, and frugal — the everyday Alpine soup made from a handful of pantry staples.
How it works
Rendering the bacon first flavors the fat and broth with smoke; the flour-and-cornmeal dough, dropped in rough pieces, cooks into soft dumplings that thicken the soup slightly as their starch releases. The cornmeal gives a faint sweetness and chew distinct from a pure wheat dumpling.
Variations
With ham hock instead of bacon. With diced potato. Richer with a cream finish. With cabbage added. Vegetarian (vegetable broth). With more cornmeal for chewier dumplings.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓30 min active · 20 min waiting
How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓- 16 min
Dice 150 g smoked bacon and render in a pot until the fat runs.
- 26 min
Add 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped carrot, and 1 chopped leek; soften 5 min.
- 34 min
Pour in 1.5 L water (or stock) and bring to a simmer.
- 46 min
Whisk 150 g flour and 80 g cornmeal with 1 egg and a little water into a thick, sticky dough.
- 56 min
Drop small pieces of dough off a spoon into the simmering broth.
- 613 min
Simmer 12 min until the dumplings float and are cooked through.
- 72 min
Season with salt and pepper.
- 82 min
Serve hot, scattered with parsley.
