Kolache Koláč Kolach THE CROWN JEWEL OF Tex Spell it how you want — the pride of Central Texas runs deep By Sharon Jayson t’s easy to find a kolache klatch in Central Texas. The soft Icushions of amber-baked yeast dough that surround a sweet or savory filling have a big following in our local communities. Some areas hold festivals paying homage to the popular pastry, including Caldwell, the self-proclaimed “Kolache Capital of Texas.” This year, Caldwell — as it has for 33 years — closed streets after 2 p.m,” she said. LEFT: At the 33rd annual Kolache Festival in to host its Kolache Festival, with live (left), and cousin, Gerald Morton (right). Trish Morton is Morton, a Bluebonnet Electric Caldwell, Trish Morton (center), the owner of a Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative member. music in the air and visitors forming Cooperative member, enlisted her Gamma’s Kitchen in Rockdale, sold most of long lines to taste the bakers’ best. Rockdale siblings, Sheila Davidson and the 315 dozen kolaches she brought. She got ABOVE: Sisters Veronica and Esmeralda Rosales show- “By 1:45 p.m., we were pretty much Kennard Morton, to help in her booth. some help from her sister, Sheila Davidson case a tray of kolaches at Chappell Hill & Deli. done because we had sold out,” said Kolaches are not just a must-eat at Trish Morton, owner of Gamma’s festivals. They pop up at local traditional Czech delicacy once was reserved a rare Old World treat to an everyday pastry with a Kitchen in Rockdale. She started the day throughout Bluebonnet’s service area, for special occasions, such as weddings decidedly Texas twist. with a sizable inventory — 315 dozen many prepared by area residents of and harvest celebrations. Since Czechs Kolache culture can be complicated, starting with kolaches. That’s 3,780 kolaches at just Czech heritage. emigrated in the mid-to-late 1800s to an the spelling. Various versions of the proper spelling one booth. “It’s an early-morning thing. Kolaches’ roots in Texas can be area of Central Texas often referred to as the include the singular koláč (pronounced ko-LAH-ch), People are not going to buy kolaches traced to , where the “Czech Belt,” kolaches transitioned from Continued on page 20B 18 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE November 2017 bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 16 10/9/17 4:52 PM Kolache Koláč Kolach THE CROWN JEWEL OF Czech

Once reserved for special occasions, kolaches — these from Chappell Hill Bakery and Deli in Chappell Hill — CUISINE are now sweet treats for any time. Get some local bakers’ tips and hints, Page 20A.

LEFT: At the 33rd annual Kolache Festival in (left), and cousin, Gerald Morton (right). Trish Morton is Caldwell, Trish Morton (center), the owner of a Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative member. Gamma’s Kitchen in Rockdale, sold most of the 315 dozen kolaches she brought. She got ABOVE: Sisters Veronica and Esmeralda Rosales show- some help from her sister, Sheila Davidson case a tray of kolaches at Chappell Hill Bakery & Deli. traditional Czech delicacy once was reserved a rare Old World treat to an everyday pastry with a for special occasions, such as weddings decidedly Texas twist. Among the many events at Caldwell’s annual Kolache Festival are the eating and harvest celebrations. Since Czechs Kolache culture can be complicated, starting with contests. Here, Sarah Boniol, 9, competes in the girls’ competition. She won, emigrated in the mid-to-late 1800s to an the spelling. Various versions of the proper spelling the first to finish eating three full-size kolaches. area of Central Texas often referred to as the include the singular koláč (pronounced ko-LAH-ch), “Czech Belt,” kolaches transitioned from Continued on page 20B Sarah Beal photos bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop November 2017 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 19

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 17 10/9/17 4:52 PM The sweet center of Texas’ Czech Belt

zech bakeries leave a crumb trail between Dallas, Austin and . Many of the bakeriesC are roadside attractions, with gas, gifts and goodies for high- way travelers and for the locals who need a kolache fix. The Czech Stop in West (15 miles north of Waco on I-35) may be the state’s most well- known kolache shop, but a sampling of some of the best kolache kitchens in Central Texas shows there’s plenty of to go around. Hruska’s Store & Bakery — Sharon Jayson 109 TX 71 in Ellinger A song with the lyric “we’re eating kolaches,” greeted visi- tors at Hruska’s Store & Bakery on a recent sunny Saturday as “accordion cowboy” Chris Rybak performed inside. Since 1995, Teresa James has oper- ated the business started by her maternal grandparents in 1912. “I’ve been baking since age 11,” she said. Over the years, James expand- ed Hruska’s both in physical size and offerings. It now includes a service station and restaurant and sells a variety of gifts. “I come to work at 1 a.m. I start prepping at 2. Then I have a crew come in at 3. We try to have something ready by 5 o’clock in the morning,” James said. “I come to work every day when I’m here and I’m hands on. I make sure it’s done right.” Chappell Hill Bakery & Deli 8900 U.S. 290 E. in Chappell Hill John Kopycinski’s family has been in the area between Brenham and Hempstead since the Nonnie’s Bakery 1870s. The roots of his Chappell Hill Bakery 1601 TX 21 in Caldwell & Deli date to 1963, but the shop didn’t make Nonnie’s Bakery is an unassuming spot kolaches until the 1990s. Using a blend of reci- at a truck stop along TX 21 in Caldwell, pes from both his grandmothers, Kopycinski sharing space in a building next to focuses on the sweet and traditional fillings, in- Rockin' G Oil Company and Papa G’s cluding apple, cream cheese, pineapple, peach, Old Fashioned Burgers. The three busi- cherry, apricot and sometimes blackberry or nesses opened two years ago as a family . venture. “What we’ve found is temperature, humid- Kristin Lazo, who oversees Nonnie’s, ity and techniques all play into it,” Kopycinski said the kolache recipe came from her said. “Everybody is going to have a little differ- grandmother. ent spin on it.” “We’re not Czech, but we’re from the “Our kolache business is Friday to Sunday Snook area (of Burleson County) and have and holiday business. We probably sell up to a lot of Czech friends,” she said. “My dad 1,000 kolaches on weekends,” he said. is Papa G and my mom is Nonnie.”

20 Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE November 2017 bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 18 10/9/17 4:52 PM The sweet center of Texas’ Czech Belt

Tips and hints from some area kolache chefs PHILIP WEIKEL of Weikel’s Bakery in La Grange, a second opening soon in Brenham: “What makes ours unique is all in the dough. It’s how moist and soft it is and how it holds its texture. Some kolaches are drier, but ours are always tender and soft.... It’s what goes into the procedure of making them that makes us unique.... The recipe we use got handed down from my great-grandmother to my mother. … We have stayed true to those old authentic techniques. We still use rolling pins and we do everything by hand.” Kaulton Green, 2, gives careful consideration to his kolache choice from the wide assortment at Weikel’s Bakery in La Grange. Kaulton is from Lake Jackson. TRISH MORTON of Gamma’s Kitchen in Rockdale: Weikel’s Bakery “I got into it because I married into a 2247 TX 71 in La Grange Czech family, so I got my husband’s great- grandmother’s recipe. That’s where I got Six years ago, the original Weikel’s Bakery in La the trick. I never knew you put sour cream Grange was replaced with a larger building that offers in bread dough. I think the reason mine food, gas and gifts. Co-owner Philip Weikel is now are better is because they are very moist…. expanding operations in other spots in Central Texas, Some kolaches are all bread and no filling. If including one slated to open soon in Brenham. Other I’m eating it, I want some filling. I use more locations should open within three years. than a teaspoon of filling for mine. Another Weikel’s Czech roots come from his great-grand- thing I do is after I bake and cool them, I mother. wrap them in Saran Wrap and that locks “My great-grandmother came over from Czechoslo- in the moisture. I leave them wrapped up. vakia and brought the kolache recipe over,” he said. They freeze well and keep fine for up to six months.” Her all-time favorite kolache flavor “My mom took that recipe and molded it for what we is blueberry cream cheese. do here today. It’s not the ingredients. It’s the process that makes it so special.” JOHN KOPYCINSKI of Chappell Hill Bakery & Deli in Chappell Hill: “I make the dough myself. It’s not simple. Making kolaches is an art that you have Nonnie’s Bakery to experiment with. It’s a lot of trial and 1601 TX 21 in Caldwell error. It takes patience. Everything affects the flavor — the hardness, minerals Nonnie’s Bakery is an unassuming spot and pH of the water, the milk, the at a truck stop along TX 21 in Caldwell, temperatures, the freshness and type of sharing space in a building next to yeast. Even the flour varies from year to Rockin' G Oil Company and Papa G’s year. The flour used today is very different Old Fashioned Burgers. The three busi- from 30, 40 or 50 years ago.... Our nesses opened two years ago as a family kolaches have a very light sweet, yeasty, venture. salty taste. My mother and grandmother Kristin Lazo, who oversees Nonnie’s, had some different versions of kolaches. said the kolache recipe came from her Everybody’s grandma liked different versions, and recipes and tastes. They grandmother. used to have to keep the yeast alive and “We’re not Czech, but we’re from the that was really hard. Our recipe has been Snook area (of Burleson County) and have handed down over the years through a lot of Czech friends,” she said. “My dad word of mouth.” is Papa G and my mom is Nonnie.” Sarah Beal photos — Lisa Maher bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop November 2017 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 20A

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 19 10/9/17 4:52 PM Continued from page 19 the plural koláče, and, more commonly, kolach, kolache or kolaches. Clinton Machann, a Texas A&M University English professor who retired in May, is an author and expert on Czechs in Texas. He said the traditional pastry is “a circular tart made of a special double- risen dough whose center is topped or filled with a sweet sauce made of poppy seed, cottage cheese, prunes, peaches or When is a kolache another fruit.” But Texas versions have not a kolache? several ingredients, he said, including Purists argue that that’s not different kinds of meats and cheeses, a kolache above, but rather a almost any kind of fruit or sweetener, and klobasnek, usually stuffed with many other spices, including jalapeño. sausage, and sometimes cheese, “You can get almost any flavor of potato and even jalapeño. That kolach,” Machann said. “These are not round, flat decorated pastry, exactly original from the homeland.” top right, is from the have, “let’s say, extended the Republic where it is also known boundaries of what a kolache is,” he as a kolache. In that country, it’s added. usually made for special occa- sions. Below that is another type In Tex-Czech cuisine, the savory and of kolache in a photo from the the sweet co-exist somewhat peacefully, Czech Embassy in Washington, largely branded as kolaches by D.C. It is smaller and flatter than shops or quick-food chains. However, the most Texas-style kolaches. meat-filled versions of the pastries that are similar to sausage rolls or pigs-in-a- blanket are not kolaches, Czech experts emphatically agree. Those with meat are food to being a .” cheese. Angelica opted for the sausage, undoubtedly klobasnek, a kolache cousin. While kolaches are definitely familiar jalapeno and cheese. But with no To be a true kolache purist, one must fare in Central Texas and have pockets allegiance to a vendor, how did they look east to the homeland. of fans in some scattered spots around choose? “In general, koláče are filled with plum the country, (there’s a kolache bakery in “We’re following the long lines,” she butter, cheese or cream cheese, Brooklyn) the kolache hasn’t reached said. n ground poppy seed boiled in milk, stewed trendy-food status. apple or pear jam or ground nut filling,” Maybe that’s just as well. Dawn said Pavla Velickinova, a spokesperson Orsak, a Texas Czech and food expert, BELOW: Kolache Fest first-timers Angelica and Marcus White came from for the Embassy of the in said the kolache is a symbol of Czech College Station to Caldwell to try many Washington, D.C. (Quark — or farmer’s identity and is considered “the poster different types of pastries. — cheese is a creamy unripened cheese child of Czech food.” But, she said, it is a Sarah Beal photo made in eastern Europe). regional specialty in Texas and not even Although she would likely get an available in all parts of the state. argument from Central Texas Czechs, You can travel to Texas’ western Velickinova said, “The variation which reaches and not find one of the pastries. is in Texas doesn’t have much in They are “kolache-free zones,” she said. common with koláče, even though it’s Texas leads the nation in the number called kolaches. It’s more like a bun,” of Czech descendents, followed by Velickinova said. Nebraska, but official counts are difficult In different regions of the old country, to come by, Velickinova said. The many koláče vary in size and shape. Some Czech communities in Texas prompted are flat, like pizza, and some served at Hynek Kmoníček, the Czech Republic’s weddings are bite size, with fillings piled ambassador to the United States, to high. visit the state in June. He made stops in “It’s quite a lot of work to make them,” Dallas, West (15 miles north of Waco on Velickinova said. I-35), Temple, Houston and La Grange. Food historian Rachel Laudan, author He was a few months too early to get of the 2013 book “Cuisine and Empire: to Caldwell’s Kolache Festival. And he Cooking in World History,” said kolaches missed out on the multitude of options to have transitioned in our Central Texas sample at this year’s event. Czech culture. First-timers Angelica and Marcus “People still have it at weddings, but White of College Station tried both the it’s not something they only have at sweet and savory (meat-filled) offerings. weddings,” Laudan said. “It’s moved Marcus decided his favorites are cream from being a special occasion festive cheese, poppy seed and cherry cream 20B Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE November 2017 bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 20 10/9/17 4:52 PM Ready to make your own kolaches?

e went to the experts, the folks at the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange, for their recommendations Won top-notch kolache recipes. They diplomatically didn’t want to spotlight just one recipe, but directed us to “Generation to Generation,” a cookbook they sell in their bookstore. The book is full of foods, customs and Texas-style Czech traditions. The Cul- tural Center just celebrated its annual Heritage Fest & Muziky event in October, but its Christmas Open House & Gala is slated for Dec. 2. Get more infor- mation about the event and the center at czechtexas. org or call 888-785-4500. The cookbook has plenty of kolache recipes, along with photos of the 4-hour-long process (there’s a lot of dough rising and kneading to be done). Here’s a good recipe to get you started (from Pg. This cookbook, from the 120 of the cookbook, which was compiled by the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, Dallas-based Historical Society of the Czech Club). La Grange, has lots of kolache recipes.

SEE MORE RECIPES, SHARE YOURS Kolaches inch apart on greased pans. Brush kolaches with melted butter, cover We’ve put a few other recipes from the 3 pkgs. dry yeast with a cloth and let rise until light. cookbook online at bluebonnet.coop (Click ½ cup warm water About 1 hour. on the Texas Co-op Power icon on our 1 teaspoon sugar home page, then the link to recipes in the 2 sticks butter While waiting for your kolache November issue). ¾ cup sugar dough to rise, prepare your filling If you're willing to share with other 3 egg yolks and topping. Bluebonnet members, please send us your 2 ¾ cups milk (scald and cool to family kolache recipe (and the story that lukewarm, 115 ° to 120 °) APRICOT FILLING goes with it). Email it to Lisa Ogle at 7 ¼ cups flour (more or less) 1 10-oz package dried apricots [email protected], or mail it to 3 teaspoons salt 1 ½ or 2 cups sugar her at P.O. Box 729, Bastrop, TX 78602. Dissolve yeast in the ½ cup warm Place apricots in saucepan, add water in a tall glass, sprinkle 1 water to cover. Cook slowly until teaspoon sugar in and set aside. fruit is soft, and water has been cooked down. Mash with potato In a large bowl, cream ¾ cup sugar masher. Add sugar and cook slowly and butter, add egg yolks, salt and uncovered for about 3 to 5 minutes, mix well. Add the dissolved yeast, stirring constantly. Cool. 1 cup flour and mix slowly with electric mixer. POSYPKA (crumbles topping) 1 cup sugar Add the milk and continue adding ½ cup flour as much of the remaining flour ½ teaspoon cinnamon as you can. Mix in with a wooden 2 tablespoons melted butter spoon. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a Mix all ingredients until mixture moderately soft dough. Continue resembles coarse meal. kneading until smooth and elastic, 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Place After kolache dough has risen, use dough in a lightly greased bowl, fingers to make indentations in each turn once to grease surface. Cover; ball, fill with 1 tablespoon apricot let rise until double in bulk, 1 to filling. 1½ hours. Punch down; turn out Sprinkle with crumbles topping, let onto lightly floured surface. Pinch rise again, about 20 minutes. Bake off egg-size portions and roll into at 425° for 10-15 minutes. Brush balls using the palm of your hands kolaches with melted butter as they in a circular motion. Place about 1 come out of the oven.

bluebonnet.coop bluebonnet.coop November 2017 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Texas Co-op Power 20C

BLUEBONNET MAG NOV 2017.indd 21 10/9/17 4:52 PM