Page:Wood - Foods of the Foreign-Born.djvu/102

86 CHARACTERISTIC JEWISH DISHES

From Spain and Portugal comes the fondness of the modern Jew for olives and the use of oil as a frying medium. The sour and sweet stewing of meats and vegetables comes from Germany. The love of pickles, cabbage, cucumbers, and herring comes from Holland, as does also the fondness for butter cakes and bolas (grain rolls). From Poland the Jewish immigrant has brought the knowledge of the use of Lokschen or Fremsel soup (cooked with goose drippings), also stuffed and stewed fish of various kinds. From Russia comes Kasha, made of barley, grits, or cereal of some sort, which is eaten instead of a vegetable with meat gravy. Blintozos are turnovers made of a poured batter and filled with preserves or cheese, and used as a dessert. Sholend, sometimes called Kugel, are puddings of many kinds, such as Magan, Lokschen, and Farfil. Zimos, or compotes of plums, prunes, carrots and sweet potatoes, turnips and prunes, parsnips and prunes, and prunes and onions, are all puddings, and come from Russia. Zimes of apples, pears, figs, and prunes are Southern Roumanian, Galician, and Lithuanian as well.

Soups are the great standby of the poor. Krupnick is a term used for cereal soups, made of a cereal like oatmeal with potatoes and fat. When the family can afford it, meat or milk is added, as the case may be. This is the staple food of the "Yeshibot" (schools to which Jewish boys are sent to be instructed in rabbinical lore). When there is neither meat nor milk in the soup, it is called "Soupr mit nisht." This really is "Supper mit nichts."

Borsht is a form of soup. It is made of either cabbage, spinach or beet-root, and rossel (juice derived from the