Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  In Yiddish and German the word mandlen means "almonds," but there are no nuts in these pasta pieces— the name refers to its nut-like shape. The dough is rolled into ropes, cut into small pieces, and originally deep-fried, an ancient technique. The eggs in the dough cause the balls to puff up and hollow out during frying, which results in small, crisp, airy puffs. Today mandlen are more commonly baked. Mandlen are akin to teiglach, except the latter, after frying, are boiled in honey. Mandlen are among the classic eastern European starch garnishes for chicken soup, along with lokhshen (noodles), kreplach (filled pasta), and knaidlach (matza balls). In soup, they absorb some of the flavor and soften, while offering an interesting textural contrast to the hot liquid.

  Historically, mandlen were primarily prepared for the Sabbath, festivals, and weddings. They have a particular significance for the Sabbath as a symbol of the manna, a connection based on the similarity in both the names and shapes. In the 1940s, the advent in America and Israel of packaged commercial "soup nuts," sometimes made from matza meal for Passover, led to the adoption of mandlen beyond the Ashkenazic community. Today in Israel, small crispy versions are still extremely popular, although they are rarely made at home.

  Ashkenazic Soup Nuts (Mandlen)

  about 50 soup nuts

  [MEAT or PAREVE]

  2 large eggs, lightly beaten

  2 tablespoons schmaltz or vegetable oil

  ½ teaspoon table salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  About 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour, or 2/3 cup matza cake meal and 1 teaspoon potato starch

  Vegetable oil for deep-frying

  1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, schmaltz, and salt. Stir in ½ cup flour. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that is not sticky. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Cover and let stand for at least 20 minutes.

  2. Shape the dough into ¼- to ½-inch-thick ropes and cut the ropes into ¼- to ½-inch pieces.

  3. In a large pot, heat at least 1 inch oil over medium heat to 375°F.

  4. In batches, fry the mandlen, turning, until puffed and golden brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Let cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Serve as a soup garnish.

  Manti

  Manti is a filled dumpling.

  Origin: Uzbekistan

  Other names: Afghanistan: mandu; Turkey: tabak börek.

  Around the third century BCE, the Mongols of northern China received the grindstone by way of central Asia and mastered wheat flour doughs. They then developed a number of steamed and boiled dough dishes, including a steamed bun filled with chopped boiled mutton called man tou (head of a southern savage); its name possibly referred to its crimped edges. This dish eventually evolved into a dumpling similar to the modern wonton.

  The Turks, who originated in Mongolia, adopted the filled dumpling and called it manti. In the tenth century, a group of Turks led by Seljuk moved into the area of Bukhara, then gradually advanced into western Asia, bringing with them many Chinese and central Asian foods, including manti. Considering that the appearance of the Turkish manti predates any other filled pasta in the Mediterranean region, it may have been the inspiration for comparable European pastas. Similarly, it was probably the Tatars (Mongolian tribes) who introduced noodles, including manti, to eastern Europe, leading to the Polish pierogi, Ukrainian vareniki, and Ashkenazic kreplach. Turkish manti are smaller than Uzbeki versions and are baked in a liquid.

  Filled meat dumplings—originally from China, but also beloved in Turkey and Uzbekistan (here they are seen in a Samarkand kitchen)—predate filled pastas from the Mediterranean.

  In Uzbekistan, manti, generally eaten in prodigious amounts, are cooked in special multilevel steamers, another gift of the Chinese. The somewhat rustic Bukharan manti are larger and less delicate than Chinese wontons. Unlike Turkish and Tatar dumplings, which always contain a meat filling. Bukharans also developed various cheese and vegetarian fillings, such as squash and potato; for dairy meals these dumplings are typically served swimming in yogurt. Meat manti are customarily eaten warm, sprinkled with a little chopped fresh parsley or dill, but are also accompanied by a dipping sauce or added to chicken soup, in the Chinese manner.

  Since the arrival in the late twentieth century of large numbers of Bukharans in Queens, New York, many restaurants in the area and some in Midtown Manhattan have begun to feature manti. Bukharans serve these dumplings on Purim and other festive occasions.

  Bukharan Steamed Filled Pasta (Manti)

  about thirty 3-inch or twenty-four 4-inch dumplings

  [MEAT]

  Filling:

  1 pound ground lamb or beef chuck

  1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

  About ½ teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

  1 recipe (1 pound) Egg Noodle Dough or 24 to 28 (about 6 ounces) wonton or gyoza wrappers

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the meat, onion, salt, and, if using, cinnamon.

  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/16 inch thick and cut into 3-inch rounds. Or divide the dough into 30 or 24 pieces, form into balls, and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out to thin 3- or 4-inch rounds.

  3. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each round. Wet the edges of the dough with water. Bring up the sides of the dough around the filling, pinch together at the top, and twist to form a small pouch. The dumplings may be prepared ahead up to this point and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Do not thaw before cooking, but increase the cooking time by about 2 minutes.

  4. Place an oiled bamboo steamer in a wok and add water to reach about 1 inch from the bottom of the steamer. Or place an oiled colander in a large kettle and add water to reach about 1 inch from the bottom. Arrange the dumplings on the steamer rack in a single layer without touching, cover tightly, and steam until the dough is tender and the filling is cooked through, about 20 minutes. If using a multilevel steamer, reverse the compartments halfway through cooking. Transfer the manti to a warm plate, cover, and keep warm until ready to serve.

  Marble Cake

  Marble cake is made of two different colored batters that are swirled in the pan to create a marble-like effect.

  Origin: Central Europe

  Other names: marmorgugelhupf, marmorkuchen.

  Marmor is the German and Yiddish word for marble. The idea of lightly mingling two different batters in one cake seems to have originated in early nineteenth-century Germany. The earliest version of marble cake consisted of a kugelhupf (sweet yeast bread), one half of which was colored with molasses and spices. Bakers next began to do the same thing with sponge cake batter.

  The cake was brought to America by immigrants shortly before the Civil War and the term marble cake was first recorded in English in the September 29, 1859, issue of the Illinois State Chronicle (Decatur). When this novelty initially appeared in American cookbooks—perhaps the earliest recipe was in Tit-Bits: Or, How to Prepare a Nice Dish at a Moderate Expense by Mrs. S. G. Knight (Boston, 1864)—spices and molasses were still being used, but the technique was applied to butter cakes. The molasses-spice marble cake remained predominant through the nineteenth century, then, as chocolate gained a greater hold on the American public, it generally replaced spices in this classic treat.

  The first Jewish source, and among the earliest anywhere, for a chocolate marble cake was Aunt Babette's (Cincinnati, 1889), in which a recipe instructed cooks to "stir into [half the batter] about two heaping tablespoons of grated chocolate (which you must grate before you begin to mix the cake)." Some bakers compromised between the two and created chocolate-spice marble cakes, such as the "Marble Cake" recipe in the first edition of The Settlement Cook Book (Milwaukee, 1901), which was flavored with grated chocolate, cinnamon, and cloves and baked in a tube pan.

  Initially, the sponge variety of marble cake, which was
pareve and was prepared as both loaves and sheet cakes, was adopted by Ashkenazim for use on the Sabbath, festivals, and Jewish celebrations. A few Jewish bakeries still produce the old-fashioned sponge-spice type and it occasionally makes an appearance at a Sabbath morning Kiddush or various life-cycle events. Chocolate generally supplanted spices in most commercial and homemade Jewish versions, in both airy sponge cakes and dense butter cakes. Jewish homemakers generally concentrated on variations of the marbled butter cake, which was easier to make and sturdier than the sponge types. Marble butter cake was rich enough and interesting enough without the need for frosting, so it was often brought to a shiva call (visit to a house of mourning) or when paying a call to a family after the birth of a baby.

  Many Jewish bakeries in the New York area in the 1950s through the 1970s would distinctively add a small amount of almond extract to the chocolate marble cake, creating a version sometimes referred to as a "German marble cake" that had a characteristic almond aroma. A relative of marble cake that was particularly popular in New York Jewish bakeries from the end of World War II through the 1960s was the Wonder Cake, a loaf in which melted semisweet chocolate was drizzled into a yellow cake batter; some of the chocolate was absorbed into the batter and marbleized and some of it firmed into hard streaks. The concept of marbling was eventually applied to cheesecakes as well. Manufacturers even turned out packaged marble cake mix made from matza meal for Passover.

  Toward the end of the twentieth century, many people began taking marble cake for granted and it lost some of its appeal. Yet there is still something endearing about this classic cake, the contrast in colors and flavors reflecting a yin and yang in every bite. In 2008, the large Israeli manufacturer Osem noted that the best-selling style of the various cakes it exports to Britain is the marble cake. After all, there is a good reason it has endured for so long.

  German Spice Marble Cake (Marmorkuchen)

  one 9-by-5-inch loaf or 8-inch square cake/8 to 10 servings

  [DAIRY or PAREVE]

  2 cups (7 ounces) sifted cake flour, or 1½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted after measuring

  2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ½ teaspoon ground cloves

  ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

  ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened

  1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

  3 large eggs

  1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  2/3 cup milk, buttermilk, soy milk, or water

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or 8-inch square baking pan, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, grease again, and dust with flour.

  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, beat together the molasses, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg until smooth. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk (4 portions for the flour, 3 portions for the milk), beginning and ending with the flour.

  3. Transfer about one-third of the batter to a medium bowl and stir in the molasses mixture until smooth. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the plain and molasses batter into the prepared pan, filling it about two-thirds full. For a swirled effect, briefly run a knife or skewer through the batters to marbleize.

  4. Bake until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan, about 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic, then foil, and store at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

  Variation

  Chocolate Marble Cake:

  Substitute 1 ounce melted and cooled unsweetened chocolate for the molasses and spices. Or substitute 5 tablespoons nonalkalized (Dutch-processed) cocoa powder and, if desired, 1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water and cooled.

  Maror

  The biblical account of the original Passover meal on which the Seder is based, directs, "And they shall eat the meat [lamb or goat] in this night, roast with fire, and matzas; with marrorim [bitter herbs] they shall eat it." Pointedly, matza is distinguished as a separate entity in the Seder from the lamb, while marrorim is listed as an adjunct to the meat. Thus, unlike matza, maror is always implicitly tied to the paschal offering and, since the destruction of the Temple, its observance has been by dint of rabbinic ordinance.

  The key to the accompaniment to the paschal offering is in its name—it must have a bitter flavor. The text's usage of the plural form marrorim reflects that more than one item is acceptable for the commandment and that the term does not simply refer to a single plant called maror. The Talmud reveals that marrorim must be a vegetable and enumerated the characteristic features—any bitter herbage that possesses seraf (white sap) and "has a pale [grayish] green appearance." Only the stalk and leaves, but not the root, are valid for the maror. Rabbi David Frankel in his commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud (c. 1743) noted, "If you cut it in a thick place there exudes from it a white liquid like milk; all these are the signs of maror." In addition, all the possibilities for maror share a similar pattern—after the winter rains cease in Israel, these plants push upwards from the ground in time for Passover, sporting relatively mild-flavored leaves, which when mature form a hard central stalk as the leaves become tough and more bitter. The Talmud notes, "Why are the Egyptians compared to maror? To teach that just as this maror is at the first soft but at its end is hard, so too the Egyptians at the beginning were soft but at the end were hard [harsh]." The Talmud also stressed that the bitter herb cannot be pickled or cooked for use at the Seder, but must be raw.

  Horehound is believed to be tamcha, one of the original types of bitter herbs approved for use as maror at the Passover Seder. More recently, some Ashkenazim have thought that tamcha meant "horseradish".

  The Mishnah lists five items that, having met the qualifications, could be used use for the bitter herb: "chazeret, ulshin, tamcha, charchavina, and maror." The Talmud concludes that the five were listed in order of preference and that chazeret was the preferable vegetable.

  There is unanimity that chazeret refers to lettuce, an annual herb native to the eastern Mediterranean region. Egyptian hieroglyphics reveal that lettuce, then a wild plant, was being consumed at least forty-five hundred years ago. The current version of this vegetable, however, has changed dramatically. Wild lettuce is still occasionally found along the eastern Mediterranean. It has an elongated central stalk and prickly, red-tinged, light green leaves. It is extremely bitter, especially as it matures. The ribs of wild lettuce contain a considerable amount of white latex sap; from this characteristic comes its Latin name, lactuca (milky). The plant was finally cultivated around 800 BCE and eventually became more like modern lettuce. It was the Romans who developed the now-common head lettuce and also gradually reduced or entirely bred out much of the crimson color, latex, and bitterness from most varieties. The Moors brought the vegetable to Spain and are credited with developing the modern form of romaine lettuce. Romaine has long been the standard maror in many Sephardic homes, a role it has recently gained among an increasing number of Ashkenazim. Iceberg lettuce, bland and pale, was only introduced in 1894 and lacks any of the traditional attributes of maror.

  Ulshin is either endive or chicory or both, since the two close relatives have long been confused with each other. Considering the kinship and confusion of chicory, endive, and escarole, it is hardly surprising that each is used as maror in various Sephardic and Mizrachi households.

  Tamcha seems to be a leafy, dull green herb. The leading candidate for tamcha (according to Rashi) is horehound—also called white horehound and, in Arabic, hashishat al kalib—a plant whose primary usage today is in cough medicine and liqueurs. Horehound has crinkl
ed, wooly, grayish green leaves and contains a latex sap; the leaves are indeed bitter. This identification of tamcha generally comes as a surprise to the many contemporary Ashkenazim who currently mistranslate it as horseradish. Horseradish lacks all of the characteristics prescribed by the Talmud.

  The fourth item, charchavina, seems to be either field eryngo or sea eryngo. Field eryngo is a perennial herb thistle that grows in the dry soils of fields and rocky places around the Mediterranean. The plant bears bitter, toothed, heart-shaped gray-green leaves that, when young, are soft and edible. The smaller sea eryngo, also called sea holly, grows in the maritime areas along the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Sea eryngo has spiny evergreen leaves, shaped like holly leaves, which, when young, are generally eaten boiled, but can be eaten raw.

  The fifth plant, maror, was the least preferable type. It may be wormwood, a European perennial herb with extremely bitter gray-green leaves. More probably it is sow thistle, called murar in Arabic, which bears gray-green spiny leaves with a bitter flavor and, notably, the stems secrete a milky sap.

  (See also Charoset, Chicory/Endive, Horseradish, Koraik (Wrap), and Seder)

  Masa (Sephardic Dough)

  Until well into the seventeenth century, most European baking remained rather medieval and was characterized by pies with inedible crusts and very heavy honey cakes made from bread crumbs instead of flour. Sephardim, on the other hand, early on began developing a sophisticated repertoire of cakes and pastries encompassing various bolas (Ladino for "balls," spheres of yeast dough), pan dulce (sweet breads), biscochos (cookies), and egg-foam cakes. At the heart of Sephardic pastries are a variety of doughs, called masa in Ladino, that are used to make an array of savory and sweet treats for the Sabbath, every holiday, and most other special occasions. The Spanish expulsion in 1492 spread Iberian culinary refinements to many parts of the Middle East and Europe, including to some Ashkenazim. Masas are used to make crisp, flaky savory pies, such as pastels, pastelitos, pastidas, and tapadas; turnovers, such as borekas, empanadas, and sambusaks and pastries, such as kezasdas (mini cheese cups).