POPPY SEED STUDEL
Austrian cuisine was influenced by many different cultures during the time of Austro-Hungarian empire, which Austria once belonged to. Austrian dishes are similar to traditional Turkish and Hungarian dishes. For example, Apple Strudel is one of the national dishes of Austria, and strudel came to Austria from the Turkish via Hungarian cuisine.
Poppy Seed Strudel has Hungarian roots, but it is associated with Austrian cuisine. This dish is usually prepared around Christmas time and New Year’s representing prosperity in the coming year. Poppy seed is a symbol of wealth for Europeans. (Block, 2017). For this recipe, the author suggests refrigerating the strudel for two days, which will make it more flavourful.
Reich wrote this book for her Austrian mother, and her American husband helped translate the recipes since she is not fluent in English. Further, all the photographs of pastries that appear on the coloured pages were prepared by the author.