Learning the culture
I can only imagine when my father took his young English bride back to Czechoslovakia after WWII, she surely wasn’t able to cook and bake in the fashion he was used to. His mother must have taken her under her wing, teaching her the fi ne art of Czech cooking and the science of Czech baking. I remember well growing up, when traditional Czech apple strudel was being made - there was a major preparation of the kitchen. An old thin table cloth was pulled out, laid over the table, then the dough was delicately stretched to the full size of the kitchen table; which took a fair bit of time to stretch out, trying not to get the dough to thin and causing a hole, which would only grow in size as you continued to stretch out the dough, which at best was paper thin. All the other ingredients: apples, raisins, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and streusel are mixed together, then you spread out the filling evenly over the dough. From here you very carefully begin to flip the dough over and over with the cloth until it is rolled up capturing all the ingredients inside. Now you position the strudel on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes then brush with butter. After cooling, you dust with icing sugar. My mother passed this recipe along to my wife, who has since passed it along to our youngest daughter, Natasha, each one having a slight variation. When Donna was operating the coffee bar at Ministikwan Lake she regularly made strudel for her customers. It was such a big hit that she was often requested to bake another if she ran out. Little did they know Donna always soaked her ingredients in apple liquor, providing an extra boost. The coffee bar was operating during the years when the Christie reunion was still held at Ministikwan Lake. Patsy and Roger Edgar were a part of the Christie clan. Roger grew fond of Donna’s strudel no matter the time of day. If I recall correctly it wasn’t uncommon to see Roger sitting up on the half log bar stool fi rst thing in the morning with a healthy piece of strudel topped with real whipping cream, chasing it with some fresh ground coffee. Unfortunately for Roger, he was called up a little before his time. I recall his healthy spirit and great sense of humour - he made everyone around him comfortable. On his last trip to Ministikwan Lake, Roger’s only request was Donna’s apple strudel, which he enjoyed at the bar along with good conversation. It makes one wonder when life is closing in on us, it’s the simple pleasures which mean the most and comfort you. |
