The Monastery in Maulbronn was on my bucket list because of a legend that ties a traditional Southern German dish to this place. Since monks were forbidden to consume meat during the fasting period, the monks came up with a recipe to hide the meat from God’s all-seeing eyes: They mixed the minced meat with spinach and some other ingredients and spices and hid them in pockets of pasta dough: the Maultasche (a kind of dumpling or a very very big ravioli) was born. It is also locally known as Hergottsbscheißerle which is a vulgar way of saying that you cheated the Almighty.

So this Maultasche is very important to our Swabian friends from the region around Maulbronn. My first roommate at university ate them at least once a week and told me after a few months that he has already tried every single different kind and flavor in stock at the supermarkets. Another friend of mine keeps some in his freezer at all times for emergency usage. And when the Swabians set out to make Maultaschen, it’s to feed the masses, one would think.

Maultasche aside, the monastery is quite cool in itself. The cloister is pretty impressive as well as the fountain embedded the building. A famous Germany write Hermann Hesse place one of his novels in this location where he himself went to school (ah yes, it has been a school for a long time).

March 14th 2016