Kaspressknödel

Kaspressknödel are bread dumplings packed with melting mountain cheese, pressed flat and pan-fried until the crust turns crisp, usually served floating in broth. It's Tyrol's fried cheese dumpling, and it's worth distinguishing from Kasnocken, the region's other famous cheese dish — Kasnocken is pan-tossed spätzle noodles, while Kaspressknödel is a single, shaped, pressed dumpling with a crisp fried crust.

What it actually is

A stale bread-and-egg dumpling mixture, similar in base to Semmelknödel, gets a generous amount of melting mountain cheese and sautéed onion worked through it. Rather than staying round and boiling alone, each dumpling presses flat by hand into a disc before pan-frying in butter until both sides develop a deeply golden, crisp crust — the pressed, flattened shape is what gives the dumpling its name and its distinctive shell.

The pressed shape and fried crust are the point, not an optional extra step. A round, unpressed cheese dumpling that's only boiled is closer to a plain Semmelknödel with cheese added; Kaspressknödel specifically means the flattened, pan-fried, crisp-crusted version.

How it's served

• Floating in a clear beef broth, the crisp crust softening slightly at the edges.
• Or plated dry with a side salad, an alternative to the broth version.
• As a starter, common at Tyrolean mountain huts and restaurants.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg and dairy; the bread, egg and cheese carry all three.
• Say whether it's served in broth or dry with salad, since both are traditional.
• Note that it's different from Kasnocken, since both are Tyrolean cheese dishes that guests may conflate.
• Mention which cheese is used, since the melting quality of the cheese matters to the texture.