Kolaches?

Last night, courtesy of Pssst Express, I had the chance to sample some kolaches imported from Texas. A treat and a half!

It's been a year since I've asked, has anyone found any kolaches locally?

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[slew]

How about Crixa in Berkeley?

They list a plum and custard kolachy...

http://www.crixa.net/

Edit: OOPS! I should've did a search for 'Crixa' before posting this... I am late to the party... :)

[lynndela]

This might be really inauthentic, but . . . sausage kolaches are some of my favorite things in the world. See if you can find a donut/kolache shop run by Cambodians. In Houston, it seems like these shops tend to use a richer bread recipe that I prefer.

[larochelle]

From what I've read & seen, sausage kolaches seem to be a Tex-Czech thing.

[Chuckles the Clone]

Between the time the thread got started and the time it was resurrected, a
kolache shop opened, struggled, and died on Milvia Street in Berkeley.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/39731
While they were not good at all, they were very true to the Texas model
which, in my experience, is also not good at all. A hot dog or smuckers jam
wrapped in a poppin' fresh roll isn't good no matter where you get it.

[larochelle]

Them's some strong words. It would be interesting to know where you have had kolache and what kind. While I have had bad kolache in Texas, I have had plenty good kolache. Personally, I find the kolache at Czech Stop in West to be...well...nasty, yet have met people that swear by them.

And the "hot dog" comment is particularly bizzare since most of the old Czech, German, Bavarian communities throughout Texas are renowned for their unique sausages. I have multiple relatives that plan their roadtrips so they can got through particular towns while the local dressing, meat, sausage facility is open - particularly Elgin and West as well as towns around San Marcos.

[Chuckles the Clone]

>>where you have had kolache

Is the Czech Stop the really obvious one with the big sign right at the exit? With all the quaint charm of a Kwik-E-Mart attached to a gas station? Because in fact it -is- a Kwik-E-Mart attached to a gas station? That one. Most of the time but with the occasional foray deeper into town.

When I was briefly living out there I'd occasionally make the drive between Houston and Dallas and if I was with anybody they'd invariably want to make the long and unsatisfying detour to West.

I think what really bothers me is the difference between how good they could be and how good they are. They're a nice stand-alone example of the twin dismal American habits of first: taking something really delicious and manufacturing it in the cheapest way possible using the worst industrial ingredients, and second: not noticing.

Talking with a Texan friend last night, he assures me that I'm mistaken about the hot dog comment. If I had one of those what I was eating was another ubiquitous Texas treat: the piggie-in-a-blanket. Which is a generic hot dog wrapped in a generic pre-made frozen crescent roll. And if that's what I was eating it should have been labeled as such. At the Czech Stop, it's labeled "kolache".

Last fall, I stopped at a place just outside Johnson City which looked like a new instance of some franchise operation. Same sense that I was eating extruded, formed Sysco product. If a place is going to make it out here selling these things, they'll need to take a step past Texas to the actual European roots, find some good traditional tasty recipes, and make them well. Maybe that's what Crixa is doing? I doubt she's going to expand much, though.

[Tbird1980]

Zamykal uses all fresh ingredients. Try one and you will throw rocks at West.

[Tbird1980]

Am from Texas and ran across your posting while looking up kolaches. Thought you may have imported my favorites but didn't see a name. Do you remember where they are from? If you are looking to import again, I would like to rec Zamykal Kolaches from Calvert, TX. They are authentic and that is so hard to find. I have been having them sent to Dallas for a few years now. They have a website so you can order with ease! Old World flavors and cool Gourmet flavors as well. Good luck on your kolache hunt!

[grayelf]

I had never heard of kolaches (kolachies? kolachyes?) until a store opened up here selling them expressly and they became a bit of an obsession. If you are ever in Vancouver, check them out. I'd love to know if they are "authentic." Here's a link to their website's contact page... the home page seems to be acting up a bit...

http://www.kolachy.com/contact_us_kol...

[larochelle]

Wow, those don't look anything like the kolache I grew up eating. I've never had eggs in a kolache? Or Apple & cheddar!

Regardless of filling, to me the most defining aspect of a kolache is the dough - its white, soft & lightly sweet and the "artisan bread" described and photographed on that site doesn't look right (if your benchmark are the kolache of West, Texas).

That's not to say your Vancouver kolache are not Good Eats.

[beezusia]

Whoa--definitely not Czech-authentic. I'm Czech and from the Czech capital of the U.S. (Cedar Rapids, IA), where we have an annual Kolache Festival, and those are nothing like a kolache. Kolaches are a soft disc with a (generally sweet) filling--kind of like a yeasty thumbprint cookie. The most common flavors are prune, poppy seed, and apricot. I haven't found anything resembling a true kolache out in the Bay Area, or indeed, outside of the Upper Midwest.

[Tbird1980]

Zamykal Kolaches will ship to you from their website on-line. They are just like my Czech grandma used to make!

[larochelle]

I got the kolache mentioned in Melanie's original post from Ole Czech Bakery in West, Texas. West has a number of kolache bakeries but Ole Czech is our family favorite and the ones that I grew up eating. I did West kolache survey as an adult but still favor Ole Czech.

And no, we have still not found great kolache in the Bay Area.

That said, I am not particularly interested in "authentic Czech" kolache since I prefer the Tex-Czech style kolache.

PS - To state the obvious, I posted as Pssst on the old board.

-----
Gerik's Ole Czech Smokehouse
509 W Oak St, West, TX

[rworange]

So are you saying Crixa doesn't do it for you?

[larochelle]

No, I'm not saying that. Crixa may be decent but they haven't had any kolache the times I've gone by.

-----
Crixa Cakes
2748 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA 94703

[wolfe]

Maybe you have to pre-order.
http://www.crixacakes.com/cgi-bin/mt/...

How local is local? Apparently, Little Prague in Davis serves them on Saturdays and Sundays with brunch or will make them by special order. I have NO IDEA how good they are, just did a little googling and a little dialing of the telephone...

Anyone up for a roadtrip?

~TDQ

Link: http://www.littleprague.com/

Here's a post about Little Prague on the California board:

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

Well, now I know what to ask my friend to treat me to when I visit him in Minnesota next month. I just e-mailed him and he said, "They can be found in any bakery in the Twin Cities and I find it odd that anyone has to seek them out." He didn't know what kringles were, but he called his local bakery and they said they had them.

I suppose I'll be on the hunt for them once I return to SF, too. :)

~TDQ

oooo, love kolaches - my husband is of Czech extraction and his bubbe (Cedar Rapids, IA) was famous for them. I have her recipe and tons of other variations from the church cookbook, but not the touch, alas. Last Thanksgiving we had some very close to hers in a kolache only bakery in the Dallas suburb of Allen TX (I'll get the name if anyone's interested).

what is pssst express and where can I get some for Xmas?

Pssst Express was hand-delivery by my generous friend, the poster known as "Pssst". Sorry. These were from Ole Czech Bakery in West, TX, which according to its website linked below does ship.

My previous experience with kolaches was with fruit-filled, just baked ones in New Prague, MN some 7 years ago. Trying the savory ones from TX was a new experience. I liked them better than the fruit ones from the same bakery - ownership of the smokehouse probably has something to do with that. These were still pretty good, reheated a day after baking, although I would fiddle around more with the rewarming protocol to try to add some moisture back.

Hope we can find some around here though!

Link: http://oleczech.com

I inherited the contraption that my husband's Bubbie used to rewarm kolaches, pastries and yeast dumplings (the traditional accompanyment to pork roast) - it is a large-ish, thin metal pot, with a steamer insert with several dime sized holes around the lower 1/3, and a lid. I have never seen anything like it in antique stores or the place on Divisidero that sells old kitchen stuff - but it works like a charm!

I was thinking steaming also. That's how I rewarm most everything.

While we were scarfing down our kolaches (thanks again, Pssst!), I mentioned that a 'netpal of mine in Wisconsin had mentioned another old-world pastry still found in the mid-west: kringles.

However, none of us had the faintest idea what "kringles" were. As part of that other discussion, someone posted some links, which I thought I'd share, in the spirit of yumminess. Anyone know where you can get kringles in the Bay Area?

Link: http://www.ohdanishbakery.com/

Image: http://www.ohdanishbakery.com/images/...

Kringle are soft cookies formed in a figure 8 shape. We've always described them as Norweigian, but they probably are made in multiple Scandinavian countries. Best bet for finding them in the Bay Area would probably be Lutheran church Christmas bazaars, or perhaps the Swedish faire, which I think is this weekend in San Francisco.

Alas, to really have the best version, you'd have to go to my grandmother's house in Ames, Iowa. I have her recipe, but they never taste quite the same. She's probably made thousands in her life time, and can add all of the ingredients by feel, rather than measuring. Ummmmm!

Interesting.

The kringles I've found on line seem to be ring-shaped filled pastries.

Growing up in texas, i have fond memories of the ole czech bakery in West. They were best when you caught them getting a fresh batch out of the bakery in the back. I remember my parents making the trek to West and picking up a few boxes, but they tended to get a little gummy by day three.

how did yours hold up to transportation via pssst?

I have never found an equal here in the Bay Area, but I went to a Polish festival in Portland, OR a few years ago and they had some very good savory kolache's (no fruity ones though, to my chagrin!)

We arrived at Ole Czech on Monday morning at 9:00 am. We got the sausage, cheese & jalapeno as well as the sausage & kraut kolaches straight out of the oven. We ate several while waiting 20 minutes for the cream cheese & peach kolaches to be ready. That said, everything we got was no more than a couple of hours old.

The kolaches were packed in cardboard boxes and we carried them in a large plastic bag onto the plane. We arrived at home in SF at 9:00 pm Monday evening. We transferred the kolaches to ziplock bags and put them in the fridge.

Ruth & Melanie came over at 7:00pm on Tuesday evening. I reheated the kolaches by putting them on a cookie sheet covered with foil and setting the oven on warm for 30 minutes - probably not the best way to reheat.

Michael mentioned that he made his Tuesday Lunch kolache by microwaving it for 20 seconds (take off the chill) then warming it in the oven for 15 minutes.

I think the meat kolaches survived better than the sweet kolaches.

I will mention that on Thanksgiving Day, my cousin brought kolaches from Czech Stop (which is also in West) and the next day they were inedible so I had been expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised.

But I do argee that nothing can beat eating them fresh in the shop.