Every other week, we’re unearthing Heirloom Recipes -- dishes that have made their way from one generation's kitchen to the next.
Today: Rachel Phipps brings us a Jewish classic from her Mama.
Most of the kudos for my kitchen credentials usually go to my mother, or to the time I’ve spent living in France and Los Angeles, as well as in my native England. However, for knowledge of and love for traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cooking and deli items I really have my late grandmother to thank. She used to bring me challah from the Kosher bakery, Kosher smoked salmon (which, in London at least, tastes radically different from the pedestrian version), gefilte fish balls, Viennas and wurscht. She also bought chopped and rollmop herring and rye bread for my mother, though I was not much of a fan of the latter trio.
Because my mother was the cook in my family throughout my childhood, I don’t have too many memories in the kitchen with my grandmother, except for the fact she was always scared of underfeeding everyone. In her old home in the south of France I remember the cupboards were always difficult to close because they were so full -- we even used to joke that you needed elastic straps to keep her fridge door closed! However, I know I also have my grandmother to thank for the few traditional Jewish recipes my mother has incorporated into her repertoire; all of the books on traditional Jewish food history and cooking in her enviable food library were gifts from her mother.
Mama's Lockshen Pudding
Serves 6 to 8
5 ounces egg vermicelli
2 ounces granulated sugar
2 ounces margarine (or butter, if you'd rather not use margarine)
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoons mixed spice (cinnamon, allspice, & nutmeg)
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
4 ounces dried sultanas
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.