NY Times September 28, 2005
Kugel Unraveled
By JOAN NATHAN
FOR many American Jews, kugel is the taste of childhood. They want
exactly the kind of kugel their mother made, whether it is a weekly
Sabbath treat or served only on holidays like Rosh Hashana, which
starts on Monday night.
I didn't know until recently, though, that this homey casserole of
noodles or potatoes was credited with mystical powers.
Allan Nadler, a professor of religious studies at Drew University,
studied references to kugel in Hasidic texts and ate it in Brooklyn and
in Jerusalem at about a dozen rebbes' tishes, or tables, where male
followers of a Hasidic rabbi gather to eat, sing and study the Torah.
According to Hasidic interpretations of Kabbalah mysticism, he said,
kugel has special powers.
"Clearly the spiritual high point of the meal is the offering of the
kugel," Professor Nadler said. At that moment the rabbi has the power
to bestow health and food, and even to help couples conceive.
But despite kugel's deep tradition, it is changing, even in Brooklyn,
the center of American kugel cooking.
On a recent afternoon at Hungarian Kosher Catering in Borough Park, at
least 18 kinds of kugel were for sale, and customers were discussing
them in Yiddish, English and Hungarian. Most American Jews know about
noodle (lokshen) and potato kugel. But apple-noodle kugel? Salt and
pepper kugel? Broccoli kugel? Modern "designer" three-layer kugel with
sweet potato, broccoli and cauliflower?
"It used to be that it was only potato and noodle, nothing goes without
them," said Shmelka Friedman, 48, owner of the shop and a follower of
the Satmar sect, which came to the United States from Hungary after
World War II. His repertory now includes both blueberry and rhubarb
kugel.
Shimmy Rosenblum, the executive chef at Gourmet on J in Flatbush, has
also noticed the transformation of kugel. "People tend to be more
health conscious, but when they want flavor they'll look aside," he
said. "They'll cheat. People come in with questions you'd never ask
before. Does it have oil? What kind of oil? Are there any
carbohydrates? Any sugar? Now they are suddenly allergic to
everything."
The word kugel comes from the German word for ball. It is traditionally
a round, baked sweet or savory pudding or casserole made of noodles or
potatoes. Since the first Jews came to the United States it has been a
popular mainstay of holiday tables. The first published American recipe
for kugel, from Esther Levy's 1871 "Jewish Cookery Book," is a mixture
of homemade noodles, raisins and sugar, bound with eggs. Through the
years, Madison Avenue had its way with kugel. Boxed noodles replaced
homemade noodles, canned pineapple and cranberries replaced raisins,
and processed cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese replaced
farmer cheese and other European dairy products.
The transformation has been gradual. "When I came to New York from
Vienna in 1940," said Erica Jesselson, an Orthodox woman in her 80's
living in Riverdale, the Bronx. "There were no kosher carryouts. All
food, except maybe smoked fish that you could get at appetizing stores,
were made at home. Now the religious women, like everyone else, work
and often go to carryout places. It helps the burden of cooking for
such large families."
Karen Braver runs the Peppermill, next to Hungarian Kosher Catering.
The eight-year-old Peppermill is known as the Williams-Sonoma of the
ultra-Orthodox community. "Back in Europe nobody put asparagus, spinach
or broccoli in their kugel," said Mrs. Braver, a Borough Park native.
"Most people don't have to learn to make potato kugel. They want
something more."
Mrs. Braver invites to her store chefs like Jeffrey Nathan (no relation
to me) of Abigael's restaurant in Manhattan, who introduced customers
to kosher Japanese panko, which can be used instead of challah crumbs
to top savory kugels. "We show people what is up-to-date," said Debbi
Braver, Karen Braver's partner and sister-in-law. "Kugel in the year
2005 often has individual shapes in tiny bundt pans, silicone pans or
cookie cutters. It is the same traditional food modernized and updated.
People are no longer intimidated by new ingredients."
Even if customers want more complex recipes, they always ask about ways
to perfect the classic versions as well, she said. Kugel is
traditionally served with meat meals, which means it is bound with oil
and eggs, or sometimes mayonnaise, which like sour cream, according to
Karen Braver, adds flavor and creaminess. Nondairy items like soy milk
and tofutti cream cheese are also used. Dairy kugels are reserved for
the meal following the Yom Kippur fast, usually a dairy meal.
One really delicious kugel is a sweet and peppery version called
Yerushalmi, or Jerusalem, kugel. Supposedly this version originated in
Jerusalem with followers of the Gaon of Vilna, a Jewish scholar, in the
late 18th century. Made with thin noodles, pepper, salt and sugar, it
is tricky because it has a caramel base that can stick or burn. Debbi
Braver learned a foolproof way to make it over the counter at the
Peppermill.
Tina Wasserman, a kosher cooking instructor in Dallas, makes what she
calls a killer kugel for a Rosh Hashana lunch for 100 people at her
home. "If you are going to eat kugel with eggs, sour cream and cream
cheese, don't use low-fat sour cream and Egg Beaters," she said. "This
kugel is like cheesecake. I just cut it into 25 squares so my guests
will eat less but enjoy it."
With a recipe similar to Mrs. Wasserman's, Zingerman's in Ann Arbor,
Mich., uses fresh, creamy farmer cheese in a version more like the
European dairy kugels than the ones made with processed cream cheese.
Gerry Cohn, who lives on Matzah Rising Farm, a half-hour's drive from
Chapel Hill, N.C., makes his kugel with goat cheese, duck eggs and sour
cherries. "I use whatever we have around," he said. So does Mildred
Council, the owner of Mama Dip's, an African-American restaurant in
Chapel Hill specializing in country cooking. On my recent trip there,
with Marcie Cohen Ferris (an excerpt from her book, "Matzoh Ball
Gumbo," is below), Mrs. Council told me that she was introduced to
kugel at community interfaith dinners.
"The first time the Jewish people brought them no one knew what they
were, with noodles, raisins and brown sugar, and potatoes." She likes
them so much that she included three kugel recipes in her latest book,
"Mama Dip's Family Cookbook," due out next month. "I put dried
cranberries in mine," she said. "It's like a side dish. At
Christmastime I am planning to put that kugel out with cranberry sauce
on top. People will love it!"
Professor Nadler, who grew up Orthodox in Montreal, tosses off all
these newfangled, secular kugels. "Not spinach or zucchini or sweet
kugel for me," he said. "Everything is a kugel these days. I grew up in
a home where my grandparents were from Russia. We ate salt and pepper
kugel, and cut it up in the soup. Now that's kugel."
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September 28, 2005
Recipe: Killer Kugel
Adapted from Tina Wasserman
Time: 1¼ hours, plus overnight chilling
½ pound medium-width noodles
1 pound cream cheese
½ pound plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 pint sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 large eggs
½ cup crushed pineapple, canned or fresh, drained
4 ounces walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon.
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and place in a
4-quart bowl.
2. Put cream cheese and ½ pound butter in food processor; blend until
smooth, scraping down sides. Add 1 cup sugar and process until well
combined. Add sour cream, vanilla and eggs, and process until well
mixed. Fold into bowl of noodles. Stir in pineapple.
3. Grease a 13-by-9-inch Pyrex dish with about 1 tablespoon butter and
pour in the mixture; it will almost overflow. Cover with plastic wrap
and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove from refrigerator about 1 hour before baking. Preheat oven to
350 and bake mixture for 50 minutes.
5. Combine walnuts with remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon, and
sprinkle on top of kugel. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and
bake another 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into 25
pieces.
Yield: 25 servings.
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September 28, 2005
Recipe: Jerusalem Kugel
Adapted from Debbi Braver
Time: 1½ hours
1½ cups sugar
½ cup vegetable oil, more for greasing the pan
2 teaspoons salt
½ to ¾ teaspoon black pepper
6 ounces fine noodles, like vermicelli
6 ounces wide noodles, like fettuccine
4 large eggs, well beaten.
1. Place ½ cup sugar and ½ cup oil in a heavy 6-quart saucepan. Stir
constantly over medium heat until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Remove
from heat. Let harden and cool for 15 minutes.
2. Pour 5½ cups water into pan with the sugar mixture and bring to
boil.
3. Add salt, pepper and remaining sugar. When water boils add noodles.
Cook until water is almost evaporated.
4. Cool slightly and stir in eggs. Mix well and pour into a greased
10-inch round baking pan.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake kugel for 1 hour. Run a knife
around kugel, turn out onto a plate and serve.
Yield: 12 servings.
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September 28, 2005
Recipe: Broccoli-Potato Kugel
Adapted from Shimmy Rosenblum
Time: 1½ hours
1 medium onion, diced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, more for greasing the pan
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and boiled
6 large eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup matzo meal
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2 pounds broccoli, cut into florets and cooked
4 tablespoons panko or challah crumbs.
1. Sauté onion in 2 to 3 tablespoons oil in a small frying pan over
medium heat until browned. Add garlic and stir for a minute or two. Set
aside.
2. In large mixing bowl mash potatoes and stir in eggs, one by one,
incorporating well. Add mayonnaise, matzo meal, salt and pepper,
stirring well. Fold in onion and broccoli.
3. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and spoon in mixture, spreading
evenly. Sprinkle with panko or challah crumbs. Preheat oven to 350
degrees and bake kugel for 50 minutes or until golden.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
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Sheldon