by Gil Marks
At the end of the summer, tarts and cakes made from fresh seasonal Italian plums are widespread in bakeries and homes throughout central Europe; most popular of all is a combination of blechkuchen (sheet cake) and obstkuchen (fruit topped cake) called zwetschgenkuchen. Zwetschge is the German word for "Italian plum," equivalent to the French quetsche, while pflaume is the generic German for "plum." Some of the best European plums come from Baden in southwest Germany and Alsace. This dish could just as easily have been entitled "Alsatian plum cake" or "Viennese plum cake," as it enjoys great popularity in southern Germany, Alsace, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and northern Switzerland.
The original and still most widespread version of zwetschgenkuchen is a rectangular blechkuchen made with a relatively thin layer of rich yeast dough (feine hefeteig) pressed into a large baking sheet. A more recent tart version substitutes mürbeteig, a moist, crumbly, buttery pastry, and baked in a round pan, for the yeast dough. Although Americans overwhelmingly prefer sloped-sided pies, Europeans favor the more versatile pastry made in straight-sided, flat-bottomed pans. Whether made from yeast dough or short pastry, the plums densely cover the surface of the kuchen. Italian prune plums, also called Fellenberg, release less liquid and hold their shape better than other varieties during baking. The tart-sweet fruit with just hint of cinnamon (many modern versions sprinkle the fruit with streusel) provides an intriguing contrast to the rich, pastry.
In many Alsatian and central European families, zwetschgenkuchen is a popular Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot dessert, making use of the seasonal Italian plums. But it is also enjoyed for a gratifying seasonal snack. Fresh apricots are substituted for the plums earlier in the summer and apples during the fall and winter, but plum is by far the favorite obstkuchen. These fruit cakes are among the beloved comfort foods of central European Jews, like oma (grandma) used to make.
(See also Kuchen)
German Plum Cake (Zwetschgenkuchen)
one 15½ by 10½-inch cake
[DAIRY or PAREVE]
Dough:
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast or 1 (0.6-ounce) cake fresh yeast
1 cup warm milk or water (105°F to 115°F for dry yeast; 80°F for fresh yeast)
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
About 4 cups (20 ounces) all-purpose flour
Topping:
3 to 3½ pounds plums, preferably Italian prune plums, quartered and pitted
½ cup turbinado or granulated sugar
1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. To make the dough: Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup milk. Stir in 1 teaspoon sugar and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, remaining milk, remaining sugar, butter, egg, and salt. Blend in 2 cups flour. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a mixture that holds together.
2. On a lightly floured surface or in an electric mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1½ hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 15½-by 10½-inch jelly roll pan.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough slightly larger than the pan, then place the dough in the bottom of the pan and reaching about 1 inch up the sides.
5. To make the topping: Arrange the plums, cut side up, in rows on top of the dough, pressing slightly into the dough and slightly overlapping. Combine the sugar, flour, and cinnamon and sprinkle over the plums Let stand for 15 minutes
6. Bake until the fruit is tender and the pastry is golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Zwetschgenkuchen is best the day it is made.
Bibliography
The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food is a compilation of knowledge I have accrued throughout my life, and I owe much debt and gratitude to the teachers and students who have shared their erudition and wisdom with me. During the course of the past three decades, I created a database of information on Judaism and food; in the process I read numerous books and publications, as well as interviewed a vast array of individuals, who shared their recipes, ideas, and insights.
Among the tomes I consulted were ancient and medieval Jewish texts, including the Talmud (both Babylonian c. fifth century CE and Jerusalem c. 368 CE), Seder Rav Amram Gaon (written in 857; the first comprehensive and systematic compilation of Jewish liturgy), and the Shulchan Arukh of Rabbi Joseph Caro (published in 1564 the authoritative code of law of Sephardim and, when accompanied with the glosses of Rabbi Moses Isserles, of Ashkenazim); these and various other rabbinic works provided valuable details and insights into generic and Jewish foods and culinary habits over the centuries. Many of these works are cited in specific entries in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.
This bibliography includes the most significant nonrabbinic sources, as well as the sources that will be of the most benefit to general readers, who wish to increase their understanding of Jewish history and culture.
General References
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Cookbooks
These historical or ethnic cookbooks shed light on the cookery of various Jewish communities.
Abadi, Jennifer. A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen. Boston: Harvard Common Press, 2002.
Amchanitzki, Hinde. Lehrbukh vi azoy tsu kokhen un baken (Textbook on How to Cook and Bake). New York: S. Druckerman, 1901. The first Yiddish cookbook published in America.
Angel, Gilda. Sephardic Holiday Cooking. Mount Vernon, NY: Decalogue Books, 1986.
Apicius. Apicius de re Coquinaria. Translated by Barbara Flower and Elisabeth Rosenbaum, Reprinted as The Roman Cookery Book: A critical Translation of the Art of Cooking by Apicius for Use in the Study and the Kitchen. New York: British Book Center, 1958.
Bar-David, Molly Lyons. Jewish Cooking for Pleasure. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1967.
Bene-Israel Cookbook. Anonymous. Bombay: self-published, 1986.
Berg, Gertrude, and Myra Waldo. The Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook. New York: Doubleday, 1955.
David, Suzy. The Sephardic Kosher Kitchen. Middle Village, NY: Jonathan David, 1984.
de Pomiane, Edouard. The Jews of Poland: Recollections and Recipes. 1929. book Translated by Josephine Bacon. Garden Grove, CA: Philiota Press, 1985.
Dweck, Poopa. Aromas of Aleppo. New York: Ecco, 2007.
Engle, Fannie, and Gertrude Blair. The Jewish Festival Cookbook. New York: D. McKay, 1954.
Ferris, Marcie Cohen. Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
Ganor, Avi, and Ron Maiberg. A Taste of Israel: A Mediterranean Feast. New York: Rizzoli, 1990.
Gitlitz, David M., and Linda Kay Davidson. A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
Glezer, Maggie. A Blessing of Bread. New York: Artisan, 2004.
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Grossinger, Jennie. The Art of Jewish Cooking. New York: Random House, 1958.
Gur, Janna. The Book of New Israeli Food. Tel Aviv: Al Hashulchan, 2007.
Hyman, Mavis. Indian-Jewish Cooking. London: self-published, 1992.
Kander, Lizzie Black. The Settlement Cook Book. Milwaukee: [S.N.] 1901.
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Kaufman, Sheilah. Sephardic Israeli Cuisine: A Mediterranean Mosaic. New York: Hippocrene, 2002.
Koerner, András. A Taste of the Past: The Daily Life and Cooking of a Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Jewish Homemaker. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2004.
Levi, Zion, and Hani Agabria. The Yemenite Cookbook. New York: Seaver Books, 1988.
Levy, Emilie de Vidas. Sephardic Cookery. New York: Central Sephardic Jewish Community of America, 1983.
Levy, Esther Jacobs. Jewish Cookery Book, On Principles of Economy. New York: Arno Press, 1975. First published in Philadelphia in 1871; the first Jewish cookbook published in America.
Levy, Faye. Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook. New York: Warner Books, 1991.
Levy, Faye. 1,000 Jewish Recipes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2000.
Machlin, Edda Servi. The Classic Cuisine of Italian Jews. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1981.
Marks, Copeland. Sephardic Cooking. New York: Donald I. Fine, 1992.
Montefiore, Lady Judith Cohen. The Jewish Manual, or Practical Information in Jewish and Modern Cookery with a Collection of Valuable Recipes and Hints Relating to the Toilette, Edited by a Lady. London, 1846.
Nash, Helen. Kosher Cuisine. New York: Random House, 1979.
Nasrallah, Nawal. Annals of the Caliph's Kitchens: Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq'sTenth-century Baghdadhi Cookbook. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
Perry, Charles, trans. An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13th Century. In A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookery Books. Vol. 2. Edited by David Friedman (Sir Cariadoc of the Bow). Published privately, 1992.
Perry, Charles. A Baghdad Cookery Book. Devon, UK: Prospect Books, 2006. book This is a translation of Kitab al-Tabikh by Al-Baghdadi, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. Baghdad, 1226. book An earlier translation of was work was by A. J. Arberry. Reprinted as "A Baghdad Cookery Book". Islamic Culture 13 (1939): 21–47, 189–214.
Roden, Claudia. The Book of Jewish Food. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
Sasson, Grace. Kosher Syrian Cooking. Self-published, 1958.
Shenker, Israel. Noshing Is Sacred. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1979.
Sheraton, Mimi. From My Mother's Kitchen. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
Sirkis, Ruth. A Taste of Tradition: The How and Why of Jewish Cooking. Lynbrook, NY: Gefen Books, 1996.
Sisterhood of Mikve Israel-Emanuel, comp. Recipes from the Jewish Kitchens of Curaçao. Netherlands Antilles: Sisterhood of Mikve Israel-Emanuel, 1982.
Stavroulakis, Nicholas. Cookbook of the Jews of Greece. New York: Cadmus Press, 1986.
Stolz, Josef. Kochbuch fur Israeliten, oder prakt. Unweisung, wie man nach dem juedischen Religionsgruenden alle Gattungen der feinsten Speisen kauscher bereitet, Carlsruhe:
1815. The first known Jewish cookbook.
Twena, Pamela Grau. The Sephardic Table: The Vibrant Cooking of the Mediterranean Jews. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998.
Wolfert, Paula. Mediterranean Cooking. Rev. ed. New York: William Morrow, 1994.
