Name: Austrian Napkin Dumpling
Yield: 6–8 servings
Ingredients: 8.8 oz (250 g ) stale French or Italian bread , cut into crouton-sized cubes; 2 eggs; 1¼ cups (300 ml ) milk (preferably whole milk); 4 Tbsp (60 g) butter; ¼ cup (60 g) finely- chopped onion (1 medium-sized onion); 2 tsp (1 large dash) salt; ½–1 bunch chopped broad-leaf parsley

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Austrian Napkin Dumpling

6–8 servings

Total1 hr

Ingredients

8.8 oz (250 g ) stale French or Italian bread , cut into crouton-sized cubes
2 eggs
1¼ cups (300 ml ) milk (preferably whole milk)
4 Tbsp (60 g) butter
¼ cup (60 g) finely- chopped onion (1 medium-sized onion)
2 tsp (1 large dash) salt
½–1 bunch chopped broad-leaf parsley

Directions

Prepare the bread mixture

Mix the milk, eggs, and salt together. Combine the mixture with the bread cubes and parsley in a large mixing bowl, coating as much of the bread as possible. Let the mixture rest.
Chop and sauté the onions. Cool the onions until they are not hot enough to cook the eggs, then add them to the bread mixture and mix thoroughly.
Let the mixture rest for an hour, mixing it through once or twice during the hour.

Shape the knödel

Wet a fresh cotton dishcloth, tea towel, or cloth napkin. Brush the top side of the cloth with melted butter if desired, then unfold it completely and place the bread mass in the middle.
Form the bread mass into a 3‑inch thick log. Roll the log tightly in the cloth and tie off the ends with a short length of string or twine; tie a string around the middle if the cloth tends to pucker.

Cook and serve

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, then slowly lower the serviettenknödel into the water and cook for 40 minutes.
Remove the serviettenknödel from the boiling water with tongs (or two forks if necessary) and transfer to a large cutting board. Cut and remove the string, then unroll and remove the cloth.
Slice the knödel into ½‑inch thick pieces, taking only as many as needed so it does not get cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

829Calories

29 gProtein

26 gFat

118 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Stale bread: Absorbs the egg and milk mixture and gives the knödel its firm, dumpling-like structure.
Eggs: Bind the bread and milk together so the mass holds its shape when cooked.
Milk: Soaks into the bread to moisten it and keep the dumpling tender.
Butter: Adds richness and flavour to the bread mass and the cloth.
Onion: Adds savoury aroma and flavour to the bread mixture.
Parsley: Adds fresh, herbal aroma and flavour throughout the dumpling.

The step that matters

Let the mixture rest and keep the cloth tight. Resting lets the dry bread fully soak up the liquid so the dumpling holds together. A tightly rolled cloth keeps the mass compact so it does not crumble or swell unevenly during the 40-minute simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, milk, butter, parsley):

Potatofits better
Shallotfits better
Asparagusfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, milk, butter, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Brown Bread461 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

Bread Omelette60 recipes

Oatmeal Bread51 recipes

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Austrian Napkin Dumpling