Brenntar – Swabian Habermus (roasted spelt porridge)
Description
A thick porridge made from Musmehl — spelt flour kiln-roasted to a deep toasty flavour. Cooked with milk, butter and honey it becomes the sweet version known as Habermus on the Swabian Alb and in Upper Swabia.
Directions
✓ researched- 1
Bring the water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Whisk in the Musmehl briskly so that no lumps form.
⏱️ approx. 5 min - 2
Gradually pour in the milk and simmer the porridge over low heat for about 12 minutes, stirring often, until thick and creamy.
⏱️ approx. 12 min - 3
Stir in the butter and honey and season with cinnamon. If the porridge gets too stiff, stir in a splash of hot milk.
⏱️ approx. 3 min💡 Tip: For the savoury Alb version leave out honey and cinnamon and top the porridge with onion rings fried golden in clarified butter.
- 4
Serve the porridge in deep plates with fresh raspberries. Vanilla sauce or cold milk goes well with it.
⏱️ approx. 2 min
Recipe video
YouTubeExternal video for inspiration – ingredients and preparation may differ from our recipe. Playing it connects to YouTube (Google).
📜 Origin & History
The basis of the dish is Musmehl: spelt or wheat grains are kiln-dried for eight hours at a temperature falling slowly from 150 to 100 °C and then coarsely ground. The drying browns the grain and gives it its characteristic roasted aroma. On the Swabian Alb the resulting Schwarzer Brei (black porridge) was for centuries the staple food of the rural population — Hermann Fischer's Swabian dictionary records that in 1540 it saved the poorer people of the Alb from starvation. Musmehl also appears in charitable endowments: in 1616 Maria Schenk von Stauffenberg documented an annual gift to the needy that included "2 Mittelen Musmehl". In Upper Swabia, the Allgäu and the Odenwald the sweet version, Habermus, was cooked from it, while the Alb favoured the savoury Schwarzer Brei with onions fried in lard. Musmehl nearly vanished in the 20th century; Slow Food has since added it, and Schwarzer Brei, to its Ark of Taste.
🗺️ Where is Brenntar – Schwäbisches Habermus cooked?
Schwaben · Baden-Württemberg
Main regionOn the Swabian Jura the savoury Schwarzer Brei was a staple of the rural population for centuries. The Musmehl for it came from the spelt grown on the region's thin soils.
More from Schwaben →Oberschwaben · Baden-Württemberg
In Upper Swabia the porridge was cooked with milk and eaten sweet with stewed fruit. That version is known there as Habermus.
More from Oberschwaben →Allgäu · Bayern
The sweet version is common in the Allgäu as well, where Musmehl is turned into Habermus just as in Upper Swabia.
More from Allgäu →🌿 Regional variants
Schwarzer Brei, savoury
The Swabian Jura version: the Musmehl is stirred into boiling salted water, cooked with milk into a thick porridge and topped with onions fried in pork lard.
Sweet Habermus
In Upper Swabia and the Allgäu the porridge is cooked with milk and eaten sweet, with cinnamon sugar and stewed fruit.
As a side dish with broth and cheese
In present-day cooking Musmehl is also mixed with broth and served as a savoury side dish with grated cheese.
Blood porridge for the slaughter feast
A historical variant mixed cooked bread with blood from the slaughter. This porridge was served at the slaughter feast.
🍷 What goes with it?
Eaten sweet with cinnamon sugar and stewed fruit, or savoury with onions fried in lard. On the Jura it was a breakfast dish, enriched with butter or lard. Today Musmehl is also mixed with broth and served as a side dish with grated cheese.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get Musmehl?
Several artisan mills in Baden-Württemberg still produce it and it is sold in wholefood shops. As a stopgap, toast wholemeal spelt flour in a dry pan, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and has clearly darkened.
Is Brenntar the same as Habermus?
They are regional names for the same Musmehl porridge. Brenntar ("burnt" mush) stresses the roasting, Habermus is common in Upper Swabia and the Allgäu, and Schwarzer Brei on the Swabian Alb.
Is the porridge really black, as the name suggests?
No. Despite the name Schwarzer Brei it is brown — the colour comes purely from the kiln-dried grain, not from anything burnt.
Where does Brenntar come from?
From the Swabian Jura and Upper Swabia. The porridge of roasted grain was a staple of the rural population there because it fills you up and takes little effort. For the year 1540 it is documented as food during a famine.
What is the difference between Brenntar and Brennsuppe?
Brenntar is a thick porridge made from Musmehl, that is oven-kilned and coarsely ground grain. Swabian Brennsuppe, by contrast, is a thin soup of ordinary flour browned in fat in the pan and then topped up with liquid.
Why is Musmehl in the Ark of Taste?
Slow Food added Musmehl to the Ark of Taste in 2005 because it had all but disappeared during the 20th century and was seen as poor people's food. Only a few artisan mills in southern Germany still make it, among them the Luz mill in Münsingen-Buttenhausen.
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Ingredients
verified- Roasted spelt flour (Musmehl)200 g
- Milk500 ml
- Water250 ml
- Butter40 g
- Honey2 tbsp
- salt pinch
- Cinnamon1 tsp
- Raspberry150 g
Buy regional ingredients fresh
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