Strudel

The strudel is considered the heir of the baklava (which means ‘rolled up on itself’), a Byzantine sweet consisting of a wrapping of phyllo dough (made from flour and hot water) with a filling of sugar syrup and dried fruit. In the years of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, when the two powers fought over the dominion of the Hungarian territory, baklava arrived in Hungary (it was 1526), ​​where dried fruit was replaced by apples, typical of the area. In 1699 it entered Vienna – and from there to Germany and South Tyrol – and was renamed ‘strudel’, a German term that simply means ‘vortex’. In Italy strudel is the most popular dessert in South Tyrol area. In pastry shops, bakeries and mountain huts in Trentino, it makes its appearance in September, with the start of the collection of “renette” apples – the most suitable for the filling -, a variety that is characterized by its rust-coloured skin, its light, soft flesh and consistent and aromatic flavour. In the Dolomites, where it is prepared exclusively with local ingredients – apples and mountain butter -, it is always time to taste it: for breakfast, with milk or cappuccino, as a snack, with a cup of tea or a apple juice, and after dinner, to refresh yourself from daily efforts, accompanying it with a splash of whipped cream, a scoop of cream ice cream, a steaming chocolate or even with a glass of Moscato Giallo Passito, a fine South Tyrolean wine with a pleasant aroma of apricot and vanilla. Between Bolzano and Trento the success of this dessert is such that the producers churn out 85000 kg a year.