A gfeids Mädl
An acquaintance recently said that he gets the greatest joy when he watches his granddaughter because she is “such a daring girl”. Gfeid – that’s what they say in Upper Bavaria to children who are not only dantschig (lovable), but already have a distinctive character, from which cheerfulness and mischievousness flash out. In old Bavaria you also hear the synonym odraht (crazy, sophisticated, cunning), there are wacky rascals and odrahte Bazis. Although these examples suggest that words like gfeid and odraht denote something negative, this is not the case with children. Rather, the cunning, the wit, the wacky that is expressed here strengthens the confidence that these boys and girls will hold their own in life. The situation is different for older people: “It’s a whole lot of fun!” – you have to be careful of that. “Gfeid ists!”, which means: Now it’s getting dicey. Politics and world events are currently causing concern in many places. One often hears the lament: “Gfeid ists nocharanand!” It’s been missing one after the other, now it’s all going down the drain.
Wasserschnalzn
The word Wasserschnalzn appeared recently in an article about an illustrated book from the Upper Palatinate. This is a bread soup, a simple dish that used to be popular in all regions of Bavaria. The Wasserschnalzn pictured was finely enriched with onions, cumin, salt and vegetable oil and looked very appetizing to look at. However, several readers complained that the water snap shown was not such at all because it seemed too rich. “Wasserschnalzn is a derogatory term for a thin soup that speaks of poverty or a lack of culinary art,” is the definition of the critics. You may well be right, but a good bread soup, in contrast to Wasserschnalzn, is by no means thin and not very tasty. As simple as it may be composed, when prepared delicately it is a blessing. And a prime example of the fact that in a time of food waste, you can very well use up all the leftovers wonderfully. The bread soup is a typical leftover meal from times when thrift was essential for survival.