Baking With Ghosts

One can tell the difference in the taste in food that was just thrown together and food that was prepared with love. My Omi was a prime example of the latter, when she cooked for her family. Her gift, however, was honed in service to the Austrian aristocracy. Before she retired and I was born, she mastered her craft as the head cook for the House of Habsburg in the region of Austria that she lived in, Upper Austria - Salzkammergut, which is about an hour east of Salzburg.

The first seven years of my life, my family lived in Austria. During the school year we lived in Vienna so my father could attend university, but during the vacations we stayed with my grandparents in the quaint village of Gruenau im Almtal. The village is storybook, postcard perfect - in a lush, green valley nestled among the majestic, imposing mountains of the Alps.

During the summer vacations, even at the age of four or five, I would be up with the sun, get dressed, run down to the shed, and put my gardening boots on. I loved joining Omi in weeding and watering the garden - and I think this was one of the reasons I was her favorite grandchild - from which we would harvest our food for the day’s meal.

Once the work in the garden was done, we would go in with our edible booty and start preparations for the midday meal, which in Austria is the main meal of the day. Opa expected his lunch at EXACTLY noon - you could literally set a clock by him - followed by one of Omi’s scrumptious desserts.

One of the favorite and most frequently requested desserts was Omi’s apple strudel. It was so good that people as far away as New York and Australia talked about it in tones of obvious admiration. If Opa was home he would be the one to peel - which I would eat, core, and slice the apples while my grandparents bantered and gossiped about the town’s events.

There are two types of strudel dough: “muerbe” which is similar to an apple turnover, and “ausgezogener”, which is more like a phyllo dough. Omi usually made the “ausgezogener”, which is the more difficult and time consuming variety. The dough needs to be painstakingly pulled and stretched until it is thin enough to see the surface below - without tearing a hole into it. Omi said if a young woman could stretch the dough without tearing it she was ready for marriage because of the patience and attention to detail that was required. She also said a woman who cooked out of a can or box wasn’t worth her salt...

Omi has been gone for over a decade now, and I have since become the Omi (my oldest grandchild is turning 8 this year). Every time I prepare a meal - especially a dessert - I can still hear her encouraging voice, almost as though she were in the room with me. Just like her, especially as a homeschool mom, I use cooking to create a sense of community and learning opportunity. It’s a fun and delicious change of pace from book learning and without knowing it the children are practicing planning, reading, math, following directions, AND a foreign language when we make one of my Omi’s recipes. And a beloved tradition is preserved and passed on.

Ausgezogener Apfel Strudel

Dough: 200 grams flour, 2 tbsp. oil, pinch salt, 125 mL lukewarm water

Filling: 500 grams apples, juice of 1 lemon, 60 grams sugar, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 40 grams flour (you can also add 1/2 tsp nutmeg or allspice and/or 1/2 cup chopped nuts or raisins - this will depend on your taste preference).

Extras: melted butter for the pan and the filling, beaten egg white, section of sheet or a pillow case

Preheat: 350*

Directions: In a bowl sift together flour and salt and sprinkle with the oil. Slowly add the water all the while mixing/beating until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Take the dough and knead on a lightly floured surface until it’s a smooth consistency throughout. Brush the surface with oil and set aside for an hour.

In the meantime peel - which now my children and grandchildren relish eating, core, and slice the apples and mix in the lemon juice. Mix together the flour, sugar, and spice(s) and sift over the cut apples. Mix thoroughly.

Now for the fun part! Spread out the sheet or pillow case and dust with flour. Carefully stretch and pull the dough on the sheet until you can see the sheet under it - without tearing it.

Once the dough is stretched sprinkle with melted butter and spread out the prepared filling to within an inch of the edge. Brush beaten egg white along the edge of the dough, which will help to seal the seam. Sprinkle with more melted butter.

Grasp the edge of the sheet and slowly roll up the strudel until a log is formed and then carefully roll-drop into the generously buttered baking dish.

You can add a few curls of butter on top and place in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until the crust is golden brown. When done, brush the top with any juice or remaining melted butter from the pan

...and enjoy a recipe that has withstood the test of time and been enjoyed by multiple generations.

And 15 minutes later...