Slice into a flaky strudel and you'll see swirls of featherlight pastry enclosing a filling of colorful fruit or sometimes vegetables. German for "whirlpool," strudel is made up of layers N thin dough rolled into a log around a filling and baked until it turns a crispy golden brown. It is one of those foods that triggers thoughts of home and family. Perhaps that's why Eastern European settlers brought the pastry to the Midwest, where strudel shops abound.
In three strudel towns--Chicago, Cleveland, and New Prague, Minnesota--specialty bakeries and restaurants still make both sweet and savory varieties. "Strudel seems to hook people," says strudel fanatic Linda Griffith, of Cleveland. "It's the memories of special family occasions."
Griffith, a food writer and cookbook author, is constantly on the lookout for sublime strudel experiences, sampling the pastry from bakeries, restaurants, and home kitchens throughout the Midwest. Her favorite is the fresh apple strudel at Schumacher's Hotel in New Prague, Minnesota.
In this quaint town southwest of the Twin Cities, European settlers carved out a life in the New World. But not wit bout strudel, At Schumacher's Hotel, chef John Schumacher's German heritage influences the strudel he serves. "For the best strudel fillings, you have to have fresh ingredients," he says. As much as possible, he uses locally grown apples. "The ideal strudel should have a very light pastry and a very dense filling."
The dish also took hold in Cleveland, where, by the mid-20th century, there were more Hungarian residents than in Budapest. Eventually, the area from central Hay Market to the Buckeye Road district became the heart of the Hungarian community.
Strudel shops abound there, the most famous being Lucy's Sweet Surrender, now owned by Michael Feigenbaum, who also struts his strudel on television's Food Network. "Our Hungarian strudel dough is all done by hand. It takes two people a full working day to make 72 strudels," he says. The bakery offers a range of strudels, including apple and cherry, as well as veggie-based versions. Although the area has become blighted in recent years, Feigenbaum and others are leading the push for urban renewal. Will strudels save the day?
In Chicago, you'll find a number of shops featuring strudel. In the north central Lakeview neighborhood, Dinkel's Bakery has made poppy seed and walnut strudel since 1922, when the bakery was founded by German immigrant Joseph K. Dinkel. Today, great-grandson Norm Dinkel runs the show. "Strudels are a real work of art," Dinkel says. "Each is made by hand, and we bake them in small batches. There's nothing better than a slice warm strudel for breakfast, a snack, or dessert."
