A strudel (, ) is a type of layered

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...

with a filling that is usually sweet, but savoury fillings are also common. It became popular in the 18th century throughout the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. Strudel is part of

Austrian cuisine Austrian cuisine () is a style of cuisine native to Austria and composed of influences from Central Europe and throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austrian cuisine is most often associated with Viennese cuisine, but there are signific ...

but is also common in other Central European cuisines. In Italy it is recognized as a traditional agri-food product (PAT) of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

. The oldest strudel recipes (a

Millirahmstrudel The milk-cream strudel (Viennese: ''Millirahmstrudel'', German: ''Milchrahmstrudel'') is a traditional Viennese strudel. It is a popular pastry in Austria and in many countries in Europe that once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867– ...

and a turnip strudel) are from 1696, in a handwritten cookbook at the

Wienbibliothek im Rathaus The Wienbibliothek im Rathaus ( en, Vienna Library in City Hall), formerly known as the ''Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek'' ( en, Vienna City and State Library), is a library and archive containing important documents related to the history of V ...

(formerly Wiener Stadtbibliothek). The pastry descends from similar Near Eastern pastries (see '' baklava'' and ''

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern Eur ...

'').

Etymology

Strudel is an English

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

from German. The word derives from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

word ''Strudel'', which in

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

literally means "

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

" or "

eddy Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

Pastry

The best-known strudels are

apple strudel Apple strudel (german: Apfelstrudel; cz, štrúdl; Yiddish: שטרודל) is a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Northern Italy, Slovenia, and other countries in Europe that once belonged to ...

(Apfelstrudel in German) and Topfenstrudel (with sweet soft

quark cheese Quark or quarg is a type of fresh dairy product made from milk. The milk is soured, usually by adding lactic acid bacteria cultures, and strained once the desired curdling is achieved. It can be classified as fresh acid-set cheese. Tradit ...

, in Austrian German Topfen), followed by the

(milk-cream strudel, Milchrahmstrudel). Other strudel types include

sour cherry ''Prunus cerasus'' (sour cherry, tart cherry, or dwarf cherry) is a species of ''Prunus'' in the subgenus '' Cerasus'' ( cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the sweet cherry (''Prunus avium''), but ...

(''Weichselstrudel''), sweet cherry, nut filled (''Nussstrudel''), apricot strudel, plum strudel, poppy seed strudel (''Mohnstrudel''), rhubarb strudel and

raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...

strudel. There are also savoury strudels incorporating spinach, cabbage,

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, pumpkin, and

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...

, and versions containing meat fillings like the ''Lungenstrudel'' or ''Fleischstrudel''. Traditional strudel pastry differs from

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as ', is a flaky light pastry made from a laminated dough composed of dough (') and butter or other solid fat ('). The butter is put inside the dough (or vice versa), making a ' that is repeatedly folded and rolled out befo ...

in that it is very elastic. It is made from flour with a high

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grai ...

content, water, oil and salt, with no sugar added. The dough is worked vigorously, rested, and then rolled out and stretched by hand very thinly with the help of a clean linen tea towel or kitchen paper. There are numerous techniques for manually pulling strudel dough. One method is to roll the dough thin before laying it over the back of the hands and drawing it thin by pulling the hands apart from one another. Purists say that it should be so thin that you can read a newspaper through it. A legend has it that the Austrian Emperor's perfectionist cook decreed that it should be possible to read a love letter through it. The thin dough is laid out on a tea towel, and the filling is spread on it. The dough with the filling on top is rolled up carefully with the help of the tea towel and baked in the oven.

Apples

Regional apple varieties prevail with choice based on firm to semi-firm texture once baked. Tasting notes are acidic with apple flavor. Varieties include

Belle de Boskoop Belle de Boskoop (also called Goudrenet, Goudreinet or Goudreinnette) is an apple cultivar which originated in Boskoop, Netherlands, where it began as a chance seedling in 1856. Variants include Boskoop red, yellow and green. This rustic apple is ...

, Stayman Winesap,

Gravenstein Gravenstein (Danish: ''Gråsten'', meaning "graystone", after Gråsten Palace) is a triploid apple cultivar that originated in the 17th century or earlier. The fruit has a tart flavor, and it is heavily used as a cooking apple, especially f ...

, Newtown Pippin, Bramley's Seedling, Karmijn de SonNnaville, Zabergau Reinette, Yellow Transparent, Calville Blanc,

Granny Smith The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid ...

, Glockenapfel, Jonagold, Jonathan,

Northern Spy The Northern Spy, also called 'Spy' and 'King', is a cultivar of domesticated apple that originated on the farm of Oliver Chapin in East Bloomfield, New York, in about 1840. It is popular in upstate New York. The Northern Spy was one of four app ...

, and

Rhode Island Greening The 'Rhode Island Greening' is an American apple variety and the official fruit of the state of Rhode Island. History The Rhode Island Greening originated around 1650 near Green's End in Middletown, Rhode Island. The first Greenings were grow ...

Savoury cabbage

Strudel (in Yiddish, שטרודל, pron. ''shtrudl'') in general is also associated with

Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern, Central, Western, Northern, and Southern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western coun ...

, particularly of German, Swiss, and Austrian Ashkenazi Jews. Apple and raisin filling is popular, but cabbage has historically also been used as a filling for a savoury strudel. The cabbage is braised or caramelized with sliced onions and caraway seeds, sometimes with added sugar. Recipes may include chopped walnuts. Cabbage strudel (''káposztás rétes'' in Hungarian) is especially associated with the cuisine of Hungarian Jews. The 19th-century American writer Alice Lee Moqué recorded an encounter with savoury strudel, ordered mistakenly as a dessert, in her account of her travels through Dalmatia (modern-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

), at the Hotel Petka in Gravosa ( Gruz). Assuming "Sprudel" was a type of "German sweetcake", Moqué's travel partner carelessly ordered a "Kraut sprudel", only to find the sweet pie crust was filled with "the most awful mixture" of hot, boiled cabbage. Observant Hungarian Jews would make the dough with oil and serve them for

Simchat Torah Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah (, lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi: ''Simchas Torah'') is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simch ...

and

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

, to match the customary drink imbibed at these celebrations.

Gallery

File:Budapest-2018-12-04-08.jpg, Strudels in Budapest File:Singer Café IMG 3426.JPG, Cherry strudel served with ice cream File:Sweet Passion Bakery Peach Strudel (31394301212).jpg, Peach strudel File:Wiener Apfelstrudel.jpg, Wiener apple strudel

Relation to the @ symbol in Hebrew

In Hebrew colloquial speech, the symbol @ in email addresses is called "shtrudel" (Hebrew: שטרודל), in reference to the spiral form of strudel. The official Hebrew word for the @ symbol also takes its name from strudel: "keruchith" (Hebrew: כרוכית), which refers to the @ symbol, is the Hebrew word for the strudel pastry (as opposed to the German loan word used in colloquial speech).

References

{{Pastries Jewish American cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Austrian cuisine Austrian pastries Croatian cuisine Czech cuisine German cuisine Hungarian desserts Israeli cuisine Jewish baked goods Romanian cuisine Slovak cuisine Slovenian desserts Italian cuisine French cuisine Purim foods