In Austria they are called palatschinke; in Serbia, they are palacinka. No matter the name, they are delicious crepes stuffed with either a sweet or savoury filling. Their origins are Greco-Roman with the first written record of the dish from 350 BCE in a poem by Antiphanes.
Sylvia DeWelles calls them palacsinta, the Hungarian term, which makes sense. Her parents were two of the 38,000 Hungarian refugees who came to Canada in 1956 fleeing the Soviet invasion that followed the Hungarian Revolution.
The day I visited her home, Sylvia decided to stuff the palacsinta with minced ham. Sylvia explains that her mother cooked everything from scratch and never followed a recipe. “Growing up, I and my two sisters were oblivious to processed foods – remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding? I was like the main character except instead of having moussaka in my lunch box it was more like goulash!” Her mom schooled her on how to prepare palacsinta. And, she adds, “my dad was the one who taught my mom.”
Sylvia’s dad Bela was talented in many ways. In his 20s he was a professional soccer player and even once played an exhibition game against soccer legend Pele. “My dad taught me and my sisters how to play soccer; we would all watch professional soccer matches on TV. He was a big fan of Maradona and would tell us, ‘He is the closest player to the great Pele; he moves as if he is at one with the ball.’”
Bela was a survivor. He and his wife fled Hungary into Austria with gunfire all around them. In Vienna they decided they would take the plane to BC since the ocean and the mountains seen in brochures appealed to them. On the day they were meant to fly to Vancouver the plane never materialized. Instead, they made the quick decision to board the plane for Windsor.
Three months after arriving in Canada Bela was getting on-the-job training when he suffered severe injuries to his back and leg in an industrial accident. “Soon after that we moved from Windsor to Toronto since the best specialists were at Toronto General Hospital.” Bela endured a body cast for over a year but recovered and amazed doctors when he even regained his ability to walk.
He had great physical endurance and a healthy diet – Sylvia’s mom made sure of that with her home-cooked meals. She prepared palacsinta for special occasions, such as when he came home from hospital, but also at birthday celebrations, Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.
“Mom made great palacsinta stuffed with cottage cheese; I remember her sourcing the authentic Hungarian kind at either Kensington Market or the delicatessens along Bloor Street West, known at the time colloquially as Little Hungary.
Our own Ted DeWelles, Sylvia’s husband, first tried the crepes at Sylvia’s parents’ house. “We were dating at the time,” Ted recalls. “The palacsinta were just one of the many dishes that made up the traditional Hungarian meal, and for me it was love at first bite.”
It all starts with the simple crepe; from there decide how you want to stuff it. I am sure the walnut or fruit-filled ones she described are a treat but Sylvia’s minced ham-filled palacsinta were like music to the taste buds. Delicious!
Recipe for Palacsinta
- -2 eggs
- -1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- -1 1/4 cups whole milk
- -2/3 cup sparkling water
- -1 pinch salt
- -1 teaspoon sugar
- -oil for frying (I use olive oil).
The skillet should be hot, and I use a soup ladle to measure out the batter per crepe. I also add a little olive oil to skillet before poring the batter for each crepe.
Takes about a minute per side for crepe to be done. As I take each crepe out of skillet, I put on a plate (creating a stack). As the crepes cool, I mince a pre-cooked black forest ham – about the size of two fists. I then stir in about a cup of full-fat sour cream but less can be used if a drier stuffing is preferred. I also add about two tablespoons of Dijon mustard (but again that is to taste). My mom does not add mustard.
I then spoon about three tablespoons of the minced ham onto each crepe and roll it like a cigar.
As each crepe is stuffed I put in a buttered casserole dish, packed snugly. Once all the crepes are stuffed I put in the oven at 350 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes.
