The poppy seed roll is a pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread (a sweet roll) with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced walnuts, or minced chestnuts.
The dough is made of flour, sugar, egg yolk, milk or sour cream and butter, and yeast.[2] The dough may be flavored with lemon or orange zest or rum. The poppy seed filling[3] may contain ground poppy seeds, raisins, butter or milk, sugar or honey, rum and vanilla. Sometimes apricot jam, which is one of the most popular jams used in Hungarian cuisine, is substituted for sugar. There is another similar dish called walnut roll or nut roll, which contains a filling of ground walnuts and sugar, optionally enriched with raisins, rum, butter or milk and/or lemon zest. This filling may be spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove or vanilla.[4]
The dough is at first quite heavy, stiff and dry, but with kneading and resting becomes very elastic and strong. It is rolled out into a large sheet, thick or thin depending on taste. One aesthetic principle is that the dough and filling layers should be of equal thickness. Another is that more layers are better. The filling is spread over the dough, which is then rolled into a long cylinder or log. Traditional recipes usually involve brushing the log with the egg white left over from the yolk used in the dough. The unbaked log is gently transferred to a sheet pan, left to rest, then baked until golden brown.
Other recipes use different washes before baking, or a glaze or icing added after.
Variants
The poppy seed filling is a paste of ground poppy seeds, milk, butter, sugar and/or honey, often with additional flavorings such as lemon zest and juice.[2] It may have raisins.[5] The walnut filling is a paste of ground walnuts, milk, butter, sugar, often with additional flavorings such as coffee or orange zest.[2]
A very long roll may be bent so that it fits on a baking sheet; the result is called a patkó (Hungarian: horseshoe) in Hungarian. Before baking, the roll may be given a wash of milk. The roll can be finished with a glaze or icing, made of powdered sugar and lemon juice. It is typically presented sliced.
In Hungarian cuisine, the rolls, one with each filling, are served together. The combination is known as mákos és diós (poppy seed and walnut). However, in some English language cookbooks there may be no mention of the walnut filling as an alternative.[6] Some other food writers combine the poppy seeds and walnuts together in one filling.[7] As a new trend, a chestnut-filled variant (gesztenyés bejgli) is emerging,[where?] mainly among younger urban families.[citation needed]
In Poland, poppy seed rolls, known as makowiec, typically contain an array of additives to the fillings, such as rum-soaked raisins, dried plums & apricots, chopped almonds & walnuts and candied peel. Makowiec are almost always decorated with an icing sugar glaze, often topped with chopped nuts and poppy seeds. It is also common for some poppy seed fillings to be sweetened with fruit jams, such as plum or apricot, most notably in Czech (makový závin) and Slovak (makovník) variants of the dessert. Due to intermingling of Polish and Czech culture, immigrants to America sometimes use the term "Kolache" to describe it.[citation needed]
Among eastern Slavic countries, poppy seed rolls are typically quite elaborate. In Russian cuisine, poppy seed filling is often used to prepare a variety of intricate pastries, with dough being braided and woven into several unique shapes. Instead of a glaze, these rolls are usually covered in a dense egg wash and melted butter to produce a soft and spongy final product, known as rulet s makom. In Ukraine, the poppy seed roll's (makivnyk) filling is usually made through combining ground sweetened poppy seeds with whipped egg white meringue to produce a silky and smooth texture.
Poppy seed rolls in the Balkans, known in Croatian and Bosnian as makovnjača and in Serbian as štrudla sa makom, typically contain fewer flavouring additives than poppy seed rolls in central-east Europe. Some regional recipes from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will call for pouring dried ground poppy seeds mixed with sugar straight onto the dough, drizzling some milk over the seeds to ensure the filling is not too dry.
In Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, poppy seed paste (mohn in Yiddish) is a common filling in desserts, often featured in both leavened and unleavened recipes. Many Jewish communities from throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Israel and diaspora will use this paste to prepare babka, a braided, open-faced version of the poppy seed roll.
A similar Armenian pastry is nazook (also spelled nazuk or nazouk, Armenian Նազուկ, Persian نازوک), made from flour, butter, sugar, sour cream, yeast, vanilla extract and eggs, with a filling often of chopped nuts, and especially walnuts. Nazook is sometimes referred to as gata.
Nokul or lokum is a type of puff pastry made in Turkey and Bulgaria, with variations. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which feta-style white cheese, walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions, and baked.[8] Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread.
Hungarian or Magyar cuisine is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the spiciest cuisine in Europe. This can largely be attributed to the use of their piquant native spice, Hungarian paprika, in many of their dishes. A mild version of the spice, Hungarian sweet paprika, is commonly used as an alternative. Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, bread, and dairy products.
Austrian cuisine consists of many different local or regional cuisines. In addition to Viennese cuisine, which is predominantly based on the cooking traditions of the Habsburg Empire, there are independent regional traditions in all the states of Austria.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
A hamantash is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן, meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.
Strudel is a type of layered pastry with a filling that is usually sweet, but savoury fillings are also common. It became popular in the 18th century throughout the Habsburg Empire. Strudel is part of Austrian cuisine and German cuisine but is also common in other Central European cuisines. In Italy it is recognized as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of South Tyrol.
Kifli, kiflice, kifle, or kipferl is a traditional yeast bread roll that is rolled and formed into a crescent before baking.
Slovak cuisine varies slightly from region to region across Slovakia. It was influenced by the traditional cuisine of its neighbours and it influenced them as well. The origins of traditional Slovak cuisine can be traced to times when the majority of the population lived self-sufficiently in villages, with very limited food imports and exports and with no modern means of food preservation or processing.
Nokul or lokum is a type of puff pastry from the Turkish cuisine. It is common in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey and the Turkish-minority areas of Bulgaria with variations. Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which feta-style white cheese, walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions, and baked.
A nut roll is a pastry consisting of a sweet yeast dough that is rolled out very thin, spread with a nut paste made from ground nuts and a sweetener like honey, then rolled up into a log shape. This 'log' is either left long and straight or is often bent into a horseshoe shape, egg washed, baked, and then sliced crosswise. Nut rolls resemble a jelly roll but usually with more layers of dough and filling, and resemble strudels but with fewer and less delicate dough layers. Fillings commonly have as their main ingredient ground walnuts or poppy seeds.
Cozonac or Kozunak is a sweet yeast dough that can be used to make different traditional holiday breads and cakes. Often mixed with raisins, it can be baked as a loaf or rolled out with fillings like poppy seed or walnuts. It is common throughout Southeastern Europe in countries such as Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece. Rich in eggs, milk and butter, it is usually prepared for Easter in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and in Romania and Moldova it is also traditional for Good Friday, in a simplified version with vegan ingredients, without eggs or milk - named Cozonac de post - to be eaten by Christians during lent. The name comes from the Bulgarian word for hair-коса/kosa, or Greek: κοσωνάκι, romanized: kosōnáki, a diminutive form of κοσώνα, kosṓna.
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant. The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, especially in Central Europe and South Asia, where it is legally grown, used in food products and sold in shops. The seeds are used whole or ground into meal as an ingredient in many foods – especially in pastry and bread – and they are pressed to yield poppyseed oil.
Kürtőskalács is a spit cake specific to Hungarians from Transylvania, more specifically the Székelys. Originally popular in the Székely Land, it became popular in both Hungary and Romania. The first written record dates back to 1679 and was found in the village of Úzdiszentpéter, while the first recipe appears in a manuscript cookbook dated in 1781. Earlier a festive treat, now it is part of everyday consumption. A similar pastry to kürtőskalács is Baumstriezel, originating in the Transylvanian Saxon communities.
A Franzbrötchen is a small, sweet pastry baked with butter and cinnamon, similar to a cinnamon roll. Sometimes other ingredients are used as well, such as chocolate or raisins. It is a type of pastry commonly found in northern Germany, especially Hamburg, and it is usually served for breakfast, but is also enjoyed along with coffee and cake. As its name indicates, the Franzbrötchen was probably inspired by French pastries. Originally, it could be found only in the region of Hamburg, but now Franzbrötchen are also sold in Bremen, Berlin, and other German cities.
Međimurska gibanica(pronounced[mɛdʑǐmuːrska'ɡibaŋitsa]; Međimurian layer cake) is a type of gibanica or layer cake originating from Međimurje County, Croatia. It is made of puff pastry and four fillings: nuts, fresh cheese, poppy seeds and apples, as well as of many additional ingredients. It is a traditional dish, especially popular in Northern Croatia, rich in flavour and full of calories, a delicacy which is an integral component of Croatian cuisine.
Poppy seed paste, also known as mák or mohn, is a common ingredient in Central and Eastern European cuisine It is made from ground poppy seeds and additional sweeteners.
References
↑ June Meyers Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes Cookbook
1 2 3 Dorcas Guild of the Magyar United Church of Christ, ed. (1960). Hungarian recipes. Elyria, Ohio. p.44.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ "Mákos bejgli" (in Hungarian). Konyhamester.hu. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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