Why do I need to know Zwetschke?
Because Zwetschke is one of those everyday Austrian words that may look slightly wrong if you learnt German somewhere else.
It is a type of plum, usually the elongated, dark blue or purple variety with firm, sweet-sour flesh. Duden marks Zwetschke as particularly Austrian. Elsewhere in the German-speaking world, you’re more likely to encounter spellings such as Zwetschge or Zwetsche.
Now is the best time of year to learn the word. Austria’s public health portal says locally grown Zwetschken are available from July through September. In the Tyrolean growing area around Stanz, where the fruit ripens later because of the altitude, harvesting can continue into October.
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What does it mean?
Botanically, it’s a type of plum, usually with an oval shape, blue to violet skin and flesh that separates relatively easily from the stone. Austria’s health portal describes Zwetschken as having firmer flesh and a sweet-sour flavour.
Here, they are often used for cooking and baking.
In Austria, you might encounter Zwetschkenknödel, dumplings filled with whole plums, Zwetschkenröster, a cooked plum compote often served with Kaiserschmarrn, or Zwetschkenfleck, a tray-baked plum cake.
The Austrian Agriculture Ministry also lists those dishes among traditional uses of the Stanzer Zwetschke, a variety grown around Stanz, Grins and Pians in Tyrol.
You may also come across Powidl, the thick plum preserve used in dishes such as Germknödel.
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Why does Austria spell it with a K?
German has several regional forms of this word.
Duden lists Zwetschke, Zwetsche and Zwetschge as related forms, while specifically identifying Zwetschke as particularly Austrian. So if you learnt Zwetschge in Germany and suddenly start seeing an extra K on Austrian market signs, it isn’t a typo.
The word itself is very old. It can be traced through Middle High German and Romance forms back to the Late Latin damascena, referring to plums associated with Damascus.
Der, die or das?
It’s die Zwetschke.
The plural is die Zwetschken.
And that plural is worth remembering because you’ll often see it in compound words such as Zwetschkenknödel, Zwetschkenröster and Zwetschkenkuchen.
Use it like this:
Ich habe am Markt ein Kilo Zwetschken gekauft.
I bought a kilo of plums at the market.
Zum Kaiserschmarrn gibt es Zwetschkenröster.
The Kaiserschmarrn comes with plum compote.
Die Zwetschken sind jetzt reif.
The plums are ripe now.
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