Sweet T-LV: Kurtosh Hungarian Pastries

By Laura Goldstein
   
     Walking on Bograshov from the beach towards King George scanning the restaurants of Tel Aviv I always linger outside of a small bakery called Kurtosh to smell the aroma of buttery baked goods and look longingly at creme filled pastry that is advertised on the street . Today I succumb to my sweet-tooth  and ventured in to the store to see what they have to offer. What I found was an interesting story and some delectable desserts.

Kurtosh's Pallerina

     The pastry that is displayed on the advertisement on the street is the pallerina. The pallerina, a delicacy from Naples, is a new addition to the bakery. It looks like a cross between a croissant and a cannoli, layered, crispy, and filled with French vanilla creme.  I have heard raving reviews about the pallerina, however it is not what Kurtosh is known for.

The towering kurtosh

       Kurtosh is named after it’s specialty, a particular looking Hungarian pastry. The kurtosh is cylindrical, hollow, and looks like a flaky delicious Tower of Pisa. It is gargantuan so most people share them with a friend. I asked the man behind the counter how they were made. He explained that first the dough is layered around a stick slightly bigger than a rolling pin and then it is cooked in a sort of rotisserie oven. There are ten different flavor combinations available including plain cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla, nutella and cashew, and the popular chocolate and halva. After that explanation I just had to try a kurtosh! 

A kartosh in it's pretty package

     I chose the dulce de leche and coconut kurtosh to take home with me. He handed me the gigantic but nicely wrapped pastry and I thought about how perfect it would be for a unique birthday or hannukah present. 

         Though the specialty at Kurtosh is it’s namesake, they also offer a host of other Hungarian, French, Italian, and Israeli confections.I scanned the rest of the cakes, cookies, and donuts and my eyes set upon a lovely box of multicolor macaroons. I had to try these as well!  The container had four flavors; chocolate, pistachio, coffee, and strawberry.

Kurtosh's Delicate Macaroons

     I left the store with my bag full of goodies and I was excited to share them with my friends in my apartment building. When I arrived, my hands full of sweets, their faces lit  up.

     First we tried the macaroons, they were delicate, flavorful, and would be wonderful paired with a cappuccino. Then I showed them the kurtosh and they looked at it curiously. However, once we started eating it we all enjoyed it immensely. It was fun to eat, the pieces came off in a curly-q’s, the way they were wrapped around the stick before baking. It tasted heavenly, caramelized and crunchy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. The toasted coconut on the outside was a great compliment to the sweet cinnamon roll type pastry.

Kurtosh's Sufganyot (donuts)

      I am so glad that I finally went into Kurtosh to see what it is all about. Now I need go back and try of their other confections. I can't wait for Channukah so I will have an excuse to devour their delicious looking sufganyot!

Kurtosh is kosher (dairy), and located at 39 Bograshov. You can reach them at 03-5280606.