S.KRAUSE

In the Kitchen with Krause #6

Grießpudding

Ingredients:

• 1 liter milk
• 125g Grieß (semolina, farina)
• 1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 heaping Tbsp. sugar
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Separate the egg.
2. Beat the egg white until stiff.
3. Mix the egg yolk with 2 Tbsp. of milk until smooth.
4. Bring the rest of the milk, the sugar, the zest, and the salt to a boil in pot/saucepan.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the Grieß; return to heat and bring back to a boil.
6. Stir the egg yolk (and milk) into the mixture; blend in the egg white.
7. Serve warm or cold.

Play-by-Play:

The brand of semolina/farina/Grieß I purchased came from Diamant (“Diamond”), which sells many other grain products for baking, especially various types of flour. I have their whole wheat flour, for example, though for all-purpose white flour I just picked up the 25 cents/500g Gut & Günstig bags.

In addition to nutritional information (per 100g: 335kcal, 9.8g protein, 71g carbohydrates [1.8g being sugar], 1g fat, and 4g fiber) on one side, the other side of the box has plugs for their other products, and the back lists two recipes: Grießpudding and Orangenflammeri.

Without an actual scale, it was hard to see how much 125g of Grieß is/was, since it is of a different density than flour or sugar, and so I cannot use the flour and sugar measurements on my measuring cup. Instead, I just poured the whole container (500g) into said measuring device, noted that it came up to about 300 on the flour measure, and poured enough back in until only 75 was left on the flour measure. For those cooking this in non-metric-lands, that is about 6oz. (volume), or 3/4 of a cup. Based on experience, I would reduce this to a bit more than 1/2 a cup.

A while back I picked up a lemon at the store for this recipe. I do not have a zester, so I instead used my cheese grater and used the small holes (the same one I use for shredding carrots for carrot-nut bread). The smell was heavenly.

Now for the fun part: the egg.

Everyone has their own, favorite, and time-tested way to separate eggs, and some even use a special egg-separator. I am not nearly so fancy. I simply cracked the egg into a large cup/mug, making sure not to break the yolk—this is essential, because if you get any yolk (“fat”) in the white, it will not whip into a solid mass. Then, using a fork as a dam, I poured the white from the cup into another cup. Voila! ... separated egg, no mess, and no stress.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to beat the egg white into a solid mass ... it is meringue without the sugar. The German term is “Eischnee” or egg snow. If you do this by hand, it can take quite a while, and your hand, wrist, and arm will tire, but it is good exercise. I only had a fork available, and a whisk would improve matters. The goal is to inject air into the egg white such that bubbles form, and the more you beat, the smaller the bubbles become. As you whip, the result can grow six to eight times in volume. A hand beater works as well, and reduces the amount of time spent, though it is sometimes overkill for just one egg white.

After this was done, I added two tablespoons of milk to the egg yolk and beat the mixture until it was a nice smooth yellow-orange.

For this recipe I used low-fat, 1.5% milk, which produces a creamy enough pudding. Pour the remaining (1 liter minus two tablespoons) in a pan, as well as the sugar, zest, and pinch of salt. Stir and bring to a boil. This can take a while, especially on my range, since my elements heat slowly, but then once they are hot, they are usually too hot, and the last thing you want to do is burn the milk.

Once the milk mixture starts to boil, remove it from the heat, continue to stir, and slowly pour in the Grieß. You will be amazed at how quickly it mixes with the much larger volume of milk and begins to firm up, though this is similar to oatmeal and grits, so it should not be too surprising. The more Grieß you add, the thicker it will be, so for a lighter and easier to stir pudding use only 1/2 of a cup; for a most custardy and firm pudding use 3/4 of a cup.

Now we make pudding, not just hot cream of wheat.

Return the saucepan to the heating element. It will begin to pop like a mud pot at Yellowstone. Add the egg yolk, and once it is mixed in, add the egg white and stir.

You now have a pot of pudding. In the photograph it resembles mashed potatoes. It is custardy in consistency but has a slightly grainy texture. It can be served warm or chilled. It is especially good if served with a sauce, such as a compote (in particular berry or cherry) or chocolate. Mix the sauce with the pudding and enjoy. Variations on the recipe include the addition of vanilla or other spices.

I ate my first bowl of pudding plain, and the second with honey.

—July 2006

---