The poppy seed roll is a
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 ...
consisting of a roll of sweet
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
bread (a
viennoiserie
''Viennoiseries'' (, "things of Vienna") are baked goods made from a yeast- leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients (particularly eggs, butter, milk, cream and sugar), which give them a richer, ...
) with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of
poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s, or minced
chestnuts.
It is popular in
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
and parts of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, where it is commonly eaten at
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
and
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
time.
It is traditional in several cuisines, including
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(''makowiec''),
Kashubian (''makówc''),
Hungarian (''mákos bejgli''
[June Meyers Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes Cookbook]),
Slovak (''makovník''),
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
(''makový závin''),
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
(''Mohnbeugel'', ''Mohnstrudel'' or ''Mohnstriezel''),
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
(''
pyrih z makom'' пирiг з маком or ''makivnyk'' маківник),
Belarusian (''makavy rulet'' макавы рулет),
Bosnian,
Croatian and
Serbian (''makovnjača'' or ''štrudla sa makom''),
Slovenian
Slovene or Slovenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe
* Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia
* Slovenes
The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...
(''makova
potica
Slovenian potica ( sl, Slovenska potica) is a nut roll and a traditional festive pastry from Slovenia.
The name of potica is distinctly Slovenian and developed etymologically from earlier Slovenian forms such as povitica, povtica, potvitsa. This ...
''),
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
(''coarda cu mac'' or ''coarda cu nucă''),
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
(''rulet s makom'' рулет с маком),
Lithuanian (''aguonų vyniotinis''),
Latvian (''magonmaizite''),
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 ...
(''Mohnstrudel''),
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
(''wienerbrød'', or Vienna bread), and Yiddish (mohn roll).
Ingredients
The dough is made of flour, sugar, egg yolk, milk or sour cream and butter, and yeast.
The dough may be flavored with
lemon or orange zest or rum. The poppy seed filling may contain ground poppy seeds, raisins, butter or milk, sugar or honey, rum and
vanilla
Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia'').
Pollination is required to make the p ...
. Sometimes apricot jam, which is one of the most popular jams used in Hungarian cuisine, is substituted for sugar. The walnut roll filling contains raisins, rum, butter or milk, lemon rind and chopped walnuts. This filling may be spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove or vanilla.
The dough is at first quite heavy, stiff and dry, but with kneading and resting becomes very elastic and strong. It is rolled out into a large sheet, thick or thin depending on taste. One aesthetic principle is that the dough and filling layers should be of equal thickness. Another is that more layers are better. The filling is spread over the dough, which is then rolled into a long cylinder or log. Traditional recipes usually involve brushing the log with the egg white left over from the yolk used in the dough. The unbaked log is gently transferred to a sheet pan, left to rise, then baked until golden brown.
Other recipes use different washes before baking, or a glaze or icing added after.
Variants
The poppy seed filling is a paste of ground poppy seeds,
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...
,
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
,
sugar and/or
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, often with additional flavorings such as lemon
zest
Zest may refer to:
Common usage
* Zest (ingredient), the outer peel of a citrus fruit
** Zester, a tool for preparing zest
** Twist (cocktail garnish), a piece of zest
* Zest (positive psychology), a component of character
Brands
* Zest (brand ...
and juice.
It may have
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 ...
s.
The walnut filling is a paste of ground walnuts, milk, butter, sugar, often with additional flavorings such as
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
or
orange zest, and may also have raisins.
A very long roll may be bent so that it fits on a baking sheet; the result is called a ''patkó'' ( hu, horseshoe) in Hungarian. Before baking, the roll may be given a wash of milk. The roll can be finished with a
glaze or icing, made of
powdered sugar
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, p ...
and
lemon juice
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culina ...
. It is typically presented sliced.
In Hungarian cuisine, the rolls, one with each filling, are served together. The combination is known as ''mákos és
diós'' (poppy seed and walnut). However, in some English language cookbooks there may be no mention of the walnut filling as an alternative. Some other food writers combine the poppy seeds and walnuts together in one filling.
Due to intermingling of Polish and Czech culture, immigrants to America sometimes use the term "Kolache" to describe it.
As a new trend, a chestnut-filled variant (gesztenyés bejgli) is emerging, mainly among younger urban families.
A similar Armenian pastry is
nazook
Nazook (also spelled nazuk or nazouk, Armenian ''Նազուկ'') is the name of an Armenian pastry made from flour, butter, sugar, sour cream, yeast, vanilla extract and eggs, with a filling often made with nuts, and especially walnuts. Nazook ...
(also spelled nazuk or nazouk, Armenian Նազուկ, Persian نازوک), made from flour, butter, sugar, sour cream, yeast, vanilla extract and eggs, with a filling often of chopped nuts, and especially walnuts. Nazook is sometimes referred to as gata.
Nokul
Nokul or lokum is a type of puff pastry. Nokul is a type of pastry eaten in Turkey and Bulgaria with variations. Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which feta-style whi ...
or lokum is a type of
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 ...
made in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, with variations. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which
feta
Feta ( el, φέτα, ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it ...
-style white cheese, walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions, and baked.
Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread.
See also
*
Mohnstrudel (poppy seed strudel)
**
Nut roll
A nut roll is a pastry consisting of a sweet yeast dough (usually using milk) that is rolled out very thin, spread with a nut paste made from ground nuts and a sweetener like honey, then rolled up into a log shape. This 'log' is either left lon ...
*
Cozonac
, region = Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova
, creator =
, course = Dessert
, type = Yeast cake
, served =
, main_ingredient = Wheat flour, butter, milk,eggs,sugar,yeas ...
*
Hamantash
A hamantash (pl. ''hamantashen''; also spelled ''hamantasch'', ''hamantaschen''; yi, המן־טאַש ''homentash'', pl. ''homentashn'', 'Haman pockets') is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry, associated with the Jewish holiday ...
*
Kolacz
*
List of desserts
A dessert is typically the sweet course that, after the entrée and main course, concludes a meal in the culture of many countries, particularly Western culture. The course usually consists of sweet foods, but may include other items. The word ...
*
Lokum
*
Tsoureki
Tsoureki ( el, τσουρέκι) also known as ''Šurēk'' (, Arabic), ''choreg'' or "chorek" ( Armenian չորեկ, կաթնահունց), ''çörək'' (Azerbaijani), ''çyrek'' ( Albanian), ''kozunak'' ( Bulgarian козунак), ''cozonac'' (R ...
*
Croissant
A croissant is a buttery, flaky, Austrian viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape, the dough is layered wi ...
References
External links
Recipe: Hungarian BeigliRecipe: Croatian ''makovnjača''
{{pastries
Christmas food
Easter food
Hungarian desserts
Lithuanian desserts
Pastries with poppy seeds
Polish desserts
Czech cuisine
Silesian cuisine
Slavic cuisine