Plootzbacken as ever
Julius geis is currently standing by the oven and pushing in the plootze. The door is closed, after a few minutes he examines with an expert eye, whether the "katzemicher plootz" is ready. Customers are already waiting eagerly in front of the bakery. The oven festival has a long tradition in katzenbach. "It has been held every year since 1985 and enjoys great popularity", says the chairman of the katzenbach music and local history society e. V., jurgen metz. Many people help to prepare the pancakes, because of course they have to be prepared and topped before they go into the oven. "We're a well-coordinated team, everyone knows exactly what they have to do", female metz to report.
The plootze are made according to an old recipe, and the knowledge of how exactly this is done is passed down from generation to generation. In the meantime, a lot of young people are helping out, and it is important to them that the tradition is maintained. And also the "insertion the plootze is baked by the young people at the oven party. Fabian and lukas halbig are just as involved here as julius geis. The knowledge of how to do this properly, they have learned from their fathers, who for years were entrusted with this activity at the oven festival and of course still look over their shoulders.
It sounds delicious what is baked here. "Besides zwiebelplootz we also have fruchteplootz", says metz. "Not to forget the matteplootz", adds norbert halbig. With this grated potatoes are added to the dough. "In the past, the expensive flour was probably also stretched with it, today it is a delicacy", so half with a smile. In addition to the delicious topping, which can be made of currants, apples, cherries or plums, the "doitsch", as it is known in the trade, is a must for this type of plootz not. "The doitsch consists of melted butter with cinnamon, which is spread over the plootz before baking", according to half of the experts. This makes the whole thing even more delicious and just listening to it makes your mouth water.
Baking in katzenbach according to old tradition. The wood is burned on the firebricks and then taken out of the oven. This is how the stone is heated to about 240 degrees and the plootze is "shot in", as it is called in the jargon. "Of course you have a probe to check the temperature nowadays, but you still have to try out whether the oven is at the right temperature," says the chairman of the musician's association, female norbert halbig from experience. So first of all a single plootz is shot in, if this is not burned outside and inside already through, then one knows that now is the optimum time.
"If it is too hot, it is cooled down with water", says. This is done with clean straw bushes, just like in the old days. A total of 20 plootze, each with a diameter of 40 cm, are baked in this way, and when 90 are finished, the oven must be reheated. "After 20 minutes, the wood has burned down enough for us to continue", says halbig. On the upper floor of the fire station, the women have their hands full during this time. After all, the plootz have to be made and topped.
In the meantime, entertainment was provided for the visitors in the marquee. On saturday, spilk played, on sunday, the old stars of the katzenbach music and home association as well as the youth orchestra and other bands entertained the visitors. On monday the festival ended with a kesselfleisch dinner. "We were very satisfied with the number of visitors. The weather was wonderful", chairman jurgen metz is pleased. Visitors from near and far came to enjoy the delicious plootz.