Ok, dumb joke, but I thought it was kind of clever. Challah (pronounced holla) the braided Sabbath bread of Judaism, is a type of European celebratory loaf (similar to the Greek bread I made) symbolic of God’s goodness and bounty. I find myself reminiscing of my great-great-uncle, Tevye. I would spend time with him and countless hours in his simple house in a small village in Russia. We would celebrate the Sabbath by making many loaves of this slightly crusty, yet soft bread. Normally we would gather up the eggs to use up just before the Sabbath since gathering is obviously considered work in that Orthodox Jewish Community.
The key, apparently, to making great looking Challah, is to braid it so that it is tapered at the ends and plump in the middle. This is by far, the most beautiful bread that I have made. I may do this one again, just for the aesthetics. You can vary the shape of the bread based on the message you are trying to convey. You can curl the dough into a round shape for Rosh Hashanah. The round shape symbolizes how the world has no beginning and no end; three strands symbolize truth, peace and beauty; and the spiral coil indicate the ascent to God.
I am a little sad that the people who get to eat this tomorrow will not be able to eat it fresh, but it still tastes great, and I will include the pictures since I’ll have to slice it before I serve it tomorrow.
Next week, Ciabatta.
1 comment:
It was good, but I really want another loaf of last week's bread.
This bread was beautiful!
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