Ethnic Desserts!

May 24, 2007

ctnow.com

Five places to embark on a worldwide tour of sweet cuisine with treats hailing from Germany, Mexico, Poland, France and Thailand.

East Side Restaurant
131 Dwight St., New Britain
860-223-1188, eastsiderestaurant.com
Apple Strudel: Dessert $5.50; a la mode $2.25

Gemütlichkeit is one of those German words that is extremely difficult to describe in English. It's a quaintness, a coziness, a sense of well-being one felt in the presence of good music, good drink, good conversation and good food. It's a vibe Germans strive for in their day-to-day lives, and a sensation I came to love when I lived in Heidelberg for eight months last year.

When I stepped foot into East Side Restaurant, it was like stepping into a true Bavarian pub, with dark wood trim, dim lighting and rustic décor. Sensing the gemütlichkeit, I knew I was in store for an authentic German dining experience. If any doubt remained, it was erased by a glance at the menu. East Side offers all the best German foods - wurst, sauerkraut, potato pancakes, wiener schnitzel, beer and schnapps.

But one thing was missing. Where were the desserts? I flagged down my waitress. Her smile set me at ease as she momentarily disappeared and returned with an intricately painted wooden paddle holding East Side's display of delectable sweets. And there I saw it, the object of my desire: Apple Strudel.

This traditional treat seems to be a rarity in the States, mainly due to its complex preparation. Pastry dough rolled to the thinness of a single sheet of paper is filled with tender apples and raisins and spiced with cinnamon. The mixture, placed on one end of the delicate dough, is then rolled over again and again to create a long tube. The tube is baked and served warm, alone or with ice cream.

East Side's Strudel was everything I'd hoped it could be. The crisp pastry came coated in a dusting of powdered sugar. The texture of the apples and raisins was perfect, with just enough cinnamon to enhance their flavors without being overbearing. The fresh vanilla ice cream melted against the warm pastry to create a silky smooth contrast to the flaky texture in my mouth. It was gemütlichkeit.

-- MICHELLE MARINELLI PRINDLE

RuBab's Creperie and Café
110 Albany Turnpike Suite 921, Canton
860-693-7770, www.rubabs.com
Nutella Crepe with Strawberries $6.95

My deep love for crepes started because of my French housemates. They made the traditional dish any chance they could- someone's birthday, last day of classes, a Tuesday night. Either way, I was spoiled crazy with the thin-cooked pancake. Now that I don't have my own personal French chef living with me anymore, I'm forced to find my favorite dessert elsewhere. And I have found it - at RuBab's Creperie and Café.

This quaint Canton restaurant features bright yellow and purple walls and a menu entirely devoted to the ever-popular French specialty. The options include steak in a crepe, salads with crepes on the side, even a Lobster wrapped in a crepe. But today, I was in the mood for something sweet and my eyes led me straight to the dessert section. My pick: Nutella Crepe with strawberries.

Rolled up in Nutella and topped with fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce, and confectionary sugar, I could barely wait to dig right in. The chocolate hazelnut spread melted into my warm crepe, making this one rich and mouth-watering dessert. The crepe was deliciously decadent, I had no trouble finishing the entire plate.

As much as I enjoy RuBab's, I am secretly thankful that it's not that close to my house.

-- RENEE TRAYNOR

Belvedere Polish Delicatessen
122 Prospect Hill Rd (Sofia's Plaza), East Windsor
860-654-0008
Sernik (Polish cheesecake) $1.95 per slice

Considering some of my best friends are of the Polish persuasion, you'd think my knowledge of the cuisine would go way beyond kielbasa and pierogies. No such luck. That's why I jumped at the chance to see how the Poles, known for their hearty, heavy meat-and-potatoes fare, treat dessert.

Belvedere is nothing short of a Polish superstore. Before you make your way to the deli counter, you pass racks and racks of imported candies, toiletries, packaged foods, spices, toys and various other sundries from Eastern Europe. My friend, the daughter of two Polish immigrants, left with an armload of Mother's Day presents.

Since I couldn't read any of the labels on the packages, I went right for the tray of sernik, traditional Polish cheesecake. A layered pastry similar in appearance to tiramisu, the sernik looked creamy and delicious. The dessert was indeed incredibly rich -- but unlike any other cheesecake I'd ever sampled. It's made with fresh European cheese, studded with raisins and enrobed in a crumbly golden crust. It's definitely not New York style (it's actually a little on the dry side, so order some coffee or milk to go with it).

My friend, who's never tasted her native cuisine anywhere but from her mother's kitchen, took one bite of the sernik and pronounced it completely authentic. So if you're looking for Polish home cooking like your matka and babci used to make, Belvedere is your place.

--LEEANNE GRIFFIN

Agave Grill
100 Allyn Street, Hartford
(860) 882-1557, www.agavehartford.com
Churros with Dulce de Leche, $4.75

If all the desserts south of the border are this good, then I know where I'm heading on my next vacation.

Thankfully, you don't have to travel much further than the Agave Grill in downtown Hartford to enjoy these sinfully delicious Mexican-style donuts filled with rich, sweet raspberry filling and brushed with powdered sugar. The Churros are enjoyable enough all on their own, but when dunked in the warmed caramel sauce that accompanies them, these scrumptious little morsels are like little deep fried chunks of heaven. Mmmmm.

The only real warning I could give about the churros, other than that you won't be able to eat just one, is that you should be careful when first biting into them. They are served up fresh from the deep fryer and the raspberry filling can still be very, very hot.

If the churros don't sound like your thing, Agave serves a handful of other Mexican desserts, including Vanilla Flan with fresh mangos and Banana Chimchangas with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

-- DAVE MORAN

Lemon Grass Restaurant
7 South Main Street, West Hartford
860-233-4405
Mango sorbet, $3

After a spicy Thai curry meal, the perfect conclusion is the sweet, gentle taste of a tropical dessert. A mango sorbet offers a flavorful balance to the fiery entrees, in a similar way that rice pudding can offset fiercely hot dishes on a Indian menu.

You don't need to wait until your next lunch of masaman chicken or shrimp panang to enjoy mango sorbet, though. It's a vibrantly tropical treat, so it's a fantastic stand-alone dessert, especially during the warm-weather months.

At Lemon Grass, you get a generous dish of sorbet in a deep gold-orange color that doesn't come from any dyes. It's the same shade seen on a tropical fruit platters in Hawaii or Costa Rica, and the taste is almost as breath-takingly fresh. The first few spoonfuls might come across as slightly tangy; see if it doesn't seem markedly sweeter by the time you're halfway through.

Lemon Grass also offers a wonderfully creamy coconut ice cream, along with the more exotic ginger or green tea ice creams. But mango sorbet is richer and more distinctive, partly because mango is such a sharp flavor and partly because sorbet has no milk to alter the taste. The comparison is even stronger against raspberry or strawberry ice creams; mango sorbet is far closer to the raw taste of the fruit itself. That makes sense, since it's mostly pure mango puree. And that means the taste truly does bring images of ocean surf, and of hammocks strung between fruit trees near sunny beaches.

-- DON STACOM

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