It’s Kolaches With Karina! Last week Friday Karina Nova and I hit up Kolache Republic for our September Breakfast With Nick segment on 10TV. The visit gave us time to chat with Doug Sauer, one of the owners, and Ben Russell, one of their employees. Also, it made me fall in love even more with kolaches.
You can learn more about these sweet-but-not-too-sweet little pastries by tuning in this Saturday morning, but if you’re not in the know, a kolache (pronounced “kol-LAH-chee”) is a Czech pastry that’s made its way to the U.S. over the years through Czech immigrants. It’s become especially popular in a number small Texan towns, which is how it came to Columbus.
Karina and I spent the morning with Doug and Ben, bothering them while they tried to run their business.
We caught them just after the morning rush, as they prepped for lunch. Here they are rolling out fresh kolaches.
The great thing about kolaches are their versatility: the dough is a neutral enough flavor that the filling can be nearly anything, from, well, pumpkin to buffalo chicken.
Doug makes a fresh batch of dough daily. He said its flavor and texture is more like a dinner roll: lightly sweet and fluffy.
In addition to the smaller sweet versions, they roll out larger savory ones.
The inside is a generous dollop of the good stuff. This is their signature bierock, with ground beef, cabbage, onion, and sauerkraut.
The kolache dough is the right texture for wrapping it around the ingredients.
The end result looks a little like this one: the breakfast kolache, with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese. It’s this perfect little hand-held breakfast.
When Karina and I were hanging around, they started making the lunch special of buffalo chicken.
Seriously, just look at these! Other specials include taco kolaches, braised pull pork, and a Cuban kolache with pork, ham, onion, mustard, and pickles.
Tune in this Saturday morning on 10TV to see Karina and I chowing down on kolaches and chatting with Doug and Ben!