If You Want This Delectable Jewish Pastry, You'll Have to Go to Cleveland.

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But the pastry's full history remains a mystery.

Russian tea biscuits are so much a part of Cleveland’s landscape that locals are surprised to learn these rugelach-like pastries are from their hometown. As a Clevelander, I didn’t discover the truth until I moved to several different cities and Russian tea biscuits were nowhere to be found, prompting me to do a little digging online. I discovered that the pastry’s origin story — a story that feels more like a legend — is connected to the Cleveland Jewish community.

Even though Salon published a lively discussion about Russian tea biscuits’ Cleveland origins in 2011, the pastry’s full story remains a mystery. How did these mammoth pastries come to Cleveland? Were they called Russian tea biscuits because they were brought to Cleveland by Russian immigrants?

Russian tea biscuits in Cleveland can be traced back to the first half of the 20th century when bakeries proliferated across the city. Many of these bakeries were started by Jewish immigrants from Eastern European countries. Among them were Sherwin’s Bakery, Lax and Mandel, Unger’s Bakery and Davis Bakery, all of which survived into the 1980s or longer. According to an article in the Cleveland Jewish News, Sherwin’s Bakery sold Russian tea biscuits three for a nickel during the Great Depression.

Of these first-generation bakeries, Unger’s and Davis remain open, along with many others that serve Russian tea biscuits. Just like the early 20th century bakeries, today’s bakeries have loyal regulars who insist that their Russian tea biscuits are the best. Ask a Clevelander which bakery they buy Russian tea biscuits from and you will hear a story, not just a quick answer.

Russian tea biscuits have even travelled as far as California and Florida. Bea’s Bakery in Los Angeles, California and 3G’s Deli in Delray Beach, Florida were both started by Clevelanders who brought the recipe with them. Rumor has it also that a former Peruvian employee of the Stone Oven Bakery may have taken the pastry back home with her. . .

Yet Russian immigrant Tatyana Rehn, one of the owners of the Stone Oven Bakery, says she never encountered Russian tea biscuits until she emigrated to Cleveland in the 1970s. Her then-husband took her to Lax and Mandel, where she had her first. She carries on Lax and Mandel’s legacy by following their Russian tea biscuit recipe. Her theory? “Raspberry jam is very Russian,” she said, explaining that adding raspberry jam to desserts made them a special treat. '>>

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/if-you-want-this-delectable-jewish-pastry-youll-have-to-go-to-cleveland/?

Guess I'll get the raspberry jam out!