EDUCATION | THURSDAY EVENING CLASS HIGHLIGHTS DELICIOUS JEWISH DISHES
Kosher cooking club brings ‘Kashrut’ to Wash U
BY JILL KASSANDER
SPECIAL TO THE LIGHT
Too many cooks do not spoil the broth when it comes to the Kosher Cooking Club at Washington University. In fact, the more the merrier. With the sounds of laughter and the smell of sautéing onions wafting down the corridors, the signs on the walls of Mudd Hall pointing the way to the Kosher Cooking Club were really unnecessary.
Club advisor Chana Novack started the program two years ago. “It’s a wonderful experiential program for the students,” Novack said. “They are learning to do Jewish. This is very important, because after college they will have these skills to help them keep a Jewish home.”
Almost every other Thursday evening Novack brings all the kosher cooking utensils and supplies from her home to the kitchen in Mudd Hall. Students Talia Fein and Danielle Matilsky are the co-chairs of the club this year. “I got involved in the club last year,” Fein said. “It’s such a fun, relaxing, easy going environment. Some people come to learn to cook and some just like being together.”
“It’s a nice thing to do on a Thursday night,” student Ben Alper said. Not everyone who attends the club programs keeps kosher, is Jewish or even eats the finished product. “I don’t actually eat the food,” Ari Cohen said. “It’s just fun to be at a Jewish function.”
Each semester the students share ideas of items they would like to cook. In the fall, the group had a Shabbat series and cooked challah, chicken soup and kugel. The series for this semester included sushi night, Ashkenazi treats and this particular Thursday evening — Sephardic cooking.
The recipe for the main course: Iraqi Kubba Aduma (red Iraqi dumplings) was brought back from Israel by Rebecca Kazzaz who was directing the cooking assembly line. Everyone was busy with assigned tasks: chopping, mixing, kneading and shredding. Students were lined up at the long kitchen counter talking about classes, movies, cooking, food, finals and even breaking into song now and then.
Upcoming events include making hamantashen for Purim and a special event for Passover.
“During Passover, the Jewish Student Union Social Committee will set up a table at lunchtime where students can walk by, grab a kosher-forpesach matzah pizza for lunch and then go to class,” Fein said.
“Everyone likes to learn how to make the things they are used to having at home,” Fein said.
Said Novack, “I actually got calls over the summer from students who wanted the challah recipe. They were home for the summer and wanted to make the challah for their families.”
“Sometimes as we’re eating, someone will say it is just like their Grandma made it,” Fein said. “Kosher food brings good memories,” Novack stated.
Iraqi Kubba Aduma (red Iraqi dumplings)
This family recipe traveled from Baghdad to Jerusalem with the Jewish-Iraqi Aliyah in the early 1950s and from Israel to St. Louis in 2005 via Rebecca Kazzaz, a sophomore at Washington University. Kubba is a term used to describe a variety of Middle Eastern dishes that contain meat enveloped in dough or rice. Different kubba dishes from various ethnic groups grace all kinds of occasions. Kubba aduma continues to be a very popular dish in the Iraqi Jewish community in Israel as different variations of the recipe are passed down through the generations.
Dough
2 pounds semolina flour
3/4 cup water
Meat Filling
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
(or 3 tablespoons dried parsley)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
Vegetable Broth
2 medium onions
chopped
6 cups fresh beets, cubed OR 3 cans beets
1/2 cup tomato paste
6 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
Juice of 2 lemons
2 heaping tablespoons bullion (chicken soup mix) powder
3 teaspoons paprika
Salt
2 quarts boiling water
Dough: In a large bowl add 1/2 cup of water to the semolina flour. Knead into a ball, adding a bit of water at a time, until dough sticks together and is tacky to the touch. Set aside for about a half hour.
Meat Filling: Mix together all ingredients.
Assemble: Dip hands in water (remember to repeat this step when making each kubba). Place about one tablespoon of dough in wet hands, flatten to about 2 millimeters in your palm. Place about one tablespoon of meat mixture onto the palm sized piece of dough.
Roll dough into a ball, ensuring that meat is sealed inside the dough. Set aside. Repeat.
Vegetable Broth: Bring water to a boil. As the water heats up, sauté the onions in another pot. When the onions are clear, turn down heat, and add the remainder of the ingredients. Stir.
Cook: Gently place all Kubbas into pot over the vegetables.
Pour hot water over them until covered.
Cook on a medium high flame for about 35- 40 minutes.