I think Phyllo dough and strudle dough are pretty well much one and the same....just flour and water.
Linda c

What fun! Will she teach you how to do it, or at least give you a recipe? Or, even better, would she make it and sell it?

Sally

I can't imagine making it myself, but my grandmother did. It was a skill she learned growing up in Greece before she came over to the U.S. She'd stretch the dough out over her bed and the kitchen table. It was paper thin, just like the stuff sold in the grocery stores. She made different pitas and desserts from the resulting dough. However, my mother (her daughter) and aunt never picked up the skill. They always used dough from a local Greek grocery store or the frozen stuff. That's what I use now.

By the way, I never fully appreciated my grandmother's hard work in making homemade phyllo. When I'd see the paper thin sheets on her bed, I'd think it was hilarious to poke a hole in them. Kids! What are they good for? However, she always forgave me for being such a dumb cluck.

Linda,
that is what I said, when she was standing at my 3x5 foot granite island in the kitchen. I remarked that it would be like making struedel and covering the whole island. I am sure she would show me, she said she learned from her mother in law. But she is busy, so I might hesitate to ask.
Shambo, poking holes? I would have wanted to poke a hole in you. Good thing grandmas are so loving!

Oh I'd love to see some pictures and the recipe too. Drooling! Al

"I think Phyllo dough and strudle dough are pretty well much one and the same....just flour and water."

I don't think so ! ! ! !

Rusty

Nope, can't imagine makeing it - not with a cat!! Don't even want to go there... :)

There are different kinds of phyllo dough recipes for different kinds of pitas. Some pies are traditionally made with several layers of dough on the top & bottom while other pitas are made with just one pastry layer. A lot depends on family or regional traditions, the filling ingredients, and the pie's shape. Here's an interesting discussion of homemade phyllo dough recipes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Four variations of homemade phyllo dough

Some strudel calls for an egg....some make it without,,,traditionally hands and the work bowl are oiled with Olive oil for Phyllo and for butter for strudel..
But both are stretched over a cloth on a large table or a bed, working it gently, patching holes as they happen, drying slightly and using the finished product in layers, buttered between for pastries.
Linda C

My mother used to make her own. She learned from her sister in Israel when she and I visited there in 1971. I don't know the exact details or recipe because I never asked her -- it wasn't something I was ever going to do myself.

But I do remember her making a dough, rolling it out, and spreading it with lots of butter. Then she would fold it over to a small rectangle and refrigerate overnight. Next day, roll it out, spread with butter, fold and refrigerate. This went on for several nights till it was ready to use.

She didn't stretch it so her method may not have been the same as shambo's grandmother's but it was the same type of feeling as the storebought stuff only MUCH better. The flavor and flakiness are unsurpassed in my experience. Ahhh.... for the good ol' days!

I actually just recently had a cookbook out from the library that has instructions and picture of this method. I didn't read it in detail (as I said, I'm not ever gonna do this) but it reminded my of how my mother used to do it. I might end up buying the book though because it was a wealth of information and instructions and recipes for baking just about everything. Very informative book.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Art and Soul of Baking

Sooo.... is it possible to make phyllo thin like the store bought stuff? If so, I would love to have the recipe. Thanks! Al

REmember the old Martha show where she would go on 'field trips' to different suppliers of gourmet things? She did a spot on an old Greek man and his wife that still made phyllo dough the old way. He had been doing it for like 50 years or something and the wife only helped, she had not yet mastered it! After 50 years? Anyway, he said that he learned it as a child in Greece and that his recipe and technique was all by touch and feel. It was incredible to watch them stretching these thin sheets of dough over a table, it would billow up like when you put a sheet on your bed. REally something to observe.

My Greek grandmother also made her own phyllo. Sad to say that I was much to young to remember. My older sister remembers, but was also too young to actually learn the art.

I can imagine it. I made it once. For strudel. There was no strudel available at that time and place and I wanted some. So I made it. Pretty interesting.

A few holes are not a problem. The phyllo is either rolled up or stacked, so holes get covered by adjoining layers. For strudel, mine was brushed with butter and sprinkled with crumbs or ground nuts before rolling, IIRC.

lowpaark (May, isn't it?) is describing mille-feuille, or puff pastry. I've made that too, for Napoleaons. Mille-feuille has another name which I wonÂt use on the Internet as some readers may consider blasphemous, although itÂs really just cute.

I believe phyllo and puff pastry are just two very different ways of getting a similar result. These things are not so special now that they are machine made and easily POOFed (is there a pun in there?). I don't know if that's good or bad.

Jim

My mom used to make Strudel regularly when I was young. I can barely remember her rolling out the sheets. We talked about it a while back and she said she'd be willing to give it a shot again, together. This thread is reminding me to take her up on it.

I remember seeing something on TV a long time ago about making Strudel. It was a couple guys, either in Germany or at least German, and they made a drinking game of it. You make a hole, you drink. Or was it you make a hole and the other guy gets to drink? Something like that!

lowpaark (May, isn't it?)
Yes, May. :)

... is describing mille-feuille, or puff pastry. I've made that too, for Napoleaons. Mille-feuille has another name which I wonÂt use on the Internet as some readers may consider blasphemous, although itÂs really just cute.

I believe phyllo and puff pastry are just two very different ways of getting a similar result.

I don't know enough about the difference between phyllo and puff pastry to speak intelligently about it, but I do know that the stuff my mother made resembled the frozen phyllo dough she used to use, and it resembled the phyllo dough I see in bakeries selling baklava. She called it phyllo.

It was much flakier than the puff pastry I buy frozen from Pepperidge Farm, which although flaky, doesn't have that natural separation of layers and crispiness that phyllo has, and that my mother's dough had.

So, maybe the PF puff pastry isn't as flaky as home made? Maybe homemade puff pastry is very close to phyllo? I don't know. For all intents and purposes, the stuff my mother made was phyllo.

She did, by the way, make spanikopita and baklava with that dough, among other things.

Just rereading that quote, Jim, yes, I would agree that it was something like mille-feuille which I would say is incredibly close to phyllo but not really like PF puff pastry. Again, though, I remember it being exactly like the frozen or store-made phyllo but better.

"Napoleans" used to be called mille-feuille but I guess it was too French or too hard to pronounce? I used to be able to order a mille-feuille in a bakery, a long time ago. Now they just look at me blankly till I ask for a Napolean.

And with that, May, you have gotten to the edge of my knowledge of the subject, and then some. I follow what you are saying and it jibes with things I have observed but don't fully understand. So far as the frozen stuff is concerned, I have decided to lump it all together under the name "POOF pastry". :-)

The time I made Napoleons I was interested in the dough making, but equally eager to make that fancy design in the fondant icing. The icing part was a snap of course, compared to the dough. But the whole project was successful.

I had not seen a Napoleon for years until recently. I guess they are passe; outdated. I came across them in one of those Chinese buffets my parents took me to, of all places! They were good as ever.

If this thread leads anyone to think I am quite the baker, believe me I am NOT. I just had to try making each classic pastry once out of curiosity. It was fun, but I am more of a cook than a baker.

Jim

Jim, I think a bunch of us should have a get together and you could bake Napoleons, then we'll decide whether you are a better cook or baker, LOL. Then again, we could just go fishing instead.....

Nope, I can't imagine making my own phyllo dough, I don't even use the frozen stuff, its handling is far beyond my patience level, I'll never use it again for anything.

Annie

I couldn't imagine making phylo in a million years. There are many things I would rather buy than make and those two are on top of the list !

Lowspark, I know that some Greek delis sell prepared phyllo dough that is stacked and buttered in between the sheets. Maybe that's more like what your mom was making. When I lived in San Jose, there was a great Mediterranean deli nearby where I could buy that kind of fresh phyllo. It was wonderful to work with because it was fresh and tasted great, plus I didn't have to brush all the separate leaves of dough with butter or oil. I think it came in five layer stacks. So putting together a pan pita was a snap. Unfortunately, I haven't have any luck finding a similar product near where I live now.

If I were given a good recipe that works I would give it a try. Not that I will make it all the time, I hardly use it at home. But I always like a good challenge. Plus I would like to able to say to myself, "I have done it... once!" LOL

Al

"POOF pastry"
LOL!

I'm with Annie, Any time you want to make me some Napoleans, I'm there!

After seeing all the work it took for my mother to make that dough, I'm not planning on ever trying it. Maybe if I'm retired and really bored one day.... who knows!

"I would like to able to say to myself, "I have done it... once!"

That's reason enough. Do it. Post a picture so we can ooh and aah over your achievement.

Think of phyllo making as cheap entertainment. The ingredients are inexpensive and it uses up lots of time. That's good entertainment value. Now, if you have a bunch of grandkids or neighbor kids to help, your entertainment value is multiplied and their parents owe you. Think about that!

Jim

Ahhh... Jimster, I should put all the 8 year old boys at little man's b-day party to work! LOL I have already found a recipe and will give it a try once the party is over. Al