Checking out Semmel

The list of 100 Things You Must Eat made Linda and me aware of the Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes. Linda and a girl friend went up to see their art display and try the German bread roll from the list called semmel. Linda was good enough to bring me a roll AND a sample of her friend's mother's raspberry jam. I tried the combination and it was GREAT! The bread was slightly sweet with a soft, fluffy texture with a slighly chewy, crispy crust. I had to put forth a little effort to get a bite but, when I did, it was delicious.

I looked up what made semmel semmel and found that the name is simply based on Bavaria word for bread roll. It's my understanding that there are a few distinctive aspects in how it should be prepared like it was in Germany. I looked on the web and found a couple of recipes; one by those folks from the Upper Pennisula of Michigan, UPers, Yoopers. Given our experience with the pastie maker in Madison, I have to caution that the Yoopers are not universally considered to have the corner on authentic recipes for food from the Old Country.

That said, I found that some say that semmel are usually produced as conjoined pairs of rolls, some appear to connect them with a strand of dough. I don't remember the one that I got having any sign of connection to another... but I did get mine through an intervening party.