National Apple Strudel Day on June 17 has given us an excuse to indulge ourselves with the sweet treat. Apple strudel is a Viennese dessert made from thinly rolled out dough sheets, apples, sugar, and an assortment of spices.
The world-famous dish is enjoyed as both a breakfast item as well as a dessert at night. It is also paired with coffee and tea for evening snack time. It can be accompanied by a generous dollop of whipping cream or a dusting of icing sugar/cinnamon.
While ‘Apfelstrudel,’ as it is called in Austrian, is a sweet dish, it can also be savory when the apple is replaced with spinach, cabbage, or other vegetables and herbs. The word ‘strudel’ comes from German, and it means whirlpool or an eddy.
While the origins of the first National Apple Strudel Day remain unclear, the origins of the dish itself are also somewhat unclear. Many believe that apple strudel is a German dish, but many others consider it Austrian—some going as far as saying that apple strudel is the national dish of the country.
The first written record of dessert exists at ‘Wienbibliothek im Rathaus,’ which is the Vienna Town Hall Library, from 1697. It was during the Austro-Hungarian reign of the eighteenth century in Austria that the dessert really took off with the masses. Yet, the famous apple strudel, according to many scholars, may have originated in Greece or Turkey.
Through historical records, it is believed that apple strudel’s popularity in Europe was the direct result of growing globalization. Trade routes and international travels trace the earliest records of strudel to an Assyrian manuscript from the eighth century B.C. In these papers, the dish is described as a full meal made of puff pastry layers with honey and nuts.
The Mesopotamian kingdoms and the extensive usage of the Silk Road ensured the arrival of the sweet strudel to Greece and Turkey. For Greece, the inspiration led to the creation of ‘güllaç,’ which is a cornstarch pastry with the goodness of pomegranate, rose water, milk, and nuts.
On the other hand, the Turkish came up with ‘baklava,’ which is a multilayered pastry sweet of a variety of nuts like pistachio and peanuts that have been roasted and cooked in a sugary syrup. Both the dishes today are enjoyed in Ramadan, which is the fasting month for Muslims.
Coming back to our equally beloved apple strudel, the dough for the treat is made by repeatedly flogging the dough against a tabletop. As layers start forming, each of the layers is filled with spiced apple slices and nuts. In the traditional recipe, the prepared strudel is shaped into a swirl into the baking container. It is baked until the dough is completely cooked and takes on a golden shade.
