Traditional Foods
If truth be told, there is no such thing as a definitive “Jewish cuisine” – the kosher recipes we consider to be traditional simply sprung up around the ingredients that were available in the diaspora at the time.
But even if you consider particular foods to be the ultimate in heimishe fare, do you really know how and why?
Chicken soup
The dish no Friday night meal is complete without. Chicken has long been on the menu because of the mitzvah to eat special foods like “bassar vedagim” (meat and fish) on Shabbat.
In the shtetls of middle and eastern Europe, where Jews were discouraged or even forbidden to own land, chickens were a form of livestock that could easily be kept scratching about in the backyard. Soup was just one course you could get out of each individual bird – egg and onion and a nice roast comprising the rest of the meal.
Kneidlach
Once you’ve got your soup, it’s customary to garnish it with a few matzo balls. The word kneidel comes from the German “knoedel”, meaning a twisted ball, or knot. Their tendency to have the consistency of canon balls is no coincidence though – a heavy, slow-release titbit would keep hunger at bay for hours on end.
Chopped liver
The version served up by the Jews of Strasbourg was, according to legend, a forerunner of pate de foie gras. Initially however, this love-it-or-hate-it dish was yet another way of using up every last bit of a chicken – the giblets were turned into pate on Friday afternoon, and served cold as a Shabbat lunch starter in the Jewish communities of western Europe.
Gefillte fish
As we have seen above, fish is considered to be a fitting delicacy for the Shabbat table. However, the prohibition against removing unwanted parts of a mixture (such as the bones from a piece of fish) on the sabbath means that a big slab of carp could pose a few problems. Gefillte fish, which theoretically should be bone-free, was developed as a neat way of circumventing the problem. The oily fried version seems to be unique to Britain however (perhaps as an homage to the local chippie). The rest of Europe preferred to take their gefillte fish boiled.
Kugel
This kosher favourite can be either savoury or sweet, and made from potatoes, vegetables, noodles or apples. The word ostensibly means pudding, but conflictingly translates as round in German and square in Yiddish, both of which are references to the shape of the tin it is baked in. The child’s game “five stones” is known as kugelach in Yiddish – but this sheds little light on the matter as it can be played with either round or square stones. Irrespective of the baking receptacle, kugel developed as an excellent side dish for Shabbat because it too could be kept warm overnight, and made cheaply from whatever ingredients happened to be available.
The Bagel
Although the famed roll with a hole is reputed to be the invention of a (non-Jewish) Austrian baker, Jews adopted it as traditional fare with relish. Its round shape can be used to symbolise the ongoing circle of life, and as such it was often served at shiva houses or to women after childbirth in pre-war Europe.
Pickle It
Just like bagels and smoked salmon, Jews and pickled foods make a winning pair. Be it cucumber, herring, beef or tongue, a heimishe European housewife would have it pickled and salted in a flash. The preserving method gave otherwise bland foods a strong flavour, and meant they would be readily available throughout the long winter months. Smoked salmon was the ultimate preserved delicacy though, and was served up on special occasions such as weddings or barmitzvas to indicate the largesse of the hosts. Later on, the immigrant Jews of New York took to eating it with their bagels on a daily basis, perhaps as a sign of their increasing affluence.
