Hungarian Retes – Strudels or Rétes Tészta (Part II)

Hungarian Retes 

Strudels

(Part II)

One of the keys to light, flaky Hungarian strudel dough is the flour. In Hungary, special flour is sold specifically for strudel, but of course this isn't available everywhere. My mother recalls as a little girl having to go to the flour mill to ask for a specific grade of flour – depending on what her mother wanted to bake. For strudel – you need hard wheat flour. It has the gluten consistency necessary for the stretching that yields the thin papery pastry. As an alternative, look for flour that is finely ground and contains a high level of gluten. Bread and pastry flour work well. If you're in North America, try to get flour from Manitoba, as it tends to contains a very high gluten content. The gluten here really is essential. This cannot be stressed enough.  But, having said all that, you can use all-purpose flour with acceptable results.

If you are a pastry connoisseur, this is definitely a recipe to try from scratch. The instructions here present the ingredients in the order you'll actually use them when you put the strudel together, but it is easiest to prepare the fillings before you start the dough. That way you can fill the dough immediately after stretching it, so it won't have a chance to become dry and brittle. (Important Note to the Aspiring Chef: The traditional method of making strudel dough is a fair amount of work. If you are shy about preparing strudel from scratch, not to worry. Use a package of Phyllo dough instead. It can be readily purchased from grocer’s freezer pastry section. The end results are virtually the same. Just follow directions on package. )

Strudel Dough Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour

(or hard wheat flour

if accessible)

2 cups sour cream

2 teaspoon vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

4 egg yolks

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 cup warm water

1 lb Crisco, melted

In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients except the shortening.  Knead dough consistently for about ½ hour to get the gluten going.  Dough should be light and very smooth.  Cover – let rest 1 hour in a moderately warm area.

Strudel Stretching Stage:  After the dough is well-rested, prepare your work surface. Spread a clean linen table cloth evenly on a large table and dust lightly with flour.  Place the dough in the centre of table and gently starting stretching it by using the back of your hands, placing them underneath the large mass of dough.  Start working your way around the table.  Continue the even stretching until you reach a ⅛” thickness. Then, spread the melted Crisco shortening using a pasty brush over the entire surface.  Use light strokes being careful not to tear the delicate dough. Cover and let the stretched dough rest for 10 minutes.

Fillings: Place your favourite filling by dotting all over the strudel dough evenly. Hint:  Don’t be tempted to place all the filling at one end of the pastry sheet and roll up.  This will make the log lumpy and the dough will end up thick at one end. (Not a pretty sight or bite.) Then, gently roll up the strudel using the tablecloth to assist. Fit the large rolled log onto a baking sheet. If it’s too large and your cookie sheet is not of adequate size, feel free to curve the log into somewhat of a large “U”. Then, finally, brush the top with Crisco or melted butter.  Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes until flakes start to separate and the strudel is shiny and golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool about 10- 15 minutes before cutting into diagonal 3” pieces using a sharp cerated knife.  Use a gentle sawing motion – without pressure so as not to disturb the fillings.  Place pastry pieces onto a plate and dust generously with icing sugar. If serving creamed custard, spoon over generous dollops and let the hot strudel melt the cream. Or, puddle the custard and set the dessert in the center – dusting with confectioner’s sugar to finish off!

Sweet Strudel Fillings:  Cherry, apple, poppy seed, walnut and cottage cheese and noodles.

Savoury Strudel Fillings: Cabbage, Mushroom or Ham Strudel (savour the possibilities – chicken, asparagus, pan fried onions, spinach, potatoes (oven roasted) ricotta or farmers cheese.

Apple Strudel

Cabbage Strudel

Cottage Cheese Noodles Phyllo Bundles

Cottage Cheese Strudel

Grape Strudel With White Wine Sauce

Ham Strudel

Poppy Seed Strudel

Potato Strudel

Rice Pudding Strudel

Sour Cherry Strudel

Varga Strudel Cake With Noodles

Walnut Strudel

Wild Mushroom Strudel

For all of the above listed recipes and fillings for the various desserts, please visit our website and own a copy of Helen's Hungarian Heritage Recipes today!

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Hungarian Retes – Strudels or Rétes Tészta

Hungarian Retes – Strudels  or Rétes Tészta

(Part I)

The pride of Hungarian cooks is definitely the Strudel - Rétes Tészta  (pronounced "RAY-tesh"). The dough is folded several times, creating several layers, hence the name. Rétes is the "King" of pastries in Central Europe. Hungarian Rétes is similar to the Vienna Strudel, except it is a bit thinner. Rétes is a Hungarian peasant cake and is used to be a part of every celebration feast in the Hungarian lowlands. Today, it is prepared all over Hungary!

There is a definite family resemblance between Strudel Dough and the Greek Phyllo. The Hungarians first adopted the incredibly thin strudel dough from the Turkish pastry Baklava. This famous dessert is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. Also, Greeks use spinach as well to create their Spanakopita or spinach pie is a Greek savoury pastry in the burek family with a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese.  It is not rolled the same as the strudel - rather folded neatly into a triangular parcel, but the dough preparation is identical. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia. Phyllo of Filo actually means "leaf" in Greek, but according to the food historians, it is of Turkish origin. Countless Turkish dishes have been adopted into Hungary from these people (after all – they did rule the land for 150 years.)  The flakey, flavourful, layered sheets of tissue-thin pastry are simply delicious and can be used in countless savoury and sweet recipes alike. Thank you Turkey!

And, while the German and Austrian varieties tend to be a little heavier and sweeter, Hungarian Strudel is much lighter and flavourful without being overly sugary.  An important note to make is that the traditional Austrian Strudel pastry is different from strudels served in other parts of the world and are often made from Puff Pastry.

“Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels”...taken from the Sound of Music is a very Austrian tradition. To many people, Apple Strudel is the most famous of all strudels as well as the most famous of all Austrian pastries; it has always been closely associated with Vienna in particular. However, we must clarify an important point right from the start - it is generally accepted that the dessert did not originate in Austria at all. So, the origins mystery of this fine pastry dough remains unsolved.

The warm, sugar-dusted strudel is often associated with cafés of central Europe. But even after close examination of each of those country’s’ strudel, not one is the same nor are the names consistent. In Hungary it is known as Rétes. In Slovenia as Strudel or Zavitek. Tthe Czechs and Slovaks call it Závin or štrúdl. In Romania it is known as Strudel and finally, the Croatians use a similar name and call it štrudla or Savijača.

History differs on exactly how this Hungarian strudel arrived in Vienna, but the general theory is this: with the departure of the Ottoman invaders (the Ottoman Empire at its height included Vienna), the now unemployed Turkish and Hungarian cooks took their skills and specialties (and certainly strudel was among them) to the kitchens of the Viennese aristocrats in the new Austro-Hungarian empire.

Although the origins of strudel still seem to be fuzzy and many countries would want to lay claim on this delightfully light and versatile pastry, we cannot say with certainly that we have zeroed in on the origins. The key piece of information is that recipes for strudel differ from country to country.  Now, a little research yields the following:  the oldest recipe found dates back to the late 1600’s, a handwritten one at that – and found in Vienna at the city library – The Wiener Stadtbibliothek. From this recipe, the pastry is believed to have its origins in the Byzantine Empire or Middle Eastern pastries. Some guess that the strudel entered Austrian kitchens via Bosnia and Croatia and thus is derived from Börek.  Börek (also called Burek and other variants) is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka (or phyllo). It is often filled with assorted cheeses- feta, sirene or kaşar. Others are filled with minced meat or vegetables. Now these are thought to have been invented in Central Asia by nomadic Turks, it became a popular element of Ottoman cuisine. (Ref: Wikipedia)

We may never solve the mystery fully, but let’s put the origins issues aside and let’s focus on the actual pastry itself – the structure, the creation, the ingredients – shall we?  The traditional Strudel pastry dough is very elastic. It is prepared from flour with a relatively high gluten content, egg, water and butter. The flour is often called by the same name – Strudel Flour (or hard flour). The dough is worked quite vigorously, then rested and finally rolled out and stretched by hand so thinly over a large table covered with a crisp white tea towel, that is resembles paper. I recall reading an anecdote quoting that “...it should be so thin that a newspaper can be read through it.” Legend has it that the Austrian Emperor's perfectionist cook decreed that it should be possible to read a love letter through it. After the dough has been fully stretched, melted butter or fine oil is then brushed across the surface carefully as not to tear the oversized thin sheet. The final preparation is the filling, which can range from sweet fillings like; apples and cherries and walnuts and poppy seeds to farmer’s cottage cheese plump with raisins to the savoury versions with combinations incorporating spinach, cabbage, pumpkin, sauerkraut and meat.  The filling is evenly dotted across the top layer; the dough is then carefully rolled with the help of the tea towel, brushed with more melted butter and then finally baked in the oven to a golden light brown.

The papery thin strudel dough is complemented by a variety of typically Hungarian fillings:

The Hungarians fill the papery thin strudel dough with; tart green apples, tiny black poppy seeds, crunchy walnuts, bright red cherries, ride pudding, sweet noodles, cabbage or farmers cottage or curd cheese dotted with plump raisins and whatever cake or bread crumbs are on hand. The number of different strudel fillings now-a-days, is almost limitless and includes both sweet and savoury fare. The savoury varieties are especially popular among eastern Europeans and in fact were a staple food for the majority at one time in places such as Hungary, Turkey and Greece.

Stay tuned for Part II - where we reveal the real strudel recipes.

For Exciting new Hungarian cooking and recipes -visit http://www.helenshungarianrecipes.com/