SCHW?BISCHER ZWIEBELKUCHEN (SWABIAN ONION TART/PIE/CAKE)

Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen is usually eaten in late Summer and early Fall, typically served with new wine, but fans (there are legions of them, including myself), will eat it year-round. As with any “traditional/classic” dish which is mostly prepared at home, there are many variations, most of them excellent. After all, it is pretty hard to screw up a simple dish like this, consisting of just a few basic ingredients –

– Yeast dough, (or shortcrust)

– Creme fraiche, (or, in a pinch, sour cream, which makes it slightly more tart)

– Onions, sautéed, diced, (or sliced), anywhere from just transparent to deeply caramelized

– Bacon, (or not)

– Chives (or not)

– Caraway seed, (or not)

– Eggs,

– Salt & Pepper,

– Round, (or square or rectangular)

– Deep dish springform (or large flat sheet pan) – because of the different heights, the ratio of onions to cream mixture also varies greatly.

I grew up eating Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen all the time, but even in the area where I lived, cooks (mostly housewives), were very flexible which the variation they would use.

The only exception was the Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen from the time I was but a small child until I was about 7 years old, after which time the village communal oven was not used anymore. Up ’til I was about 7 years old, we still had a communal oven in the village bakery, everybody followed the same regional, well-established recipe. During that time, most farmers wife’s baked huge sheet pan’s of Zwiebelkuchen in the communal oven (as well as the bread for the following week).

Because there where no refrigerators in farmers homes at that time, a good part of the Zwiebelkuchen was shared with friends and neighbors, so nothing was wasted. This is how I got my first taste of Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen since my Mom was a city girl and was neither fond of cooking, baking or any other domestic chores. My family moved from a large City (Stuttgart) to the small Village of Gechingen, where my father inherited his childhood home from my grandparents, who were farmers. Growing up there was in part very great and in part very bad for a city boy. I never got used to some of the customs, way’s and restrictions the small-village life provided us with. (One of the biggest reasons why I left home to start an apprenticeship as cook before I was 14 years old)

But, all the food from this time, including Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen, became highly regarded favorites as I got older. To this day, I seek those dishes wherever I go. Sadly, most everywhere, many of these items are not valued anymore and are gone the way of so many old-fashioned things – good food, customs, manners and so many other things we used to respect, love nurture and appreciate in the past. Those of us who still (or just newly, in some cases) are fond of the time-proven pillars of “the good old times”, can only hope that “old is new again” will one day soon again apply to most of the beloved standards of our past 

Until then, when I crave Schw?bischer Zwiebelkuchen, I have to prepare it myself.

And don’t get me going about old-fashioned manners, customs, and decent behavior…….

Bit of a nostalgic, old farts rant there, but I feel better now 

Bon Appétit !  Life is Good !

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Zwiebelkuchen Dough:

Use your favorite shortcrust dough or yeast dough.

Substitute with pre-made shortcrust dough, pizza dough, pre-baked Quiche crust or pre-baked pizza crust. I suggest you experiment until you find your favorite. It’s well worth the extra effort :-)