Spätzle are a south-
german, or
swabian speciality. The
scraping method is the traditional one, the
oversized garlic press one the most widely used. There is another method, involving a special (but not too expensive) device, a Spätzles-Plane. This looks like a grater for cheese, but with bigger holes that are not sharp. Attached is a square storage thing that's movable back and forth. You put the mix in the top, put the plane above the boiling water and start pushing the moveable part back and forth. The mix drops out at the bottom, resulting in a special form of Spätzle, known as "Bayerische Tropfenform".
The most renowned recipies with Spätzle are Kässpätzle (Spätzle with Cheese) where you stack up the fresh hot Spätzles with Emmentaler (take about half as much cheese as you flour in the mix), and Spätzle mit Linsa und Soitawurscht (Spätzle with lentils and wiener sausages).