The Jewel of Austria: Apfelstrudel - Daniel

The Jewel of Austria: Apfelstrudel

by Daniel

        "I have no truck with lettuce, cabbage, and similar chlorophyll. Any dietitian will tell you that a running foot of apple strudel contains four times the vitamins of a bushel of beans" (Perelman). This is how the famous food scientist S.J. Perelman describes the Apfelstrudel. It is simply amazing that an Apfelstrudel that is barely a pound can have 4 times the vitamins than a 24-pound bushel of beans. If you want a high-quality, tasty, and versatile food with an interesting history, you should choose a delightful pastry: the Apfelstrudel.

        Apfelstrudels taste good because of their high-quality ingredients and the clever techniques to make the Apfelstrudel. The Apfelstrudel’s ingredients consist of raisins dipped in rum, fresh butter, ground almonds, breadcrumbs, eggs, sugar, flour, salt, water, cinnamon, and apples (Strudel and Schnitzel). Traditional Austrian techniques to make the strudel like tossing the strudel dough up in the air help make the strudel dough thinner and tastier (DW Food). Also, the apples are crisp, sour, acidic, and are cut thinly. These are the kind of apples you want to use to make Apfelstrudel because this would make the strudel crunchy and delicious (DW Food). High-quality and clever techniques make the Apfelstrudel tastier; these are the main reasons the Apfelstrudel tastes so good, and why you should try it.

        You should eat the Apfelstrudel because of its versatility. It can be eaten as a dessert, as well as a snack, for lunch, or even dinner. It is a perfect dessert because it is crispy and mildly sweet. An Apfelstrudel is also a good snack because of its crunchy core of apples. In Austria, people even eat the Apfelstrudel with soup for lunch or dinner (DW Food). Because people eat it for many occasions, the Apfelstrudel is one of the most famous pastries of Vienna, and maybe Austria (DW Food). The strudel has enough versatility to be eaten as a dessert, a snack, lunch, or even dinner.

        You should also eat Apfelstrudels because they have a long and interesting history. The earliest recipes of the Apfelstrudel date all the way back to 1696 (DW Food). The Sieges of Vienna led by Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent resulted in a total Ottoman defeat, but one of the other results was that the baklava, a famous Ottoman royal pastry, was introduced to the Austrians (Weird History). The Austrians learned some of the techniques that Turkish bakers used to make the baklava and used some of those techniques to make the Apfelstrudel (Weird History). This long history resulted in the birth of one of the most famous Viennese pastries: the modern Apfelstrudel. Eating the Apfelstrudel feels like travelling back in time; so why not travel back in time today?Apple StrudelTurkish Baklava

        However, some people do not like the strudel because the dough is too thick. The reason is simple. The further you are from Central Europe, where Austria is, the further the recipe is from the traditional way of making the strudel (DW Food). In other variants of the strudel around the globe, the dough could be too thick, but if you make it according to the original recipe from Austria, the dough would not be too thick. The strudel dough is crispy and thin so there will be a slim chance that people would groan about it being too thick. So, I encourage you to try the original recipe of the Apfelstrudel so that the dough wouldn’t be so thick.

        The Apfelstrudel is a good food because of its high-quality and tasty ingredients, techniques, incredible versatility, and its interesting history. I encourage you to try a replenishing Apfelstrudel today!

Works Cited

DW Food. (2021, April 28). The Secret Behind How Original Viennese Apple Strudel Is Made | Food Secrets Ep. 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzc2xfnk6wo

Strudel & Schnitzel – Enjoy the Taste of Austria. (2019, August 27). Apple strudel | Apfelstrudel | Original Austrian Recipe. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvD5tb1BIc.

Weird History. (2020, June 12). How a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Dined. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGKrKJ1iKtg.