Apple Kugel

This week, our Hebrew cooking elective students prepared apple "kugel."  I put the word kugel in quotation marks, because the end result was actually more like apple pie. As usual, in the very short time we have to prepare the recipe, the result is not exactly what it would be had we had the time to follow the original recipe. But it did give me the chance to share with the students what a kugel is. The word itself means "round" in Yiddish (a "ball" in the original German). This was traditionally a dish prepared by Ashkenazi Jews, originally made with potatoes, and later with noodles. It has become a very popular Shabbat evening meal dish, but originally, because of its round shape, it was served on Rosh Ha'Shana and/or on life cycle occasions to symbolize the circle of life. It can be a sweet, dessert-like, dish (traditionally prepared with raisins and/or other fruits and honey), or a side-dish prepared with vegetables or just potatoes. The ingredients would often reflect the economic situation of its preparers.

Even though our "kugel" was made with wheat flour instead of noodles or potatoes, the other ingredients are all traditional to the kugel. Here's how we made it:

I began the session by reviewing the vocabulary already introduced in previous sessions, then introduced the new words for this particular recipe.

Since we only have half an hour in class to prepare the dish, I cored, peeled and thinly sliced 3 golden delicious apples for each group ahead of time, and mixed them with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  The first instruction for the students was  "La'seem et chateechot ha'tapoocheem b'toch ha'tavneet, v'leefros otam." (Put the apple pieces into the baking dish, and spread them)

Achshav, leeshbor et shtei ha'beitzeem b'toch ha'ke'ara ha'g'dola (Now, break the two eggs into the big bowl).

L'haktzeef et shtei ha'beitzeem b'toch ha'ke'ara ha'g'dola  (Whisk the two eggs in the big bowl)

L'hoseef vaneel, d'vash, k'leepat leemon, resek tapoocheem...(Add vanilla, honey, lemon zest, applesauce...)

...v'shemen l'toch ha'ke'ara, v'l'haktzeef otam b'yachad. (...and oil into the bowl, and whisk them together.)

Az l'hoseef et ha'kemach, avkat afeeya, keenamon, egoz mooskat v'melach l'toch ha'ke'ara, v'l'arbev et ha'kol b'yachad (Then add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into the bowl, and stir it all together)

L'sof, leefros et ha'batzek al chateechot ha'tapoocheem ba'tavneet (Finally, spread the dough on the apple pieces in the baking dish)

Keep spreading (the dough is pretty thick!)

This was probably the most frustrating part of the recipe - but after 5 or so minutes of spreading, it was ready. (By the way, it's always nice when I can connect our Hebrew vocabulary to vocabulary we use in our prayers. Today, I was able to remind the students that we use a form of the verb "leefros" (to spread) in the "Hashkeeveinu" prayer that we sing at the very end of our week day prayer sessions ("U'fros aleinu sookat sh'lomecha..."  - "And spread upon us the sukkah of your peace...")

Achshav ze moochan la'seem ba'tanoor, v'la'afot chatzi sha'a (Now it's ready to put in the oven and bake for half an hour)

L'nakot et ha'shoolchan (Clean the table).  We begin each session with my asking the children to "leerchotz yada'eem eem sabon" (wash hands with soap), and we end each session before going out to hafsaka (recess) with "l'nakot et ha'shoolchan."

Next week is the final session in this second round of electives. The students will be asked to write down their first 3 choices of electives for the third round on a list they'll be given of the elective choices.