My Spirit Food, Grebbel
According to a website with formatting issues and six pop-up ads per second, my spirit animal is a Leafy Sea Dragon. It said that the core attributes of Leafy Sea Dragons are strength, power, and luck. These are broad but positive words which makes me feel good but are also utterly incorrect. Sometimes I cry under the covers which negates the first two; no one strong and powerful cries under the covers. This has been solidified as fact by Rom-Com movie montages where female leads cry under the covers when they are feeling weak and powerless. They always figure it out in the end, though! I will figure it out just like Bridget Jones!
So what about luck? Could I be lucky? Am I one of the chosen ones? I then remembered what happened to me the other day on the subway platform. I was walking behind someone who casually threw a toothpick away into a trash bin. It bounced off of something inside, ricocheting the toothpick directly into my eye. A humbling experience. There is no way that this would happen to a lucky person. Rogue toothpicks simply do not attack lucky people.
With this information, I concluded that your spirit animal attributes are to be internalized as aspirational, not as present-tense descriptors. Your spirit animal isn’t who you are, it’s who you could be. One day I will be strong, powerful and lucky. Maybe all in the same day, which sounds like a lot to become in one day. In fact, if I could quickly place a request to the Spirit Animal Gods: if I am to become these things, I would prefer it happen separately, on different days. I just cannot risk being overwhelmed with positive change too quickly.
As I set out, aspiring to someday become as cool as the small terrifying sea creature I have been assigned, I couldn’t help but feel unsatisfied. My goal in taking the spirit animal quiz was to discover a fictional soulmate to connect with now, not one I will connect with once I figure it all out. I wasn’t seeking a coach, I was seeking a comrade. Disheartened, I resolved to those covers I mentioned. That’s when it hit me. I shot up, accidentally ripping my hair out of my claw clip in the process!
The flipside of your spirit animal is your spirit food!
These two spirit nouns are the Yin and Yang of who you are as a person. If the Leafy Sea Dragon is my Yang, representing things like positivity and upward seeking, what could be my Yin? What food represents who I am now as my deepest, most honest self?
I introduce to you: Grebbel!
Also spelled Grebble, Krebel, and even occasionally called Kräppel or Kegal, Grebbel is deep-fried dough, something like a donut, of German-ish origin. It can also be called Fastnachtskrapfen (translates to Shrovetide donuts), Fasnachtsküchle (carnival cake), Kreppel (crepe), Berliner (donut) and sometimes Krapfen (donuts). Have you ever met a food with this many personalities? My soulmate!
The reason I consider Grebbel “German-ish” is because of its name: Grebbel. Here’s how it came to be. In the mid-late 1700s, a bunch of Germans emigrated to Russia at the request of Catherine the Great to settle the land along the Volga River. The settlements have been gone since the 1940s, but for a while they were thriving communities full of German, Russian, French, Danish, Austrian, Polish, Swiss, English, Hungarian, Swedish, and Italian immigrants. As you’ll note, the banks of the Volga River were poppin.
While I’m sure everyone was very respectful of one another’s cultures, the Germans were the dominant group of immigrants and so most people assimilated into German culture. This is why we now call this group of diverse settlers the (drumroll please) Volga Germans. Creative! Among these peoples are my dear ancestors, so just a quick shoutout to the various Johannes and Kristinas and Cristophs in my family tree.
Although German culture dominated, there were plenty of other language nuances and cultural traditions that leaked into the Volga German way of life. It turned out that the Russian locals also made themselves a similar style of donut, and depending on the settlement, they were referred to as Krepli, Krebl, or Krebel.
It was this mix of German and Russian donut-nomers that transformed the name into a version of what it is today. What solidified it as Grebbel was its move to America. Though I can’t tell you exactly when it all went down, it seems to be that those up-and-front-of-the-mouth sounds like “kah” and “pah” found their way to the back of American throats to become “guh” and “buh”. Et voila, Krapfen / Krapel / Kreppel / Krepli / Krebl / Krebel became our Grebbel.
Now you know that Grebbel, my spirit food, is Volga German fried dough with an American twist. The donuts themselves are distinctly of German-Russian origin, but the name adjustment and new serving accompaniments are distinctly American. German-ish!
In the “cookbook put together by the ladies of the church in Victoria, Kansas,” as my Grandma Charlotte put it, there are no less than twelve recipes for Grebbel. These recipes all vary greatly, because the main point of Grebbel is to fry some dough and eat it. It turns out you can pretty much do this with any type of dough and any type of frying and it’s still considered Grebbel. But today, we’re talking about a specific brand of Grebbel, my Grandma Charlotte’s Grebbel, because this is about me and my spirit. To the ladies of the church of Victoria, Kansas and all others of Central Kansas Volga German heritage: please don’t come for me, I know this recipe may defy yours and I’m sorry! Most of these nice ladies’ recipes call for an unleavened dough made with cream or buttermilk, but not mine! My Spirit Food Grebbel is made of sweet dough with yeast!
You may be thinking to yourself “I see why this girl thinks her spirit food is Grebbel, it’s because they have a shared ancestry,” in which case you’d be wrong, so very wrong. Grebbel is my spirit food because Grebbel and I have TONS more in common. A lot more in common than you would think a human being and a donut could have in common, but oh do we! This is why it HAS to be my spirit food. We have similar needs and personalities! Let me explain.
My Grebbel dough has to be prepared at night before resting securely in a cold place. I, too, must be prepared at night before resting in a cold place! Do you see? We are one! To make the night dough, you’re going to heat 1 cup of water to 100 degrees. Add 2 packets of dry yeast and gently stir until it bubbles. Mix in ½ cup of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Add ⅓ cup of vegetable shortening or butter and mix. You’ll need 6–6 ½ cups of flour and 1 egg for this next part. Begin to add flour to your mixture and halfway through add the egg, stirring as you complete adding the flour. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky, approximately 5 minutes, and place it in a bowl. Store the dough in the refrigerator overnight under a damp tea towel.
In the morning, your dough will be risen and shining, much like myself who also rises and shines! You’re going to take the dough out of the fridge and start to loosen it up a bit, like dough pilates. Guess who else does pilates in the morning? You guessed it: me! Once it’s loosened up and ready for the day, you’re going to prepare its bath. Heat your favorite frying oil on the stove in a skillet for a shallow fry. I’m more of a shower girl in the morning myself but I will say that a morning bath sounds wonderful and I’ll consider it going forward. Once your oil is hot you’ll cut off a piece of your dough, about the size of a tennis ball (give or take). Use your hands to make your dough ball into a sort of lumpy imperfect circle pancake, about ½ inch thick. Together, Grebbel and I are stretched, imperfect, a little lumpy, and ready to bathe!
Place the dough in its hot bath and fry each side until golden brown. Once it’s finished bathing you’ll place it on a paper towel to dry. Drying off on a towel is what I will also be doing after bathing! This is too easy! It’s all so perfect and meant to be! You’re going to repeat the cutting, shaping, frying and drying for all of your remaining dough. This recipe will make a lot of Grebbel, maybe 20, but not to worry, any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days. You’re meal prepping!
It’s time for the finale and oh boy do I have a plot twist for you. Traditionally, Grebbel recipes will tell you to sprinkle your cute and shapely hole-less donuts with powdered or regular sugar and enjoy. Not here. Not My Volga German with an American Twist Spirit Food Grebbel! What you’re going to do is plate 2–3 pieces of Grebbel, sit politely at your table, and pour yourself a side of White Corn Syrup for dipping.
I said Corn! Syrup! For dipping! At breakfast! God Bless America!!! Corn Syrup is in our blood, it’s in our veins. What’s my blood type? Corn Syrup. Is there anything more American than introducing some pronunciation adjustments and adding preservatives? There isn’t! Bada-bing bada-boom we’ve got ourselves a new-and-improved breakfast dish! America forever!
I cannot tell you the relief I feel in confirming that with this, I have found my Yin. I am one part Leafy Sea Dragon and one part Grebbel. My circle is complete. I think you’ll find that your finished product has a familiar, comforting flavor and texture; delightfully crispy on the outside, bready, fluffy and warm on the inside. Dip her in that sweet American nectar that makes us who we are, and you’ve got yourself an indulgent breakfast pastry that dreams are made of. Crispy, fluffy and sweet?
That’s me, but more importantly, that’s Grebbel, baby.
