Donna Pejnovic knows the secret to making a good strudel.
Having manned the kitchen of Serb Fest, St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church’s annual homage to all things Serbian, since she was 16, Pejnovic, who now heads the kitchen, learned from all the older women before her just how to make the delicate pastry just the way everyone likes it. The biggest trick: making sure the dough stays as dry as possible, she said.
“You can’t get the apples wet before rolling them in,” Pejnovic said Friday afternoon as she watched head strudel maker Zorka Glumac pull out another tray of golden delights. “That’s why you mix them right before you fill the dough, which is not phyllo dough. It looks like it, but it’s not.”
While Pejnovic runs the inside kitchen, where the women roll 600 stuffed cabbage per day during the three-day festival, her husband, Dusan Pejnovic, runs the eight large roasters outside the hall. The roasters will be used to cook 130 whole lambs and 120 chickens over the course of the weekend, he said.
Donna Pejnovic joked that she and Dusan may have fallen in love with each other in the kitchen during the fests long ago.
“I do it because of love for my church,” she said. “And I like to feed people. When people come up to us and say they come back year after year because of the food, that’s how I know we’re doing good.”
St. Sava President Mike Adjer said the fest is based on the food. Its barbecued lamb is known the region over, he said, and he defies anyone to find a better-made cabbage roll. Plus, they have every type of strudel flavors known to Eastern Europe, he said.
“There’s apple, cherry, spinach, sweet cheese,” Adjer said. “Our success is based on our food.”
Attendees will find several members of the church’s younger generation, including Katherine Phillis, serving on the food line. Donna Pejnovic said church elders have been working hard to keep the younger members involved in order to keep the traditions alive.
The efforts seemed to be working, as at least five teenage girls served up the food and three boys under the age of 12 served cans of pop for the thirsty.
“This is my first year, and I’m having a lot of fun,” Katherine said. “I love talking to all the people.”
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
If you go:
St. Sava Serb Fest, 9191 Mississippi St., Merrillville, runs from noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
