No, dear readers, I’m not eating my way through the book of Genesis, but during this holiday-less time, I look to the weekly Torah reading , Hayei Sarah for recipe ideas.

It is well known that our matriarch Sarah was a master baker. The Midrash says that there was a blessing in her dough. Not only was it yummy—what do you think kept all those guests coming back to the tent? but it stayed fresh from one Shabbos to the next . Remember, there were no preservatives back then, not that Sarah would have used anything unhealthy .

I wish I had Sarah’s original recipe but’s it’s gone as are many other challah recipes. When I was growing up challahs were called “challies” or for the chet challenged “hollies” like the December holiday decoration and they came from the bakery. They were tasty but the blessing was gone.

Home baked challah, can bring blessing into our lives. The “taking challah’ moment, when we make a blessing and separate a bit of the dough is an “eis ratzon,” a time to pray. The late Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum used to say that if women (and men) understood this no one would ever buy bakery Challah .

Still challah baking is a skill to be mastered. It took me almost 20 years until I landed upon this recipe which I like to think is almost worthy of the great Mother Sarah.

It comes from my machatesteh, an untranslateable Yiddish word meaning the in law of one’s child.

This is a Sephardic challah, low on sugar, the perfect base for a good guacamole or babaganoush or matboucha, or it’s good just plain and the glaze makes it look extra pretty. Enjoy.

This amount is enough for a shiur -that you can recite the blessing. There is a Chassidic tradition of dividing the dough into 12 loaves (some of them can be rolls) which are symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. It’s customary to place the loaves on the Shabbos table as soon as you take them out of the oven.

2 kilos (4.4 lbs) flour. Can use whole wheat

2 tablespoons of instant yeast (I use the kind that doesn’t need dissolving)

4 cups of water

1 egg

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons salt

Knead together by hand or in a machine. If you’re kneading by hand, add the flour gradually. Some weeks you’ll need more, some weeks less, depending on the degree of humidity, Challahs are very temperamental.

After you’ve formed a ball of dough pour 1 tablespoon of oil on the outside of it and leave the oiled dough in a bowl covered with a kitchen towel until it doubles. This can take between one and three hours depending on the weather.

Form dough into loaves or braids.

At this point you can recite the blessings. Pray for anything you want or need. Hashem is listening.

Let the loaves rest for about 45 minutes (you may want to cover them with a damp cloth so that they don’t toughen up), glaze and bake for 35 minutes on 180 C or 350 F until brown.

Glaze

Three egg yolks

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Beat together and paint on the hallahs. Try not to leave out any spots. This will give the challah a lovely, brown glow. Add sesame seeds, poppy seeds or a combination.

Challahs freeze very well.

Enjoy