PITTSBURGH’S GREAT NUT ROLL BAKE-OFF
During its heyday in the 1970s and ‘80s, the Pittsburgh Folk Festival was a pretty popular event.
First organized in 1956, the annual celebration of the region’s diverse ethnic heritage drew thousands over the course of a weekend to venues like Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, for music, dance, crafts and food.
It was like a quick trip around the world, without the hassle or expense of paying for an airline ticket.
Yet as succeeding generations of the participating ethnic communities grew up and moved away, it slowly fell out of favor. In 2016, the festival fell off the map completely.
“As the groups got older, there was nobody to replace them,” laments Connie Miskis Zatek, a South Side resident of Slovak-Lithuanian descent who has been with the festival since the beginning, along with her husband, Paul, who’s mostly Slovak. “The energy and excitement we had isn’t there for the younger ones.”
Which is why she and her daughter, Ondrejana Zatek-Hill, have come up with a novel idea of holding a nut roll throwdown on Oct. 26 to help the festival get back on its feet.
Every culture has a version of the sweet, nut-filled pastry served at special occasions like weddings, Christmas, Easter, church activities and other national holidays, says Mrs. Zatek. So the women figured, why not use that shared food tradition as a draw, and have a friendly competition to see who does it best?
People tend to think of nut rolls as an Eastern European dessert. “But we found that lots of nationalities make similar things using different nuts,” she says. Germans, for example, often drizzle their rolls with icing like strudel, while in the Philippines, bakers use a much softer dough. “And the Greeks have baklava,” she notes.
The contest, dubbed “Rollin’ Around the ‘Burgh With Nutz N’at,” kicks off the festival’s “Our Roots” program, which aims to promote the many cultural identities of Pittsburgh’s immigrant ancestors, as well as preserve them.
The folk festival started more than 60 years ago with 17 nationality groups. But three-days events take a lot of resources and money that can be difficult to sustain, Mrs. Zatek says. So when planning how to bring together all the various costumed dancers, singers and international kitchens representing countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, organizers decided to go small.
The free event will be held at the Carpatho-Rusyn Society hall (915 Dixon St.) in Munhall, and run from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Organizers are hoping to entice not just multiculturalists but also the growing number of people eager to trace their heritage through genealogy sites like Ancestry.com and do-ityourself DNA testing.
“We’re starting at the bottom and growing up,” says Ms. Zatek-Hill of Carrick.
While nut roll recipes vary from region to region, along with their names — they’re called orechovnik in Slovak, makowiec in Polish, povitica in Croatian and banitsa in Bulgarian — they all demand the same core ingredients and technique. Nut rolls are made with a soft yeast dough that’s left to rise (sometimes twice) and rolled thin. Walnuts typically are the favored nut for the sweet paste filling. Also, as the name implies, the filled dough must be rolled into logs and baked. When sliced, they reveal swirls of nuts.
Some make the dough with sour cream for added tenderness; others add raisins or dried cranberries to the filling or stir in chocolate for extra sweetness.
With that in mind, here are the rules for the contest, which anyone can enter by submitting an entry form, which is available on Facebook, a written copy of the recipe and a $5 non-refundable entry fee for each nut roll to be judged. Entries sent by mail must be postmarked by Saturday. People also can enter the contest on Oct. 26.
First and foremost, the recipe must include nuts. Whether they’re almonds, pecans, walnuts or some other variety, or a combination of, is up to you. (And no, poppy seed is not a nut.)
Second, all food items must be homemade, fully baked and ready to cut and serve to the judges. You can go traditional with your babcia’s recipe, or take a chance with one that’s outside the box.
Being an event to celebrate one’s heritage, contestants must also provide the recipe’s backstory in 2,000 characters or less (around 400 words) — say, thoughts on the person who inspired it, a favorite memory behind the recipe, or how the nut roll became a family tradition.
Pittsburgh is famous for its nut rolls (Saveur magazine posted a recipe and video for a Pittsburgh-Style Nut Roll on its website in November 2016) and so competition is expected to be stiff for the judges, who will include WQED-TV personality Rick Sebak and Katharine Eagan Kelleman, CEO of the Port Authority.
Mrs. Zatek will be entering a traditional nut roll she has perfected over the years using her great-grandmother’s recipe, while her husband, who was elected as president of the Pittsburgh Folk Festival last December, is seeking to win the title with his mother’s recipe, which he has been baking for years for events at his parish, Prince of Peace on the South Side.
On Oct. 26 between 10 and 11 a.m., entrants must submit two 14-inch nut rolls, or the equivalent of 24 individual servings, along with a an index card that states the contestant’s name, name of the food item, category and whether they’re entering the junior (ages 15 and under) or senior category. (Items requiring refrigeration must be clearly labeled.)
Winners will be announced between 1 and 2 p.m., and take home a $50 cash award. In addition to bragging rights, they’ll also receive a golden rolling pin.
The fest also will include a handful of local artists, craftsmen, a bake sale, coffee and tea from around the world, live entertainment and an egg decorating demonstration.
“We are still a work in progress,” says Mrs. Zatek, “but we’re hoping to pack the doors,” and eventually make the festival as big and great as it used to be.