picturesproseandpudding: “Kreplach are small squares of rolled pasta dough filled with ground beef or chicken and folded into triangles. They can be boiled and served in soup or fried and served as a side dish. They are traditionally served at the pre-Yom Kippur meal, on the seventh day of Sukkot (Hoshanah Rabbah) and on Purim.” - Chabag.org It seems that every culture has their own take on dumplings: there’s chicken n’ dumplings, wontons, potstickers, ravioli, pierogies, empanadas, and, of course, kreplach. As stated above, kreplach are eaten on various Jewish holidays for a number of different reasons. Here’s a quick lesson: Sukkot is a holiday in which we erect, decorate, and sleep in tent-like structures called sukkahs. This is done to mimic the temporary shelters that our ancestors dwelled in when they wandered through the dessert. Blah, blah, it’s great fun and very traditional yadda yadda… I kid. I do enjoy this holiday, as it’s one of the Harvest Festivals that celebrates earth’s agricultural bounties. And generally, it’s just a good time. So what’s up with the kreplach then? What do they have to do with this holiday? Well according to Vos Iz Neias, kreplach represent “bread, the divine attributes of kindness, and meat, the divine attributes of severity.” Kreplach are essentially bread covered pockets of meat, and so they remind us that compassion should supersede judgements. Since Sukkot follows Yom Kippur, the holiday of atonement, it’s appropriate to reflect on ourselves and our actions, but also indulge a little bit. As always, it’s not like I needed an excuse to make such delicious little treats. And when the process is so easy, it’s hard to resist. The dough is pretty similar to pasta, and while the fillings may vary, they often contain only two or three ingredients. Kreplach may be boiled then served in a broth, or deep fried and enjoyed as fingerfood. My mother and I decided to meet in the middle: parboil the dumplings, then finish them in a saute pan. Our kreplach looked more like empanadas, but I think that for our first time, we did a decent job. Whatever, they tasted good anyway.

http://ift.tt/1JsuKxg