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When talking to Eugenia on the phone, the smile on her face does not disappear for a moment: how brilliant she is, speaking like a fucked-up man and without missing the opportunity to make a joke! The old woman who lives in Kuršėnai boasts – next year she will celebrate her 90th anniversary: ”And the memory is not over yet,” she laughed.
That’s what I’m asking right away, maybe the reason for their longevity and positivity, are desserts tried and created all my life? “And I, do you know how I say? When I tried it at camp for 6 years, with no sugar, fat, or meat, my blood vessels were not clogged! But everything works very well, ”joked the pastry chef.
And we start laughing again. Although in the end E.Dragūnienė admits that her life was not always so fun and easy: when she was a teenager she was arrested and taken to work in a camp, then she could not fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher when she returned, she had to work as a pastry chef, although cooking was not at all …
But unexpectedly, making desserts made her incredibly happy: she loved this job, it also delighted the palates of shoppers who were missing out on new tastes. Daina Putvinskienė, the daughter of Eugenia, is doing the same now: she produces and sells the legendary Kuršėnai roll according to her mother’s true recipe at the Kuršėnai Confectionery.
6 years in a camp and an unfulfilled dream
Although Eugenija spent most of her life in Kuršėnai, she herself comes from the church village of Pakražančiai in the Kelmė district. However, she lived there until she was 14: all of her children were evicted from their home when their father was arrested.
“I moved to work and study at Kelmė. Since I did not join the Communist Youth, I was in another circle: I posted proclamations, I distributed newspapers. However, there were traitors among us who complained to us, so I fled to Kaunas. Here supporters asked to find people in Petrašiūnai who could deliver paper to the newspapers to print. I helped as much as I could, but in 1951 I was arrested, “recalls Eugenia.
Photo from Eugenija Dragūnienė’s Personal / Youth Album
After half a year of questioning, the woman received 10 years of field work in court. “I was still very happy, others were over 20 years old,” he admits.
Eugene worked both in a brick factory and in construction, even cutting down forests. He says he has been to almost 6 different camps in 5.5 years. Fortunately, he was able to return home earlier.
“When I returned to Lithuania, I thought I needed to finish school. My father had already gone to his homeland, he got his house back, he is in Pakražantis and I finished 12th grade. Then I went to Šiauliai pedagogy, but I was not accepted. He said he would be a bad teacher to be able to teach children the wrong way. You see, ideologically. I thought about it, maybe I need food. I came to Kuršėnai, started working in public catering, and he sent me to confectionery courses, after which I had to open a confectionery workshop here, ”he recalls.
Although Eugenia was always attracted to literature and books, she had to fall in love with cooking after the dream of the teaching profession, although she did not like it at all. “And where do you go the most? I don’t like the numbers, and there was no more to choose from,” he admits.
Photo from the personal album / Eugenija Dragūnienė in a group of pastry chefs.
People ordered new desserts
But she did not have to suffer for long. As soon as she started turning in the kitchen, Eugenia fell in love with the job: she woke up every morning with the widest smile on her face. And she became not only a pastry chef: by creating the legendary Kuršėnai roll and other sweets, the woman even later earned the title of teacher.
“How I loved decorating the cakes! … I really, really liked it. Already at night, lying in bed, I thought about how to get the sweets out tomorrow. I drove to workshops where old pastry chefs shared their recipes. Another of these pastry chefs was Smeton; in Smetona’s time she worked in a pastry shop in some mansion. This is what all kinds of old recipes have shown. We carry everything in our heads. We have always been thinking about how to make something new for people from the same product, ”says E.Dragūnienė.
At night, lying in bed, I thought about decorating new cakes tomorrow.
Photo from personal album / Eugenija Dragūnienė
Thus was born the legendary Kurš Kurnai scroll. As Eugenia says, desserts made with more and more of the same products were already boring, shoppers wanted to try something new. Then he set out to find ways to surprise more people.
“We lived in a time when there was nothing. There were no products Without fruit We baked what we had. The base was curd, eggs, sugar, butter. The latter was very good, we obtained it directly from the Šiauliai factory. If we ever catch raisins or nuts, we keep them just for cooking after blatuShe laughed
If we ever catch raisins or nuts, we keep them just for cooking after blatu.
Although at first glance it seems that baking the Kuršėnai roll is not very difficult and does not require special confectionery knowledge, the process of creating a dessert, according to Eugenia, took a long time.
“It just came to our attention then performance – I had to drop 10 kg. You bake everything, wrap it, put it in the fridge, weigh it in the morning and watch it, only 9 kg, very little. The next time you increase the number of products, bake and display 11 kg. Bad too. You know how many times you had to bake, fry, roll, roll until you got the recipe! And then you look at the taste! If you add a little curd it will be dry. We tried to moisten the cookie, we smeared the cream, everything worked … But in the end we succeeded and everything coincided, “he smiles.
But even then, customers have yet to try the new masterpiece. Eugenija still had to transport the Kuršėnai scroll to Vilnius to deliver it. Here, with the approval of the commission, the dessert could already appear on all Lithuanian tables. At that time, a kilogram costs 2.5 rubles. “Very cheap,” smiles the pastry chef.
Photo from personal album / Eugenija Dragūnienė
I tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records
However, during the early years, the Kuršėnai scroll was not as popular and known to everyone’s palates as it is now. A few years after its creation, the representatives of the elders offered Eugenia to turn the dessert into a sign of the city. It was clear that as soon as they tasted the dessert, people from the surrounding towns would quickly spread the word.
“They came up with the idea of baking a few hundred meters of Kuršėnai roll during the city festival! There were a number of people standing all over the city taking photos while holding a scroll, all the newspapers wrote about it. We thought that maybe we would even get into the Guinness Book, but we failed. This event became a rebirth of the Kuršėnai scroll, everyone tried it and started buying it, ”recalls E.Dragūnienė.
Photo from personal album / Eugenija Dragūnienė
Now that I see it in the store, I think: and Jesus, and again that Kuršėnai scroll!
In the Eugenia confectionery workshop, the work was done without respite, even 40 kg per day were baked. And that was sometimes missing. According to her, since she has memory, the roll has always been in great demand.
“I never thought that my dessert would become so popular. I’m even funny! Now I see it somewhere in the store, I think: and Jesus, and again that Kuršėnai scroll. Clearly fun to shop!
But you know, maybe because all the products are healthy: curd, Lithuanian, butter, Lithuanian, eggs, flour, Lithuanian. Everything is cultivated in our holy land. There is nothing strange, there are no incomprehensible spices ”, he smiles.
The royal muffins are now baked by the daughter.
When she retired, Eugenia was still in a small workshop at her home, where she continued to bake desserts: “Don’t be boring,” she explains.
However, at this time, the actual scroll, the type that Eugenia always produced, is baked and sold by her daughter Daina Putvinskienė. After learning the secrets of her mother’s cooking, Daina founded the Kuršėnai Confectionery. According to her, people still stop at Kuršėnai to try the original rolled or old buns.
And Eugenija herself rarely rotates the Kuršėnai parchment. “But if I do, I don’t add sugar to the curd cream, better what berries to mash. I’m improving now,” he smiles.
Photo from personal album / Eugenija Dragūnienė
But even after so many years among sweets, creating and testing them, Eugenia did not have time to wake up. “You know, I can’t chew salad anymore, it’s not that age,” he joked. “But I still have trouble chewing desserts.”
So if you do too would you like to make a real Kuršėnai roll at home, created by Eugenia, a woman with 15 minutes Readers share some tips.
“When I make a cookie, I always mix the proteins separately, then add the yolks, sift the flour and add the sugar. I place it on baking paper and smooth it with the palm of my hand. And when I prepare the cream, I wrap the butter with the sugar (although according to the real recipe we put the powdered sugar), then I put the curd, but it does not take too long to feel the texture of the curd so that there is no full cream. And it is better to eat in the refrigerator, because if you cut immediately, the roll will stretch, “advises Eugenija Dragūnienė.
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