own square. Onion Pletzl as a superannuated onion roll, a sandwich bread fit for Gulliver the Giant. Pletzl means square in Yiddish as in town square and this bread is square, albeit imperfectly so. Think of it as Sicilian pizza with the sauce and cheese replaced by raw onions. According to Arthur Schwartz, the author … Continue reading
In these days of wars and hurricanes there is something imminently comforting about home made bread. I came across this recipe while researching artisanal bread baking online. It is the essence of simplicity, a crusty, moist, open crumb loaf that you can create in minutes. Yes, this is a sourdough recipe .The dough will take hours to … Continue reading
In 18th century Ukraine where life could be mean, Jewish women baked a bird shaped (faigel) hallah for the pre Yom Kippur meal The bird reflects the a promise in Isaiah 31:5 that just as a bird can fly lose from it’s captors so too Hashem will save the Jewish people from our foes. With Ahmadinajead … Continue reading
For years, even decades, I avoided baking bread. Bread baking? Me? Bread has strange ingredients like yeast-now what does one do with that? And even stranger instructions. Proof the yeast. What kind of proof? Is this something legal? Punch down the dough Why? What did the dough do to deserve such violence? Meanwhile, my friends had … Continue reading
I know that this is hard to believe but the Torah doesn’t anything about blintzes or cheesecake, or cheese kreplach or even sour cream for Shavuot. The only cooked food mentioned is bread, as in the Shnei Lehem, two loaves made from the wheat of the new crop and brought to the Temple along with the … Continue reading
Yes, it is time to bake a challah in the shape of a key . This is the way I did it-play doh style but remember this is an Ashkenazi minhag, a custom, not a halacha so you have more wiggle room. Any key will do- a skeleton key, a house key, a safe deposit … Continue reading
Ah the joys of being a culinary anthropologist. When I discovered that the Sephardim insert hard boiled eggs into a bread to represent Haman’s eyes, I had to try it. The custom is to gouge out the eye/eggs at the Seuda. And who says that being Jewish isn’t fun? If this doesn’t appeal to a … Continue reading
