Strudel

What it is

Strudel, or штрудель, is a roll made from unleavened dough with a filling. The dough is kneaded from flour, water, a pinch of salt, and oil, beaten for a long time, allowed to rest, and then stretched by hand on a floured tablecloth so thin that a pattern can be seen through it.

The dough is brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs, filled with a mixture—most often sour apples with sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, as well as poppy seeds, cheese, or cherries—and rolled into a long roll using the tablecloth. It is baked until golden brown, brushed with butter several times to prevent the dough from drying out.

It is served warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, alongside coffee.

The most common is apple strudel, but in Galicia, it is also baked with poppy seeds, cheese, or cherries. The taste of Lviv's strudels, sachertorte, and pishingers is said by the authors of the magazine 'Ї' to be something that tourists remember better than historical dates.

History and name

Strudel is a signature pastry of Viennese cuisine. Little is known about its origins: the unleavened dough is associated with Balkan, Turkish, or even Byzantine layered products, and it received its German name (Strudel—'whirlpool') in the 18th century. Throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, strudel became a staple: for Hungarians, it is rétes, and for Slovaks, štrúdľa.

Strudel came to Galicia with Austrian urban culture and, along with sachertorte and pishinger, became part of Lviv's cuisine. This is an Austrian heritage of the city, not a mountain dish; in Transcarpathia, the same pastry from Hungarian tradition is called rítés.

Ingredients and allergens

Variant: with apples

Wheat flour250–300 gFor the dough of varenyky, palačinky, bobalyok, and pasky.Contains allergens: gluten

Apples1–1.5 kg sourSour-sweet apples are the most common filling for ritiesh.

Breadcrumbs50–80 gFried breadcrumbs — a topping for hombovtsi.Contains allergens: gluten

Butter100–150 gButter is placed on slices of kulesha, used to grease riplianka, and to fry breadcrumbs for hombovtsi.Contains allergens: milk

Raisins50–100 g, optionalDried grapes for cheesecake, strudel, and Easter cakes; some serve them separately, as not everyone likes raisins in cheese.

Walnuts50–100 g, optionalTopping for bobalyok and palačinky.Contains allergens: tree nuts

Also: water (120–150 ml, warm), sunflower oil (2–3 tbsp), salt (a pinch), sugar (80–150 g), cinnamon (1 tsp), powdered sugar (for sprinkling, to serve)

Contains allergens: gluten, milk
Depending on how it is served, may contain: tree nuts
Diet: vegetarian

Variant: with poppy seeds

wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, poppy seeds, sugar, honey, raisins, butter

Contains allergens: gluten, milk
Diet: vegetarian

Variant: with cheese

wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, curd cheese (tvaroh), eggs, sugar, lemon (zest and juice), raisins, butter

Contains allergens: gluten, milk, eggs
Diet: vegetarian

Ingredients of the traditional recipe; every cook and every place may do it differently — please ask when ordering. We cannot guarantee the absence of allergens or traces.

How it is made

The unleavened dough is made without yeast and almost without sugar: flour is kneaded with warm water, a pinch of salt, and oil, beaten on the table until it becomes smooth and elastic, and allowed to rest under a warm bowl. Then it is first rolled out, and then carefully stretched by hand from underneath on a large tablecloth sprinkled with flour until the dough becomes almost transparent; thick edges are trimmed.

The dough is sprayed with melted butter, sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs, and filled with the mixture. By lifting the tablecloth, a long roll is formed, placed seam-side down on a baking sheet, brushed with butter, and baked in a hot oven until golden brown, brushing it several more times.

Where it is eaten

The area is approximate and based on the sources below. The dish is cooked outside it too, and ethnographic borders are blurred.

Lviv and the Galician towns and villages of Lviv region; urban tradition, not mountain. Austrian heritage.

When it is eaten

Occasions: Everyday food

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