Two Heirloom Recipes from Olgino Unite Sweet and Savory Traditions

Helena Garkava has shared two traditional recipes passed down by Renada Herzen of Olgino. The dishes, strudeli and riebelkuchen, use simple ingredients and a shared dough base. Both recipes serve four people and reflect a long-standing culinary tradition. The dough for both dishes starts with the same mixture: 100 ml buttermilk, 100 ml sour cream, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and 300–500 g flour. Once prepared, it can be shaped for either recipe.

For strudeli, the filling begins with diced potatoes and a chopped onion. These are sautéed, then seasoned with salt and pepper before adding 300 ml of water. The mixture simmers until the potatoes are half-cooked. Meanwhile, the dough is rolled out to ½ cm thickness, brushed with oil, and formed into a log. This is sliced into 1–1.5 cm rounds, which are layered over the potato mixture before baking. Riebelkuchen, an apple crumble cake, starts with 500 g of apple jam spread over rolled-out dough. The topping combines 150 g flour, 100 g sugar, 125 g butter, and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon to create a streusel. This is sprinkled over the jam before baking at 180–200°C (350–390°F) for 20–30 minutes. Both recipes rely on the same versatile dough but result in distinctly different dishes—one savoury, the other sweet.

The shared dough base simplifies preparation for both strudeli and riebelkuchen. Each dish uses accessible ingredients and straightforward steps. These recipes preserve a taste of Olgino’s culinary heritage for home cooks.