During the festival in my town, I was given many different foods to try. The main ingredient in most of these dishes was poppy seeds. I tried lokshe (thin potato pancake) rolled with poppy seeds, strudel (filled with poppy seeds) and many breads (topped with poppy seeds). It was then that I realized how many dishes, sweet or savory, can have this seed!
When I tried trdelnik, I was surprised by how firm the dough was. It was even a little difficult cutting into it. When I took my first bite, I could taste the soft dough, and it had a crunchy and sweet outside. Holding the dough felt like I was holding an onion ring, a sweet onion ring that is! Overall, I enjoyed the flavor of the pastry and was glad to share it with a few of my friends.
Trying pastries with poppy seeds for the first time was a little strange. I would not have imagined putting poppy seeds in a potato dough or on top of pasta! However, I liked the flavor of the poppies with the dough. It reminded me of eating a pastry with a nut, like almonds or walnuts, just not as crunchy. I was able to try a few filled strudel pastries, and the one filled with poppies was my favorite!
Trdelnik is made from spinning a thin layer of pastry dough into the shape of a cylinder, before being baked over an open fire on a roller named "trdlo." While spinning on the rod, it is coated in egg and covered with ground walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds.
