# Tirggel

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{{Short description|Swiss traditional Christmas biscuit}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Tirggel
| name_lang        = de
| name_italics     = true
| image            = Migros-Tirggel.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Industrially manufactured tirggel as sold by Swiss retailer [Migros](/source/Migros) in 2008
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland)
| region           = [Zürich](/source/Z%C3%BCrich)
| creator          = 
| course           = 
| type             = [Biscuit](/source/Biscuit)
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = [Flour](/source/Flour), [honey](/source/honey), [sugar](/source/sugar), [water](/source/water)
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}

'''''Tirggel''''' are traditional [Christmas](/source/Christmas) [biscuits](/source/biscuits) from [Zürich](/source/Z%C3%BCrich), Switzerland.<ref name="Tagesschau">{{cite news|url=http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/flash/videoplayer.swf?mode=embed&segment_id=673e4ffd-ae85-4621-9331-853098eed0f5&referrer=|title=Züri Tirggel|date=6 December 2008|publisher=[SF Tagesschau](/source/SF_Tagesschau)|language=German|accessdate=2008-12-07}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Made from [flour](/source/flour) and [honey](/source/honey), they are thin, hard, and sweet.

==History==

''Tirggel'' are first recorded in Zürich as ''Dirgel'' in 1461.<ref>For details see ''[Schweizerisches Idiotikon](/source/Schweizerisches_Idiotikon),'' vol. XIII 1567&nbsp;ff., article [https://www.idiotikon.ch/Register/faksimile.php?band=13&spalte=1567&lemma=Tirggel ''Tirggel''.]</ref> They have been manufactured there ever since with elaborately carved wooden moulds depicting Biblical or regional themes.<ref name="Tages-Anzeiger">{{cite news|url=http://www.honegger-tirggel.ch/images/stories/tirggel/tagi.pdf|title=Wenn es duftet, ist wieder Tirggelzeit|last=Pfändler|first=Stefanie|date=3 December 2008|publisher=[Tages-Anzeiger](/source/Tages-Anzeiger)|language=German|accessdate=2008-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306142915/http://www.honegger-tirggel.ch/images/stories/tirggel/tagi.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> More recently, the wooden moulds—four of which are exhibited in the [Swiss National Museum](/source/Swiss_National_Museum)—have been replaced by [polycarbonate](/source/polycarbonate) casts, which are easier to handle.<ref name="Tages-Anzeiger" />

==Preparation==
Tirggel dough is composed of flour, 29 percent honey,<ref name="Tagesschau" /> some sugar and water;<ref name="Baker 35">{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Margaret|title=Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore: A Guide to Seasonal Rites|publisher=Osprey Publishing|date=1992|pages=35|isbn=0747801754|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fttUemH6ekC&pg=PA35}}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> although one source reports that it is or was made without sugar, which is taken to be an indication of the ''tirggel''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s pre-Christian origins.<ref name="Wernecke 65">{{cite book|last=Wernecke|first=Herbert Henry|title=Christmas Customs Around the World|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|date=1959|pages=65|isbn=0664242588|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQhx6im_-jMC&pg=PA65}}</ref>

The dough is pressed very thinly into elaborately carved moulds of varying shapes and sizes. The biscuits are baked in a high-temperature oven at {{convert|400|°C|°F|0|lk=on}} for only 90 seconds<ref name="Honegger Tirggel-Herstellung">{{cite web|url=http://www.honegger-tirggel.ch/tirggel/tirggel-herstellung|title=Tirggel-Herstellung|publisher=Honegger Confiserie Wald|language=German|accessdate=2008-12-07|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029035747/http://www.honegger-tirggel.ch/tirggel/tirggel-herstellung|archivedate=2012-10-29}}</ref> and require good timing to get right.<ref name="Tagesschau" />

==Consumption==
Because ''tirggel'' are hard and dry, they are best when sucked on for a while, which allows the honey flavour to become more pronounced.<ref name="Tagesschau" />

''Tirggel'' are also very durable. Swiss writer [Emanuel Stickelberger](/source/Emanuel_Stickelberger) reported in 1939 that "the ''tirggel'' has the admirable quality of not becoming stale, and the harder it gets, the more enjoyable is it to nibble on."<ref>{{cite book|last=Stickelberger|first=Emanuel|title=Heisst ein Haus zum Schweizerdegen: Tausend Jahre deutschschweizerischen Geisteslebens|publisher=O. Walter a.-g.|date=1939|volume=II|pages=688|language=German}}</ref> On account of their elaborate ornamentation, traditionally manufactured ''tirggel'' are often not eaten at all for months or years and are kept as decorations instead.<ref name="Spicer 218">{{cite book|last=Spicer|first=Dorothy Gladys|title=Festivals of Western Europe|publisher=Forgotten Books|date=1958|pages=218|isbn=1605068012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JF_kT43LjcC&pg=PA218}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [Culinary Heritage of Switzerland](/source/Culinary_Heritage_of_Switzerland)

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
[[File:Migros-Tirggel quadratisch.jpg|thumb|Tirggel often depict scenes from the [history of Zürich](/source/history_of_Z%C3%BCrich) such as the [Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn](/source/Spanisch-Br%C3%B6tli-Bahn)—Switzerland's first railway—shown here.]]

*{{cite journal|last=Ott|first=Ernst|date=1967|title=Der Tirggel|journal=Schweizer Volkskunde|publisher=Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde|volume=57|issue=1–6|issn=0048-9522|oclc=1765168}}
*{{cite book|last=Schuh|first=Gotthard|title=Tirggel. Ein altes Weihnachtsgebäck. Mit einer Kulturhistorischen Einführung von Edwin Arnet. |publisher=Amstutz und Herdeg|date=1941|oclc=3561897}}
* [Schweizerisches Idiotikon](/source/Schweizerisches_Idiotikon), Band XIII, Spalten 1567–1573, Artikel ''Tirggel'' ([https://www.idiotikon.ch/Register/faksimile.php?band=13&spalte=1567&lemma=Tirggel digitalisate]).
*{{cite book|last=Zogg|first=Annemarie|title=Züri-tirggel: Bräuche, Bilder, Herstellung|publisher=Zürcher Kantonalbank|date=1992|oclc=32194377}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Tirggel}}

*{{Kulinarischeserbe.ch|321}}
* Hans-Peter Schifferle, Christoph Landolt: [https://www.idiotikon.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=340&Itemid=225 ''Wienachtsguetsli – die Klassiker''], in: ''Wortgeschichte'' of December 15, 2016, published by ''Schweizerisches Idiotikon''.

{{Portal bar|Food|Switzerland}}

Category:Christmas food
Category:Biscuits
Category:Swiss cuisine
Category:Culture of Zurich
Category:Culinary Heritage of Switzerland
Category:Swiss confectionery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tirggel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirggel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirggel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.