The menu at the Ritz hotel in Paris in the early 19th century, for example, included 'Rétes Hongrois', for which the strudel flour was ordered from Hungary and the pâtissiers were sent to Pest to learn.

The dough is worked vigorously, rested, and then rolled out and stretched by hand very thinly with the help of a clean linen tea towel[10] or kitchen paper.

[13] There are also savoury strudels incorporating spinach, cabbage, potato, pumpkin, and sauerkraut,[14] and versions containing meat fillings such as the Lungenstrudel or Fleischstrudel.

Varieties include Belle de Boskoop, Stayman Winesap, Gravenstein, Newtown Pippin, Bramley's Seedling, Karmijn de Sonnaville, Zabergau Reinette, Yellow Transparent, Calville Blanc, Granny Smith, Glockenapfel, Jonagold, Jonathan, Northern Spy, and Rhode Island Greening.

[20] The 19th-century American writer Alice Lee Moqué recorded an encounter with savoury strudel, ordered mistakenly as a dessert, in her account of her travels through Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia), at the Hotel Petka in Gravosa (Gruz).

[21] Observant Hungarian Jews would make the dough with oil and serve them for Simchat Torah and Purim, to match the customary drink imbibed at these celebrations.

[22] In Hebrew colloquial speech, the symbol @ in email addresses is called "shtrudel" (שטרודל), a German loan word for the pastry.

[24]) In Hungary, rétes, a traditional Hungarian strudel is consumed at Farsang or New Year, because it is believed to bring good luck and a long life.