Bienenstich II

Bienenstich
Das Bratwurst Haus, $4.99

Opened about 3 years ago by a former American GI and his German wife, Das Bratwursthaus is Yuma's one-stop shop for Bavarian specialties--whether edible or collectible.  When the Haus closes down for summer, the owners head back to Germany to stock up on wine, beer, decorative nutcrackers, and souvenir tea towels. 
 
The umlaut-heavy menu offers full meals as well as a roster of schmankerl or Bavarian snacks.  Desserts include both daily specials and old standbys such as strudel, schwarzwalder kirschtorte (black forest cake), cheesecake, and karrotten kuchen.  I had my eye on the unfamiliar donauwelle (yellow cake topped with chocolate cake and cherries, covered with German butter cream and chocolate glaze) but sadly, this labor-intensive torte only appears on special occasions.  Instead, I opted for bienenstich (a 15th century "bee sting" cake with layers of yeasted pastry, cream, and sliced almonds) and followed the dirndl-clad waitress' suggestion that I enjoy my dessert in the Bavarian manner:  warm and washed down with beer. 

Das Bratwurst Haus
204 S Madison Ave
Yuma AZ
928 / 329-4777

Churro

Churro
Tacos Mi Rancho, $1.50 

It's not certain where the Spanish and Portuguese got the idea for churros, but they certainly took the treat with them wherever they went.  Found today throughout the Americas and the Philippines, most churros are made by extruding soft dough through a star-shaped die into hot oil.  The resulting crisp sticks may be eaten plain, or glazed, sprinkled, or filled with ingredients ranging from cinnamon sugar to fruit paste to cheese.  Often eaten at breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate, a churro hot from the fryer also makes fine end to a good meal.

Tacos Mi Rancho
188 S 4th Ave
Yuma AZ
928 / 783-2116

Makowiec

Makowiec
Seattle Center Polish Festival, $2

From the dozen-plus temptations on the Polish Festival's dessert table, I chose a fat slice of makowiec, a bready roll coiled around poppy seed paste filling as dense and dark as asphalt, topped with slivered almonds pasted down with royal icing. 

Budapest Bistro and Schnitzel House

 
















Cheese Pocket and Almond Cookie (top)
Cheese Strudel (below)
Budapest Bistro and Schnitzel House

Growing up in Hungary in her grandparents' home taught Elizabeth Muszka a particular kind of self-reliance.  Since there wasn't much money to spare on restaurants or fancy ingredients, Elizabeth learned young that in order to eat well, they had to cook well. 

Today the owner of Mukilteo's Budapest Bistro and Schnitzel House specializes in Hungarian, German, and Gypsy dishes--and in cooking well.  Starting with traditional recipes and simple ingredients, Elizabeth lavishes attention on each item. 

The pastry case stuffed with fresh zserbo (apricot-walnut-chocolate pastry), dobos torte (layered sponge with chocolate and caramel), sour cherry cake, German chocolate cake, strudels (below), and cookies (above) is even more of a marvel when you consider that the strudel dough alone takes three hours to make.  

 
















But for ex-pats who hunger for something other than home cooking, Elizabeth also stocks a large selection of packaged European candies and treats (below).   

Budapest Bistro and Schnitzel House
12926 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynwood WA
425/513-9846

Almond Horn

Almond Horn
P.S. Suisse, $2.85

Langley, Washington is not so much small as concentrated:  you could drive in one end and out the other in about 45 seconds, or you could pull over and spend all day exploring bookshops, cafes, spas, boutiques, the world's best-organized thrift store, and, at the far end of a tiny pedestrian mall, the P.S. Suisse bakery.  

Originally from Ligerz in western Switzerland, Peter Boden served a 3-year apprenticeship in Davos then worked as a confectioner and pastry chef in hotels and restaurants around Europe.  After moving to America, he first worked in Illinois, then Michigan, then relocated again to Colorado--as much for the skiing as for the kitchens.  Some of the framed memorabilia on the walls at P.S. Suisse comes from this period, including a feature story on the Vail Grand Marnier Chef's ski race, with a picture of Peter schussing down a slopes in apron and toque.   

After several years as the co-owner of Vail's Alpenrose restaurant (est. 1975), Peter took some time off to concentrate on producing his sought-after chocolate sculptures and paintings...and somehow ended up in Langley, WA, in a tiny shop at the end of a small mall.  I would've liked to ask about that, but the lunch rush crowding the bakery's few tables put a damper on investigation.  

Peter's wife Sandra covers the front of the house, hustling plates and extracting pastries from the crowded cases.  The cookie choices include spitzbuben (or "rascals," two-layer sandwiches with jam filling peeking out through holes in the upper cookie), linzer (similar to spitzbuben but made with hazelnut dough), shortbread Orcas painted with milk or dark chocolate, and almond horns (above) wrought from mildly sweet marzipan dough, dark chocolate, and a glassy sugar-egg-almond glaze.  There are also strudels, tarts, danishes, Napoleons, croissants, and a shelf full of breads.  

As the shop's sole baker and cook, Peter has plenty to do in back.  In addition to keeping the cases and bread rack full and whipping up lunch plates, there are the seasonal specials.  During my visit Peter was hard at work filling orders for Engadin nusstorte, a shortcrust pastry stuffed with walnuts, honey, and cream. A traditional holiday-time treat, the Engadin is named for the valley surrounding St. Moritz and is a soft-spoken reminder of the poverty endured by generations of Swiss villagers; the Engadin recipe probably spread as bakers went further and further afield in search of work.  
 
P.S. Suisse
221 2nd St #12A
Langley, WA
360-221-9434 

 

Tarte Nouveau

 
Cherry Almond Tart
Tarte Nouvean, $4.50

No wheat?  So what!  Shelley Baumgarten whips up combinations of tapioca, rice and other flours for crusts so toothsome you won't even miss the old amber waves.  Her Tarte Nouveau baked goods are certified gluten-free and celiac safe.  The rotating menu features seasonal specials like this cherry almond tart and luxurious year-round favorite flavors such as chocolate, marzipan and mousse.  Order online for free delivery within Seattle or find Tarte Nouveau in booth 23 at the Fremont Street Market, Sundays 10am-5pm.

St Demetrios Greek Festival

Bougatsa
St Demetrios Greek Festival, $5

The organizers of the annual Greek Festival at Seattle's St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church have clearly learned a few things since the festival was first held in 1960.  After fifty-two years, they have celebrating down to a science.  

Entering the festival is like arriving in a foreign country:  exchange some cash for festival tokens and pick up a helpful map.  Get the lay of the land by attending an informative sanctuary tour, then pick up some souvenirs at one of the shops or bookstores.  Having worked up an appetite, chose from sit-down meals in the dining room, beer and snacks at the adults-only tavernas, or coffee and sweets--available by the box from the Agora market or by the piece from the Kafenion. 

The bougatsa (above) is served warm from the oven, highlighting its great interplay of textures:  crinkly phyllo pastry, creamy custard, and crunchy walnuts.  Also available: 

Baklava:  a sweet sandwich of walnuts, cinnamon, and buttered phyllo, soaked in syrup
Bakalava sundae: a new spin on the old favorite, chopped baklava pastry with espresso, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream
Kourambiethes:  butter cookies coated in compacted powdered sugar
Kataifi:  shredded phyllo pastry with walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar
Pasteli: candy made from sesame seeds and honey
Galaktoboureko: semolina custard with crispy buttered phyllo, soaked in orange blossom syrup
Koulouraki: pretty braided butter cookies
Melomakarona:  olive oil cookies flavored with orange, brandy, honey, and walnuts
Loukoumades:  doughnuts with honey and cinnamon

Pan d'Amore

Almond Croissant
Pan d'Amore, $2.75

Founded in 2003, Pan d'Amore is a bakery and tiny storefront in Port Townsend, on the Olympic Peninsula (with other branches in Sequim and Bainbridge Island). The huge range of crusty breads and delicate pastries are visibly rooted in a European tradition, while a "no throw away" policy (breads too stale to eat end up as fodder on area farms) is a more subtle indicator of the bakery's ties to the local community.

Whenever I can't make up my mind at a European-style bakery, I default to the almond croissant. The dozens I've eaten over the years have mostly blurred together, with only a few individuals distinguishing themselves from the pack; the unusually restrained dusting of powdered sugar on top of Pan d'Amore's almond croissant was my first clue that this would be one of those worth remembering. The buttery, crisp skin gave way to layers of chewier but equally rich connective tissue, and then to the seam of almond paste that really set this version apart: housemade from unblanched roasted almonds and that are coarsely ground with just enough sugar, it was a mouthwatering mashup of marzipan and almond butter.

Pan d'Amore
617 Tyler St.
Port Townsend, WA 98368
360-385-1199

Cafe du Monde

Beignets
Cafe du Monde, $2.10/3

Cafe du Monde's original location in New Orleans' French Market sells fresh beignets 24 hours a day. Whether you need something to balance out your morning oatmeal, or--more likely--could use a sobering bedtime snack, Cafe du Monde will supply you with as many deep-fried dough pillows as you require. During the day, the cafe is teeming and boisterous to an almost Disney-esque degree. In the small hours it has the unflattering starkness of an Edward Hopper painting, only with a few more people and a lot more powdered sugar.

St. Joseph's Day

St. Joseph's Day

In many Italian communities, elaborate three-tiered altars are a key feature of St Joseph's Day celebrations. The altars are said to have originated in Sicily when a famine was cut short after prayers to St. Joseph resulted in a life-saving crop of fava beans.

St. Joseph's altars are piled high with a variety of foods including fruit, vegetables, Lent-appropriate fish, and dried favas. Because Joseph is the patron saint of pastry chefs, baked goods feature prominently: breads shaped like crosses or carpenters' tools (even the crumbs of which are considered to have the power to avert certain disasters), pastries resembling sacrificial lambs, fish, pinecones, or the Mater Dolorosa's sword-skewered heart. In some regions, St. Joseph's celebrants also enjoy zeppole, balls of fried dough topped with buttercream rosettes.

The photo above shows a St. Joseph's altar on display at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, where the tradition arrived with Sicilian immigrants at the end of the 19th century:

"By 1910, forty percent of the population and 90% of the French Quarter was Italian, primarily Sicilian. At that time there were so many altars given in homes and churches that was impossible for one person to visit them all, even in one's own neighborhood. Instead another tradition developed: one could visit nine altars and at the ninth, one would make a wish and it would be granted. It is this thread of petition that runs through the tradition of the altar.

"Some altars are created out of a custom called questua, which means "searching" or "seeking". Instead of buying the ingredients and materials for the altar, one begs for them, further humbling oneself in an act of posverty. This recalls the impoverishment of the starving Sicilians who intially asked for St. Joseph's help. It also reminds the person on the questua of the purpose of the altar: to feed the hungry."

After the foods on the St. Joseph's altar have served their ceremonial purpose, they are distributed to the needy.

Almond Schnecken

Almond Schnecken

Cafe Besalu, $2.75

Standing at Cafe Besalu's counter or sitting at certain tables, you can watch the bakers at work in the open kitchen and marvel at their ability to turn slabs of pale, flabby dough into golden, flaky baked goods.

Besalu's schnecken is a testament to that transformative power. This traditional pastry takes its name from the German word for "snail," but its originators were probably eastern European Ashkenazi Jews. Neither filled nor topped, the almond-scented schnecken nevertheless offers a tantalizing variety of textures: a crisp and airy skin, a tender center of buttery, barely-baked dough, and a pebbled bottom of not-quite-caramelized large-grain sugar.

Cafe Besalu

5909 24th Ave NW

Seattle, WA

206 / 789-1463

Moon Cake

Mini Mooncake
Mon Hei, $1.40


The Chinese Mid-Autumn festival has its roots in an ancient imperial practice of making special offerings to the moon every autumn. In the year 420, the date for observing this festival was set as the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.

Pastries known as "mooncakes" are now so strongly associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival that it is perhaps better known by the name "Mooncake Festival". Friends and family share the rich golden pastries when they gather to admire the moon.

A typical mooncake is round or rectangular, with a pastry crust baked golden and shining with oil. On top there is an embossed design, usually auspicious characters or a commercial logo framed by a decorative border. The most traditional fillings are dense, rich pastes based on ingredients such as lotus seeds, jujube fruit, or red beans. The salted yolk of a hard-boiled duck egg is often baked into the center; when the pastry is sliced open, the yellow yolk appears like the moon emerging from clouds.

Changing tastes and the tradition of giving mooncakes to clients and business associates have spurred ongoing innovation and experimentation. It is now possible to find modern mooncakes made with almost any kind of novel or luxury ingredient, or suitable for any type of dietary restriction.

Like so many sweets that began as special occasion treats, mooncakes are now available year-round. In the the weeks leading up to the Autumn Festival, they seem to be everywhere; a brightly colored mooncake gift bag or box becomes a de rigeur accessory in certain parts of town. I bypassed the glitzier mass-produced and packaged mooncakes in favor of Mon Hei, the oldest Chinese bakery in Seattle's International District. At Mon Hei, several sizes of mooncake are availble with either lotus seed or bean paste filling, and either eggless or with up to 3 yolks inside.

Setsuko Pastry

Green Tea and Cream Mochi

Setsuko Pastry, from $3

For two years, Osaka native Setsuko Tanaka has been supplying Seattle with the sort of Japanese-inflected French pastries that have become so popular in Japan (as well as in France). When she moved to Seattle 6 years ago, Tanaka hungered for treats she couldn't find: fresh Japanese sweets, light French desserts, and something in-between.  Having studied wagashi and pastry in Japan, Tanaka began to make the sweets she craved.  Gradually, her hobby became a new career.  

The featured sweet for March provides a great introduction to Setsuko Pastry's products.  The green tea and cream mochi (pictured above) is a delicate hybrid of East and West, old and new.  The mochi gets its verdant color from a generous amount of green tea, while the red bean paste filling is lightened by a non-traditional layer of whipped cream; the finishing touch is a preserved cherry blossom.  Like all Setsuko pastries, the green tea and cream mochi is fresh, made from scratch, and free of preservatives.  

The dessert platter pictured below displays some of the other items on Setsuko's menu:  a Mont Blanc topped with red bean paste and pureed candied French chestnuts, a green tea "rare" cheesecake, a syrup garnish made from a dark Japanese sugar, the green tea mochi, and two rounds of black sesame shortbread.

Setsuko pastries are currently available at Shun, Village Sushi, Issian, Kozue, Root Table, and the Panama Hotel.  Contact Tanaka via her website to be notified of monthly specials.  She also accepts special orders for birthday and wedding cakes, with vegan options available. 

Setsuko Pastry
206/816-0348

Hungry for more?  Check other food- and travel-related posts over at Wanderfood Wednesday. 

Banh Choux Creme

Banh Choux Creme

Than Brothers, free with entree

I will never get used to sitting down for a big spicy bowl of pho and receiving a cream puff as an appetizer.

I understand why a French pastry is featured in a Vietnamese restaurant (colonialism and confectionery); I understand why Than Brothers uses the "free cream puff" gimmick to stand apart from other pho joints (confectionery and competition). But why do they bring the cream puff first? Do choux and custard really prep your stomach for broth, tripe, and tendons?

Galaktoboureko

Galaktoboureko
The Continental, $3.50

Although its name is a simple amalgam of the Greek word for milk and the Turkish word for pie, galaktoboureko is a real mouthful--so much so that a friend of mine who married into a Greek family has given up trying to pronounce it correctly, asking instead for second helpings of "galactic booty call."

Like a Maria Luisa, galaktoboureko is essentially a custard sandwich, two wisps of flimsy phyllo pastry bookending a dense slab of eggy custard (which in the "portokali" variant is infused with orange). While the custard and pastry layers of a napoleon are cooked separately, galaktoboureko is cooked all at once, resulting in more robust texture. Before serving, the pastry is soaked in plain or citrus-scented simple syrup.

At the Continental, galactoboureko is baked once a week and is available from Thursday to Saturday, or until it runs out. I prefer it in the first day or two, before it absorbs too much of the syrup.

The Continental

4549 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

206/632-4700‎

La Boulangerie

Tarte Normande

La Boulangerie, $4.50

The need for carbohydrate comfort first steered me into La Boulangerie several years ago, when a movie I was desperate to see at the theater across the street sold out just as I got to the ticket window. Fast forward to now and I can't remember the name of the movie, but I can recall every bite of my consolation treat, a meltingly tender and spicy baked apple encased in a buttery croissant--a chausson au pomme.

Today, the knowledge that a chausson was waiting just down the street got me through a routine physical with a smile on my face. Sadly, by the time I got to La Boulangerie, my chausson had gone home with somebody else--probably while I was still reading a tattered Popular Mechanic in the doctor's waiting room. Although it was once a much larger business, La Boulangerie is currently a one-man show, and patchy selection is perhaps inevitable. Owner/baker/barista Xon N. Luong fires up the ovens at 5am daily (except Monday when the shop is closed and Luong allows himself to sleep as late as he likes), but things can and do sell out. (Some online reviewers have also reported inconsistent service and cleanliness, but I've never experienced these issues myself).

Scanning the cases for a chausson substitute I couldn't for the life of me remember: is it tarte tatin that I like....or tarte Normande?

Turns out it's not tarte Normande ($4.50). A beautiful thing with a crenellated crust and a filleted apple fanned out on top like a hand of cards, it was as golden as an ingot--but nearly as dense, weighed down by almond paste and a gummy glaze. It was just too heavy for my tastes, in terms of both texture and flavor.

A buoyant and balanced almond croissant ($2.70) was just the opposite, teetering between flavors and textures like a master tightrope walker. The crisp exterior cracked into shards (not that dust that just blows away when you try to eat it), tethered together by the chewier inner layers. The sweetness of the perfectly-proportioned almond paste seam was enhanced by the salted butter in the pastry.

As ephemeral as they are, Luong's pastries are also reminders of the enduring, widespread, and oddly quotidian ripples that emanate from political conflict. Chaussons, tartes, and croissants all belong to a culinary tradition introduced to Luong's native Vietnam in the 19th century under French colonial rule. Luong himself picked up the skills at age 13, when his father died suddenly, leaving Luong in charge of the family bakery. Although he has had many other occupations, baking helped Luong to cope with the upheavals of the Vietnam war and his later relocation to Seattle, where he has been baking (and telling fascinating true stories) at La Boulangerie since 1995.

La Boulangerie
2200 N 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103-6904
206/634-2211

The Hungarian Bakery

Cherry Cheese Strudel
The Hungarian Bakery, $6 with coffee

My application to graduate school at Columbia University was motivated in no small part by visions of spending my free time at the Hungarian Bakery, a popular neighborhood coffee shop. It's the kind of place that seems smoky, even though it isn't. Bespectacled strangers splitting rickety little tables pound on laptops or pore over dense texts in the dim light. Even on a sunny summer day, the Hungarian Bakery has the kind of lighting that makes everyone look earnest and interesting; with snow falling outside it could be a scene from the university quarter of any northern European capital. If they take place at all, conversations are kept to murmur and held in mysteriously sybillant foreign tongues; the bathroom's regularly repainted walls soon sprout fresh crops of conceptual or erudite graffitti in at least a dozen different languages--dead as well as living.

Every time I visit, that foreign feeling is reinforced by need to relearn the Hungarian Bakery ropes. First I hem and haw over the bakery case, trying to match the unnamed occupants to their descriptions on the wall. I ogle the list of fancy coffee concoctions and wonder whether it's possible to get a simple drip (it is). After placing my order with one of the tall, exotic, and rather detached waitresses, I guess at which bill to remove from my wallet (no prices are posted) and hold it out like a friendly handshake; when no one takes the money or even acknowledges it (pay as you leave), I try to conjure it back into my pocket unseen. Since I no longer seem to have any business at the counter, I stumble into the dark recesses, looking for an empty chair, or--mother lode!--an unclaimed table. I murmur apologies and act cool until an exotic waitress bearing plates calls out my order and I flail my arm like a second-grade know-it-all. Then it's back to acting cool, with pastry in one hand and note-scribbling pen in the other.

And the pastry? Good enough to keep me coming back, not so great that I get stuck and have the same thing every time. This time I chose the cherry cheese strudel. A heavy helping of tofu-like cheese overbalanced the thin seam of cherry pie filling and the even thinner tissue of flaky pastry, but the solid, simple taste was a pleasant foil for my bottomless cup of hot, dark coffee (serve-yourself refills available from the pot by the register--but don' t count on anyone to tell you that).

Fasnachts

Fasnacht/Fastnacht/Faschnacht/Fausnach/Fauschnaut/Fosnacht
Weiss, $4.49/12

Many Christian communities the world over spend the Tuesday before Lent eating and/or drinking themselves silly. Foods associated with Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras are generally heavy on sugar, eggs, milk, and fats--luxurious ingredients that shouldn't be eaten during Lent itself, but wouldn't keep for forty days. Cake and pancakes are typical fare, but in Pennsylvania-Dutch country, the Tuesday before Lent is Fasnacht Day, dedicated to the consumption of outrageously fatty holeless doughnuts of yeasted flour and potato dough.

It seems like a good omen that I should find myself in Kutztown, PA, on a day dedicated to pastry. Promisingly, the neighborhood convenience store sells fasnachts supplied by (in the clerk's words) "an old lady", but they are also fried in lard--a substance I have trouble eating unless I have no idea I'm doing so. They also sell out before 9am on Fasnacht Day, thus saving sleepy-headed me the trouble of making a difficult decision.

The local supermarket had a huge fasnacht display, including 6-packs and 12-packs, jelly-filled, glazed, and powdered. The box of "Old Fashion Fastnachts" was emblazoned with a day-glo orange sticker reading, "Get to know what good is", which firmly clinched my decision.

The fasnachts were golden-brown, dimpled, and as greasy as a bike chain; sugar was far down on the list of ingredients, just behind potatoes and well behind vegetable shortening. My friend Janna, a PA native, taught me to toast them carefully (the grease catches fire easily) and slather them with jam (in a cursory nod to nutrition I added a schmear of plain yogurt). The hot, crisp fasnachts were sinfully delicious, and substantial enough to cling to one's ribs for a full 40 days and nights.

Gata

Gata
Old Country Bakery, $3.99/loaf

Tucked away in a white-bread strip mall in east Bellevue, the Old Country Bakery serves up a delicious and ethnically diverse range of European baked goods. The bakery has been in business for about 10 years, and under its current Armenian management for about a year and a half.

Seeing me frozen in gluttonous bewilderment in front of the rack of sweet breads, the cashier helpfully suggested the Gata, a top-selling Armenian loaf shaped something like a seat cushion. She described the filling as "vanilla cream" but when I tore in I found that the soft, eggy bread was actually stuffed with a delirious approximation of snickerdoodle dough--heady with vanilla, as dense as Play-Doh, and gritty with raw sugar.

Somehow I managed not to eat it all at once, and even shared a piece with my second-in-command, who usually takes an infuriatingly take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards sweets. His reaction: "And why did you not buy four of these?"

I also picked up an enormous chocolate Napoleon for $2, another difficult choice with fruit danishes, meringues, bundt cake, and three distinct styles of Baklava (traditional, Iranian, and Armenian) on offer. Thanks to a first-timer coupon available from their website, I also took home a loaf on the house (the "Georgian", below right, a huge round bread with an amusing orifice).

Old Country Bakery
900 160th Ave. NE #3
Bellevue, WA 98008
866/523-8169

Open daily, 8 to 8.