Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  The most famous type of blini is made from buckwheat (grechnevoy in Slavic), technically a fruit, not a grain. When buckwheat, which thrives in poor soil and weather extremes, arrived in western Russia and Ukraine around the early fourteenth century, it quickly emerged as a staple of the diet and subsequently was adopted by Jews to make some traditional fare, notably Hanukkah latkes. Buckwheat flour (tattarijauho in Slavic) imparts a distinctive hearty, earthy, slightly nutty flavor. Dark buckwheat flour, a gray color with black specks, is made from unroasted, unhulled groats and sometimes extra hulls are added. Light buckwheat flour, also called white buckwheat flour, has most of the hulls removed. The dark type has a more intense flavor and produces a grayish purple color in baked goods.

  Blini are traditionally about four inches in diameter and thin, only slightly higher than a standard blintz. As a result of the yeast sponge, there should be numerous little holes dotting the surface. Miniature blini made from a thicker batter, the type common at the modern cocktail party, are called oladyi. Some batters may also contain raisins or grated apple. Slavic cooks traditionally grease the skillet or griddle by dipping the cut side of half a potato into oil (holding it with a fork), then rubbing it on the hot surface. Like crepes, the first thin pancake usually does not turn out well, leading to the Russian saying "The first blin is always a lump."

  (See also Blintz and Kasha)

  Blintz

  Blintzes are thin, unleaved pancakes, cooked only on one side, then folded to enclose a filling and pan-fried.

  Origin: Eastern Europe

  Other names: blintze.

  Tevye the Milkman, in Sholem Aleichem's tales, was quite proud of his wife's blintzes. In one passage, he basks in glory as they are served to guests on the holiday of Shavuot: "And very soon Golda appeared with the blintzes, piping hot, right from the frying pan, plump and tasty! My visitors couldn't praise them enough."

  In the fourteenth century, the Turks conquered the Balkans, where they introduced very thin wheat pancakes that were cooked in a shallow pan, then filled and rolled up. The Romanians called these clatita or placinta, the Romanian pronunciation of the word for the ancient Roman flat cheesecake, placenta. In the sixteenth century, the thin pancake spread from Romania to Ukraine, with the name changing to the Slavic blintze. From Ukraine, the blintze continued into Poland and Lithuania. The term blintze—blintz is the Americanized Yiddish—can denote both a plain as well as a filled pancake, but among some Yiddish speakers unfilled blintz pancakes are also referred to as bletlach (leaves). In France, they became crêpes from the Latin crispus (curly/wrinkled), supplanting the previous medieval thicker pancakes of the same name.

  The blintz is not exactly a crepe, being somewhat sturdier and less fussy, partially due to the larger proportion of eggs and, sometimes, absence of milk. For dairy meals the batter can contain milk, but for meat it is made with water. Similarly, dairy blintzes can be fried in butter, while those intended for a meat meal are fried in oil or schmaltz. Crepes are cooked on both sides, while bletlach only on one. A blintz is typically folded and rolled up into a package to enclose the filling like an envelope, all the better for frying.

  Until relatively recently, buckwheat bletlach provided an inexpensive base for common use, while more delicate ones made from luxurious white flour were typically reserved for special occasions. It was only in the nineteenth century, with the increased availability and affordability of fine wheat flour in Europe, that wheat bletlach became widespread in the general population. Still, since blintzes are rather labor-intensive, they were hardly everyday fare in most households. Many a Jewish cook, when they could afford it, had two frying pans to speed the process, handily churning out blintz after blintz, as it was the rare person who could eat only one.

  Traditional blintz fillings include curd cheese, mashed potatoes, kasha, chopped cooked beef, chopped liver, and fruit, or a combination of cheese and fruit. Lekvar blintzes were common in Poland. Hungarians created a "blintz soufflé," which become popular in late twentieth century America.

  Cheese fillings, both savory and sweet, have long been the most prevalent. European curd cheeses were drier and more intensely flavored than today's cottage cheese. At present, farmer and/or pot cheese provide more texture, generally mixed with a little cream cheese or sour cream for creaminess and a slight tang. There should be just a bare hint of salt and only a little sugar should be added to sweetened versions, as the delicate flavor of the cheese should be pronounced. Hot cheese blintzes are typically topped with a dollop of cool sour cream or fruit sauce (not too sweet) to contrast and complement the hot creamy filling.

  Ashkenazic immigrants brought the blintz to America, and it was already common on the Lower East Side of Manhattan by the end of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the word's first appearance and explanation in America was in the November 7, 1900, edition of the Duluth News Tribune in an article entitled "Jewish Coffee and Tea Houses." The reporter wrote, "One of the distinguishing features of the East Side [of Manhattan]... is found in the tea and coffee houses kept by Hebrews... The glory of these establishments, however, is the blintz, which is a sort of pancake rolled up and inclosing curds made savory. The Jews seem fond of the blintz which is cooked upon gas stoves just like buckwheat cakes, and is eaten as hot as the customer's mouth can endure."

  Blintzes were soon popular fare at Jewish dairy restaurants and Catskills hotels. A manager at Ratner's, a famous Lower East Side restaurant founded in 1905 and closed in 2002, revealed that 75 percent of the hundreds of blintzes sold on a daily basis were cheese, followed far behind by cherry, and then blueberry (they also offered potato, dried plum, and apple). Cheese blintzes were the favorite dish of gangster Meyer Lansky, once a regular Ratner's patron.

  As with other Ashkenazic foods that entered the American mainstream, blintzes began appearing in popular culture. In origami, the term "blintz fold" denotes a maneuver in which all four corners are folded to the center. It was coined by Gershon Legman, who associated the fold with the image from his mother's Hungarian cooking. Later, Legman's mother informed him that technically it should have been a "knish fold," which actually is folded to the center, while the blintz is folded over and rolled. By then, the term had stuck and blintz remains part of origami-folding lore.

  Ashkenazim traditionally serve cheese blintzes on Shavuot, during the week before Tisha b'Av, and on other occasions when it is customary to eat dairy dishes. Blintzes have two additional symbolic rationales for Shavuot: two blintzes placed side by side resemble the two tablets that Moses received on Mount Sinai, as well as the two leavened loaves waved by the high priest in the Temple on Shavuot. Since they are fried, blintzes became traditional Hanukkah fare, a cheese filling encompassing the festival's dairy symbolism as well. A special Passover blintz uses matza meal or potato starch for the flour.

  (See also Atayef, Blini, and Palacsinta)

  Eastern European Thin Pancakes (Blintzes)

  about twelve 6-inch or eighteen 5-inch pancakes

  [DAIRY or PAREVE]

  1 cup milk, soy milk, seltzer, or water

  4 large eggs, lightly beaten

  2 tablespoons vegetable oil or unsalted butter or margarine, melted

  2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

  ¼ teaspoon table salt or ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  1 cup (5 ounces) pastry or all-purpose flour

  Butter or vegetable oil for frying

  1 recipe Filling/Fullung (Ashkenazic Pastry Fillings)

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, oil, sugar, and salt. Gradually add the flour to make a smooth, thin batter. Strain if there are any lumps. Or process all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Stir to recombine.

  2. Heat a 6-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until a few drops of water sprinkled on the surface scatter and evaporate, 3 to 5 minutes. Add about 1½ teaspoons butter to thinly coat the pan; if too thick, lightly wipe off the excess. Pour in a
bout 2 tablespoons batter, tilting the pan until the batter coats the bottom. Do not add too much batter. Cook until the blintz is dry on the top and the bottom edges begin to brown, about 1 minute.

  3. Remove the pan from the heat. Using a spatula or blunt knife, loosen the pancake's edges. Flip the pancake onto a plate. To stack, place a piece of wax paper, foil, or dampened paper towel between each blintz. It is best to regrease the pan after every 2 or 3 blintzes. The blintzes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Return to room temperature.

  4. Arrange a blintz on a flat surface, cooked side up, and place 2 to 3 tablespoons filling just below the center. Fold the bottom of the blintz over the filling, then fold the sides over and roll up, enclosing the filling completely. The blintzes can be refrigerated overnight or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month. Do not thaw before cooking.

  5. In a large skillet, heat a little butter over medium heat. Add the blintzes, seam side down, and fry, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side for fresh. For frozen blintzes, cover the pan for the first 5 minutes.

  Bodek

  A bodek ("examiner" in Hebrew) is a person specially trained to examine the insides of an animal following slaughter to determine if it was healthy and, therefore, kosher. Since the lungs are most commonly affected by defects, they must be inspected before a cow can be certified as kosher. The act of examination is called bedikah.

  (See also Glatt and Kosher)

  Bola

  Bola refers to various Sephardic cakes and pastries.

  Origin: Spain, Portugal

  Other names: bolo, booler, boyo.

  Bola, the Ladino word for ball, has two denotations in Sephardic cooking, which can be a little confusing. The more widespread usage encompasses various Iberian cakes and pastries, while the lesser-used meaning is a globular cut of beef shoulder. Thus when Esther Levy, in Jewish Cookery (Philadelphia, 1871), in a recipe for "Coogle, or Pudding, and Peas and Beans" (cholent with kugel), calls for "a shin bone and a piece of bola, about three pounds" she intended a piece of meat, not cake.

  The original medieval pastry bola consisted of croquettes of yeast dough or mashed soaked bread deep-fried in oil, the round shape providing its Ladino name. Over the centuries, the simple fritters developed into an assortment of both fried and baked cakes and pastries, including the more modern bola de ovo (egg cake), bola de chocolate (chocolate cake), and bola de coco (coconut cake). Unquestionably, the most popular form of bola before the expulsion from Spain was a large, soft, rich yeast-raised cake studded with raisins and candied citron, akin to the Teutonic kugelhopf and Italian panettone, which it may have inspired. These yeast-raised dishes were never used by Sephardim to commence the meal in the manner of the Ashkenazic challah, but were always offered as a treat at desayuno (brunch) or on a holiday afternoon.

  Following the expulsion, the Iberian term bola persevered mostly among those Sephardim, predominantly Portuguese, who settled in western Europe. Those who relocated to the east eventually adopted local names for cakes, relegating this ancient term primarily to an anise sweet bread and to a variety of cheese pastries called boyo. In Tunisia, the bolo gave rise to the orange-flavored doughnut, yoyo. Sephardic exiles also introduced the now popular il bollo to Italian Jews.

  The classic Portuguese-inspired work The Jewish Manual (London, 1846) by Judith Montefiore included recipes for four types of bolas, which she described as "a kind of rich cake or pudding" (referring to English cake-like steamed puddings). Three of her bolas consisted of yeast-raised cakes: "Bola Toliedo," "A Bola D'Hispaniola," and "A Plain Bola." The fourth, "Bola D'Amor," was a type of confection. Montefiore's "Plain Bola" follows the manner of a classic Iberian bola: "Take three quarters of a pound of white sugar, three quarters of a pound of fresh butter, two eggs, one pound and a half of flour, three spoonsful of yeast, a little milk, and two ounces of citron cut thin, and mix into a light paste; bake in a tin, and strew powdered sugar and cinnamon over it before baking. The above ingredients are often baked in small tins or cups."

  At the time of the expulsion from Spain and subsequent forced conversion of Portugal's Jews, the Netherlands was under Spanish control and, therefore, many Conversos moved there in the hopes of escaping the Inquisition and reclaiming their religion. In Holland, the plain bola, a yeast cake shaped like a scone, became known as bolussen. It was probably in dairy-rich Holland that butter was initially substituted for the traditional olive oil of Iberia. Other newer forms of bola emerged in the Netherlands as well, referred to by the Dutch as Joodse keuken (Jewish cakes). Among the most prominent Dutch bola are gember bolussen (ginger cakes) and orgeade bolussen (with bitter and sweet almonds), made by rolling out a rich yeast dough on a bed of cinnamon-sugar, sprinkling it with citron and jam or calder (a Portuguese syrup), rolling it up, cutting the roll into slices, and baking. This led to one of the most popular Dutch pastries, Zeeuwse bolussen (Zeeland-style cakes), described by a Dutch dictionary as "flat, round cakes made of flour, milk, citron, cinnamon, and syrup."

  Dutch Jews later brought classic bolas, as well as the spiral versions, to England, where they became known in the nineteenth century as "stuffed monkeys." The name may be a whimsical corruption of the Arabic word for stuffed, mashi. Bolas and stuffed monkeys became popular English holiday fare, especially on Purim.

  Israel Zangwill, in his novel Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People (London, 1892), offered a vivid description of Purim in Victorian London: "At Purim a gaiety, as of the Roman carnival, enlivened the swampy Wentworth Street, and brought a smile into the unwashed face of the pavement. The confectioners' shops, crammed with 'stuffed monkeys' and 'bolas,' were besieged by hilarious crowds of handsome girls and their young men, fat women and their children, all washing down the luscious spicy compounds with cups of chocolate; temporarily erected swinging cradles bore a vociferous many-colored burden to the skies; cardboard noses, grotesque in their departure from truth, abounded."

  Later, in discussing Passover, Zangwill noted, "Now the confectioner exchanges his stuffed monkeys, and his bolas and his jam-puffs, and his cheese-cakes for unleavened 'palavas,' (sponge cakes) and worsted balls and almond cakes."

  (See also Bimuelo and Boyo)

  Sephardic Soft Cheese Fritters (Bolos De Queso)

  about 48 fritters

  [DAIRY]

  1¼ cups (6.25 ounces) all-purpose flour

  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1/8 teaspoon baking powder

  1/8 teaspoon salt

  1 pound (2 cups) farmer cheese or mild soft goat cheese

  4 large eggs, lightly beaten

  3 tablespoons sugar

  1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

  ½ teaspoon brandy

  ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

  Vegetable or peanut oil for deep-frying

  Confectioner's sugar or sugar syrup (Middle Eastern Sugar Syrup (Atar/Shira)) (optional)

  1. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine the cheese, eggs, sugar, butter, brandy, and zest. Stir in the flour mixture.

  2. In a deep, heavy skillet or saucepan, heat at least 1 inch oil over medium heat to 375°F.

  3. In batches, drop the batter by tablespoonfuls into the oil and fry, turning, until golden brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. If desired, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or dip in syrup.

  Bollo

  Bollo is a round, anise-flavored, slightly sweet bread or bun.

  Origin: Portugal, Spain

  Other names: French: pain à l'anis; Ladino: bolo, boyo.

  Sephardim historically used unembellished pita- like bread as their Sabbath loaves, sometimes adding anise. Breads flavored with anise seeds, such as the Moroccan khboz, are still common among Mediterranean Jewish communities. Sephardim did not recite Hamotzi on enriched breads containing eggs and sweeteners, which they considered to be cakes, rejecting the use of the
Ashkenazic egg challah for their Sabbath and festival loaves. Some Sephardim made round loaves—symbolizing a coin—or intricate shapes, ranging from spirals to flowers, but only using lean dough. Moroccan Sabbath loaves tend to be round and raised, frequently with a fluted edge.

  What differentiated the Iberian round loaf bollo from other anise breads was the addition of eggs, olive oil, and sugar or honey. Bollo, the name coming from its ball-like shape, was among the myriad of advanced baked goods common to the medieval Sephardic kitchen. Sweet breads might be offered as a treat at a desayuno (brunch) or as a holiday afternoon snack, especially on Rosh Hashanah, as sign of a sweet year to come. For Sukkot, bollos are frequently studded with dried and candied fruits and nuts, symbolic of the harvest. Bollo is also traditional at the meal to break the fast of Yom Kippur. For Sukkot, Moroccans prepare raised, sesame-seed-sprinkled loaves laden with eggs, sugar, and anise, called pain petri.

  After the expulsion from Spain in 1492, Sephardim introduced bollo to locations around the Mediterranean, where several communities adopted it, notably Italians as il bollo. Italian versions tend to be richer with larger amounts of eggs, sugar, and oil. Italians customarily serve bollo throughout Sukkot and to break the fast of Yom Kippur. During Sukkot, Venetian Jews laid out a ritual "Table of the Angel," always featuring il bollo.

  (See also Bola, Bread, Challah, and Fritter)

  Sephardic Sweet Anise Bread (Bollo)

  2 medium loaves or about 26 rolls

  [PAREVE]

  1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast or 1 (0.6-ounce) cake fresh yeast

  1½ cups warm water (105 to 115°F for dry yeast; 80 to 85°F for fresh yeast)

  1/3 cup sugar or honey

  2 large eggs

  ¼ cup olive, peanut, or vegetable oil

  About 2 tablespoons anise seeds or ½ teaspoon ground anise