The Eureka Kuchen Factory

My full time job is as an associate producer at South Dakota Public Broadcasting. I get to travel around the state meeting many interesting people. SDPB airs a magazine style program called 'Dakota Life', I produce a few segments each year for the show. When I go on these shoots, I tend to bring my camera along. It's nice to get a few photographs that the marketing folks at the station can use, plus I like to have them for myself too.

I enjoy making images of people doing the things that make them happy.

Last week, a co-worker and I travelled to Eureka, SD to visit The Kuchen Factory. In case you're not familiar, kuchen is South Dakota's state dessert. It's a pastry with a sweet dough crust, a filling of sorts (fruit or chocolate or sugar) and custard on top. It's yummy.

The folks in Eureka were key players in getting Kuchen designated as the state dessert. They travelled to Pierre two years in a row to promote the pastry that their German ancestors produced. In 2000, state legislators and the governor agreed and granted kuchen a key role in South Dakota's identity.

If you haven't tried the state dessert yet, you really should. Unless you're lactose intolerant. I wouldn't suggest it then.

You may order it online from a number of different vendors.

www.madeinsouthdakota.com has products from both vendors in Eureka.

I think that if you google search kuchen, you could find a few others to try too.