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A Jewish Food Cheat Sheet
Updated November 2011.
If you are new to a Jewish family, you may be offered ethnic food that is special to that family. We thought it would be nice to have a basic guide to some of the foods you might see and to the terminology. We recognize this can't possibly be comprehensive, and we're anticipating a lot of comments. If you want to contribute more information or recipes, we welcome that. For a short explanation of why Jewish food is the way it is, read Understanding Jewish Food Traditions.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Apples and Honey: Typical components are apples and honey (sometimes date honey or a different sweet syrup). Apples and Honey are mainly eaten during Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish Year, as a celebratory food hoping for a sweet new year. The custom of having apples and honey together to mark the beginning of year is said to be of medieval Ashkenazi (Jewish communities rooted in Northern and Eastern European, known for speaking variants of Yiddish) origin. One of the more common variants of the custom is to first recite a blessing over fruits from trees, then dip the apple in honey and take a bite, and then follow that bite with a brief prayer asking God for a good and sweet year.
Babaganoush: Typical primary components are baked or roasted eggplant and sesame paste (also known as tahini). Some add lemon, garlic and other spices to the mix. Babaganoush has found its way into Jewish cooking and eating by way of Israel’s neighbors, particularly Lebanon and Egypt; it is popular in many of the other countries in the Middle East as well. Babaganoush is not a special occasion food, and is often served as an appetizer alongside breads or crackers.
Babka: 
A yeasted dough cake with a sweet filling marbled throughout, most commonly chocolate but also enjoyed in cinnamon sugar. Babkas are often topped with streusel, a crispy crumb topping made up of a fat (most likely an oil because babka is often made pareve (neutral of meat or dairy) so it can be enjoyed with meat or dairy meais), flour and sugar. The name is from the Polish word for grandmother. Some suggest the name comes from the shape of the Polish version of the cake, which resembles pleats of a skirt or a tall hat. Babkas are eaten all year round and are most often found at a Shabbos meal.
Bagels: A circular yeasted bread with a hole in the middle. Typical components include wheat, salt, water and a leavening agent, in the form of a regular yeast or a sourdough starter. They are traditionally topped with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, bits of onion or garlic. The process of making the bagel brings out a different texture, as traditional bagels are first boiled and then baked, to give the crust a more chewy texture. Some source the name back to the Yiddish word for ring, beygl. Some trace the beginnings of the bagel back to 16th century Poland, though ringed/hooped breads have been around for even longer. Bagels seem to have several different styles and epicenters based in different Jewish communities over the last 150 years, the most prominent ones being London, Montreal, and, of course, New York. Each of these cities has their own version of the bagel that makes it their own- the Montreal version tends to be smaller, lighter and a bit sweeter, while the New York version is larger and a bit chewier. Except for Passover, bagels are eaten all year round and are most often found at breakfast or at kiddush (a light meal after services on Shabbat).
Bialys: A circular
yeasted bread, with onions baked into the center depression of the circle where the hole would be in a bagel. Bialys are named for Bialystok, a city in Poland, and come from the Polish Ashkenazi (Jewish communities rooted in Northern and Eastern Europe, known for speaking variants of Yiddish) tradition. While similar to bagels in shape and often sold in bagel shops, bialys are not boiled, just baked, and tend to have an airier inside as a result. Bialys are eaten all year round, save for Passover, and are not associated with a particular holiday.
Blintzes: A thin crepe-like pancake that's fried, folded or wrapped around a fruit or cream cheese filling, and then fried again. Typical components are flour, eggs and milk for the pancake component, and different fruits, cream cheese or farmer's cheese for the filling. The Yiddish name is derived from the old Slavic word for mill, mlin. Other Slavic countries have their own versions, often called blini. Blintzes can be eaten all year round, but have taken on a special significance for the holiday of Shavuos, the harvest holiday that also celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, because of the tradition of eating dairy meals during the first part of that festival holiday.
Borscht: A soup, often but not always cold, primarily made of beets. Borscht's name is derived from the Ukrainian word for soup, and is prominently featured among many Eastern European countries. The hot variety is often a hearty soup with starchy vegetables cooked in, while the cold variety often adds sour cream or another sour dairy product into the mix to give the soup a pinkish color and its unique flavor. Borscht can be eaten all year round; some folks have it throughout the winter and may feature it at Passover to mark the beginning of spring.
Brisket: A cut of beef taken from above the front leg of the cow. Brisket is a tougher cut of meat that requires cooking for a long time to get it to desired tenderness, which makes it a more affordable cut of meat. It is in part because of this affordability that brisket became part of Jewish holiday traditions by being a cut of meat one could afford. In addition to being known as brisket and being served traditionally at special occasions, Brisket is also on the Jewish menu in the form of pastrami, corned beef, and smoked meat, served at Jewish (or in Montreal, Hebraic) delicatessens for ages. Brisket is not exclusive to the Jewish people; being a tasty cut of meat poor folks could, Brisket also appears in Irish cuisine and in Texas Barbeque, among many other places.
Bourekas: A small phyllo-style dough filled pastry. Typical fillings include potato, sautéed onion and mushroom, spinach and various cheeses. Bourekas are said to have originated in the Ottoman Empire in what is now Turkey, and variations are found in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and came into the Jewish menu through the Sephardic (Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent) and Mizrahi (Jews descended from the Middle East, North Africa and Caucasus) traditions and are quite popular in Israel as well as in the US. Bourekas of the non-cheese variety are often prepared pareve, neutral to meat or milk, so they can be enjoyed either with milk or meat. Bourekas are not specific to any holiday and can be eaten year round, except for Passover.
Challah: A white bread that often has a lot of eggs. Challah's name is derived from the biblical commandment to separate a portion of dough for the Cohanim, or Priests. This commandment is called hafrashas challah, and you can see that this tradition is also carried out with matzo, for Kosher for Passover boxes of Matzo will have the phrase "challah is taken" printed on them to denote they've followed this commandment. Challah comes in a few different varieties; its most common variation is a braided bread with lots of eggs, though there are water challahs that don't have eggs, and there are whole-wheat challahs which sometime also don't have eggs. There also challahs that have raisins or chocolate chips folded into the dough. In addition to the braided variation, there are also circular, crown challahs that are a part of the holiday season that marks the beginning of each year, starting with Rosh Hashanah, and some folks feature this round challah at the meals before and after Yom Kippur, as well as throughout the celebration of Sukkos. Challah is a part of Shabbos and festival meals, except for Passover; at those Shabbos and festival meals we typically serve two challahs to note that when the Jewish people were in the dessert, double portions of manna would fall so people wouldn't work on Shabbos by collecting manna.
Charoses (also, in some cultures, halegh): 
A sweet side dish usually comprised of chopping up and blending together sweet fruits, nuts and wine. Charoses is derived from the Hebrew word cheres, which means clay. Charoses is made and eaten as part of the Passover seder, the festival ceremony and meal that marks the beginning of the holiday and retells the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Charoses is made to recall the mortar that the Hebrew slaves used to build the cities for Pharaoh, and is one of the items on the seder plate, a dish that contains several food items that represent significant pieces of the story of Passover.
Cheesecake: A cake primarily made of creamy cheeses, in the Jewish tradition, typically a cream cheese, and with a crumb crust. Not exclusive to the Jewish faith, as recipes in the Italian community make a great cheesecake out of ricotta as well. Like blintzes, cheesecake can be eaten all year round, but has taken on a special significance for the holiday of Shavuos, the harvest holiday that also celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, because of the tradition of eating dairy meals during the first part of the festival holiday. (Editor’s note: You can find the best cheesecake ever made at S&S Cheesecake in the Bronx, a family business for decades that still churns out delicious wheels of joy that are certified kosher. I’m sorry, I can only be so impartial.)
Cholent: A stew that is brought to a boil before Shabbos and then kept warm overnight to fully cook in time for Shabbos lunch. Cholent comes in many different forms. The one most commonly known in the Ashkenazi community often has beef, potatoes, beans and barley as its primary ingredients, but there are also Sephardic variations that contain rice instead of barley, and there are often vegetarian varieties available as well. There are several different stories for the origin of the word, most seem to connect it to Old French, chalant, "to warm"; or chaud lent, "hot" "slow". Cholent is typically a Shabbos lunch dish, with the dish cooking overnight.
Chopped Liver: A spread comprised of liver of a chicken or cow that is cooked, either sautéed or broiled, and then typically blended together with fried onions and hard boiled eggs. There are lots of variations of mock chopped liver that are lower in fat, or vegetarian. Chopped liver is often served at holidays and special occasions; though it has no specific holiday it is associated with.
Corned Beef: The brisket cut of beef, brined or pickled. It is not specific to the Jewish community, 
though it is a popular sandwich meat in Jewish delis, where it is often served on rye bread with mustard. The difference between the Jewish and Irish version is due to the brining spices.
Falafel: A fritter made of ground up chickpeas and spices. There is argument over exactly where falafel originates, but it is another food that has made its way onto the Jewish menu through neighbors to Israel in the Middle East. Some suggest it was originally invented by the Coptics in Egypt as a replacement for meat during Lent. Now popular in Israel, it is suggested that Israelis added to the increase in popularity by turning into a pita sandwich with salads and spreads back in the 1970s. Because of its vegan content, falafel is neither milk nor meat and so is pareve and okay to eat with either kind of meal. Falafel can be eaten all year round, except for those who won't eat beans during Passover.
Gefilte Fish:
A patty made of ground up varieties of fish, matzo meal and spices, boiled in fish broth. Typical main ingredients include fresh water fish like pike, carp, and, most commonly, whitefish. Gefilte fish gets its name from the Yiddish for "stuffed fish" and is commonplace to have on festivals and Shabbos. Some say that gefilte fish became popular due to how it’s made: the deboning meant some Jews who don't want to break the rules of the things you shouldn't do on Shabbos would feel more comfortable having the fish, because they weren't "choosing" not to have the bones. Also, the addition of breadcrumbs or matzo meal meant they could make the fish last longer.
Gribenes: Fried poultry skin, primarily chicken skin, mixed with fried onions. Gribenes is Yiddish for "scraps," though I wouldn't call them that. A while back, when cooking with rendered chicken fat (shmaltz) was the norm, gribenes were the crispy remnants when skins were fried to render their fat. People would often sauté onions with them and then have them as a snack. They are an all year round food, though the fat content has made their appearance somewhat rare. You can still find them at some Jewish delis if you want to give them a try.
Hamantaschen: 
A triangular shaped cookie with filling in the middle, usually filled with poppy seeds, jams or fruits, but also can be filled with chocolate or other fillings. Hamantaschen means "Haman's pockets" in Yiddish, and are shaped after the three-corner hat of Haman, the villain of the Purim story. In Israel, they are called Oznei-Haman, meaning "Haman's Ears" in Hebrew. These sweets are especially associated with Purim and are often given out as part of mishloach manos, gifts that people give to friends and strangers as commanded in chapter 9 of the Book of Esther, the book containing the story of Purim.
Honey Cake: A sweet cake primarily flavored with honey, though some recipes also contain coffee, orange juice, and even whiskey. Honey Cake is often eaten during Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish year, as a celebratory food hoping for a sweet new year. Honey is also often used in the Jewish tradition as a reference to biblical descriptions of the land of Israel being a land flowing with milk and honey.
Hummous: A paste made primarily of chickpeas, often used as a dip for breads and vegetables, as well as a topping for sandwiches. Other primary ingredients include sesame paste (tahini), garlic and lemon juice. The name hummous is derived originally from the Arabic word for chickpeas, himmas. There are recorded examples of hummous recipes similar to the modern day iteration as far back as 13th century Egypt. Not affiliated with any holiday, though some Jews of Ashkenazi origin (Jewish communities rooted in Northern and Eastern European, known for speaking variants of Yiddish) won't eat hummous during Passover because chickpeas are consider kitniyos, a group of substances banned for use on Passover because of their closeness to grains centuries ago. Tasty cold, a great dip for the Shabbos lunch table.
Kasha: A dish made with buckwheat groats. Typically, kasha is often served as part of a knish, or with bowtie pasta and caramelized onions. Kasha is derived from the Slavic family of languages, and in those languages it refers to a more general family of porridges made from different grains. Kasha porridges of the Slavic variety have been around centuries, and it's extremely likely that's how the term found its way into Yiddish. 
Kasha is not associated with a specific holiday, but you'll often see kasha varnishkes (kasha with bowties) at festival meals.
Kibbeh: Small, stuffed finger-shaped fried dumplings of semolina flour. Kibbeh can be either stuffed with meat, potatoes or mixed vegetables. Kibbeh means "ball" in Arabic. Kibbeh have their origins in the Middle East, where Syrian and Iraqi Jews were among the first to prepare them.
Kichel: A light, airy cookie primarily made of egg and sugar. Kichel is Yiddish for "little cake." Kichel have a host of variations, including large round iterations in New York City, and smaller diamond shapes in Israel. Kichel can be seen year round, but given the lack of grain flour as a main ingredient, its Passover-friendly nature makes a great snack for Passover.
Kishkeh (also known as stuffed derma): It was traditionally a cow's intestine stuffed with either matzo meal or flour, schmaltz (chicken fat) and seasonings. As beef intestine has not been legal in the US in a long time, it is often replaced with other edible beef or synthetic casings. Kishkeh comes from the Yiddish for "guts." Kishkehs are not associated with a specific holiday, so you tend to see it at special occasions all year around.
Kneidlach: See matzo balls.
Knish: 
A stuffed pastry, typically baked and round, or fried and square, filled primary with potato and fried onions, but also potato and spinach or kasha. Writer Laura Silver traces her own family and the history of the knish back to the town of Knishen, Poland. Knishes are not associated with a specific holiday. Knishes are also somewhat rare these days, and if you find a good one, please let us know!
Kosher Deli: Kosher is Hebrew for appropriate or fitting. It refers to the Jewish religious food rules. Deli is short for delicatessen, which comes from German words meaning yummy food. Just to be confusing, sometimes food combinations that aren't actually kosher are part of kosher deli food, because the term refers to Eastern European Jewish food in general. Kosher deli includes meat sandwiches on rye bread and hard rolls; sour pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and sauerkraut; and potato salads and coleslaws that North American Jews like to eat in delicatessens. Some "kosher deli" restaurants are "kosher style" and not actually kosher — they feature kosher meats in unkosher preparations, like a Reuben sandwich that contains kosher pastrami and Swiss cheese. (Cheese and meat don't go together in kosher food.) If you want to be sure, a kosher restaurant, whether it's a delicatessen or not, will serve either dairy foods or meat foods, but not both, and will have a certificate posted in a prominent place that shows a rabbinical team does inspections of ingredients and cooking methods in the kitchen. It's restaurant food, so at times one would be in a restaurant. Some Jewish communities also rely on kosher delicatessens to send platters of food to houses of mourning. Delis are often packed on Sunday mornings.
Kosher Salt: Is a misnomer. All plain salt is kosher. (In fact, most flavored salts are, too.) Kosher salt should be called "kashering salt" because it refers to the big salt crystals used to make meat kosher. The big crystals are better able to draw blood out from meat, one of the requirements for treating kosher meat, based on the biblical prohibition against eating blood. These days, most kosher butchers will kasher the meat as a service to the consumer. Frozen kosher meat must be pre-salted. A lot of chefs who aren't preparing kosher food like to use kosher salt because the big crystals are fun to pick up and throw on food.
Kreplach: Small dumplings, similar to wontons, which are often stuffed with ground beef or chicken, they are found primarily in soups. Less often, kreplach are fried and served on their own as an appetizer or snack. Kreplach is Yiddish for "little dumplings." Kreplach can be found at Jewish delis, and often as part of festive meals. Some have said Kreplach were considered an important part of a pre-Yom Kippur fast meal, while others have suggested it’s a good Purim food, because Purim celebrates what is hidden.
Krupnik: A hearty barley vegetable soup that can be prepared either for a meat (fleishig) or dairy (milhig) meal. Krupnik is derived from the Slavic word for hulled grains, krupa, and has its origins in Poland. Krupnik was also eaten by non-Jews, though without the concern of having a meat or dairy version of the soup.
Krupnik was not a special occasion food but a hearty everyday food, and could be expected all year round, except during Passover.
Kuchen: A yeasted coffee cake. Kuchen is German for "cake," and these tasty desserts came to the Jewish community from German and Austrian Jews. Apple, apricot and plum are among the most common varieties of this cake. The plum versions are so specific, that families can trace their ancestry to specific regions of Germany based on how they prepare their kuchen.
Kugel: A casserole-like side dish comprised of different starches or vegetables and held together by egg. Kugels can be either savory or sweet, and can be appropriate for either dairy or meat meals, depending on their ingredients. Among the savory, one of most popular kugels is potato, with potato, garlic, fried onions, egg and, in some cases, matzo meal as the primary ingredients. Among the sweeter, noodle kugel is more popular, comprised of noodles, eggs, usually some sugar and some kind of fruits that are often dried. Kugels are often found at Shabbos meals or holiday meals, and because of the flexibility of ingredients in a kugel, it is very often kosher for Passover as well.
Latkes: 
Fried pancakes, mainly comprised of potato, onion and garlic, though some folks will use sweet potatoes, zucchini, and a host of other vegetables shredded up in less traditional latkes. Most people enjoy latkes with applesauce, and some put sour cream on them instead. Latkes have their roots in the Eastern European Jewish traditions. While latkes can be eaten all year round, they are a festive food for the holiday of Hanukkah. Latkes are eaten on Hanukkah: celebrate the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days by eating a delicious food fried in oil.
Lox: A smoked salmon. The ingredients are simple: a salmon, cured with a lot of salt, and sometimes some sugar as well. Most commonly enjoyed on a bagel with cream cheese, sometimes with thinly sliced cucumber or onions added on. The dish is enjoyed year round, and is commonly found at light meals following synagogue services, life cycle events (like a bris or baby naming) and at Jewish organizations’ board meetings.
Macaroons: A cookie made with egg whites, sugar and coconut or almonds. It probably means something like "macaroni" because the Italians who invented it thought the dough looked like pasta, even though it's a cookie. Jews made this cookie a favorite because it contains no flour and may be eaten on Passover. Good macaroons have a crisp thin outer crust and are chewy inside. The coconut ones that come in a can for Passover are chewy all over and very sweet. They now come in crazy flavors, like Rocky Road.
Mamaligeh: A cornmeal mush, made with corn grits, similar to polenta. It’s a Romanian specialty. Jews typically served it with dairy meals, adding cheese and butter to the mix. It’s a hearty, warm winter dish, not attached to any particular Jewish holiday.
Mandelbrot (or Mandelbreid): A hard cookie made primarily from almond and somewhat similar to biscotti. Because mandelbrot can be prepared without flour, it is a great sweet snack during Passover.
Matzo (or matzah): An unleavened bread, most commonly in cracker form and only made of flour and water. From the Hebrew for unleavened bread, matzo is the traditional bread replacement for Passover. The Passover story tells that the Jews did not have time to let the dough rise, and so they ate unleavened bread. While most people think of matzo as a plain wheat flour-based cracker, there are a lot of variations: matzo made with egg, or with whole wheat flour, matzo that shares more in its texture and consistency with tortillas than with crackers, and matzo made from different grains than flour to accommodate folks who can’t have wheat gluten (including oats and spelt). Some people will eat matzo all year round in addition to Passover, but others will only eat it during the Passover seder (festive meal and service).
Matzo Balls: Round soup dumplings made from crushed up matzo (matzo meal), as well as egg, salt, and some recipes call for chicken fat (schmaltz) or seltzer. In Yiddish, matzo balls are called kneidlach. Matzo balls come from the Eastern European (Ashkenazi) tradition. Matzo balls are often enjoyed all year round, but are especially made for Passover.
Matzo Brei: Pieces of matzo, usually mixed together with egg, and fried. Matzo Brei is usually a Passover breakfast dish, and can be served savory or sweet, ranging in style from closer to an omelet to closer to French toast. Typically, folks break the matzo into pieces, soak it in water, then drain off the water and mix the wet matzo with the eggs and other ingredients before frying.
Matzo Meal Pancakes: Ground up matzo (matzo meal), mixed with eggs and other ingredients into batter, and fried up like pancakes. Usually a Passover breakfast dish and usually sweet and often dairy, though could be made pareve (neutral to meat or dairy) or savory if desired.
Pareve: Term in kosher rules for the category of foods that neither meat nor milk. Ingredients included in this category are all raw fruits and vegetables, as well as eggs from all kosher animals, all kosher fish, honey and water. Foods that are made pareve are quite useful because they can be tasty additions to any kosher meal. Some more popular foods that are often pareve include falafel, most kugels and babkas.
Pastrami: A variety of preserved beef brisket, pastrami is the Jewish version of a Romanian meat dish. (Non-Jewish Romanians often use non-kosher meat to make the pastrami.) Pastrami is brined with additional spices and then smoked. It has a smoky, vaguely sweet flavor and a lot of fat. A deli meat, it is usually sliced thin and piled up warm on the bread, and is classically served on seeded rye bread with mustard and a pickle on the side. . It can also be made with turkey instead of beef.
Pickled Herring: 
Is herring fish, cured with salt and then preserved in a dressing that usually contains vinegar, sugar and salt. Schmaltz herring is the mature, fattier fish and is more heavily salted and pressed, and matjes herring is cured in brine. Polish Jews prepared the herring sweeter and Lithuanian Jews had a dressing for the fish that includes sour cream. (The Rite Foods company also used to list "love, care and pride" as ingredients on their herring labels.) Herring is a small fatty fish that lives in the Atlantic. Since it swarms in large schools, it's often fished in large quantities and preserving it with salt in barrels was a good way to keep it. It was a poor people's food in Eastern Europe. Chopped herring salad is served as an appetizer to formal meals. Some synagogues also serve herring, usually with schnapps, as part of the food that accompanies the light kiddush meal after services.
Pickles: Vegetables, primarily cucumbers but also cabbage and other veggies, that have gone through the brining, or pickling, process. The pickling process can be done by airless fermentation in brine (saltwater) or by storage in an acid solution. Jewish pickles are often done by the former, and flavored by garlic, dill weed, and other spices mixed into the brining solution. Kosher dill pickles are pickles created by this method, and can be eaten at any stage of the brining process, either new, some of the way through (half sours) or when the process is complete (full sours). There are also small Israeli pickles that are fermented through the vinegar acid solution process. Pickles can be eaten all year round, including Passover, and are favorites of folks enjoying Jewish deli.
Pierogen: Small half-moon shaped, stuffed dumpling comprised of unleavened dough that's usually boiled or fried. Pierogen are often stuffed with potato and onion, potato and cheese, sauerkraut or other fillings, and served with fried onions. Pierogen were brought into Jewish food traditions by Ashkenazi Jews, specifically Jews from Poland and Lithuania. Pierogen can be eaten on their own, or as a side dish, and can be made dairy or pareve to be eaten as part of a meat meal.
Pita: Is an Aramaic word for "bread." Aramaic is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic, and it was the language of the Talmud. It's a round, yeasted flatbread made with wheat flour, water and salt. In the Middle East, this is the ordinary bread, eaten by people of all ethnicities. It can be used as a substitute for challah on Shabbos and holidays because each round, frisbee-like piece is a single loaf. The best pita is freshly baked, and puffs up, creating a pocket. In Israel, it's split open and used to make falafel sandwiches.
P'tchah: A jelly made from cow's feet. P'tchah is from the Ashkenazi tradition. P'tchah's popularity as a dish was due to being a delicacy created from a much cheaper part of the cow. P'tchah is much less popular these days but can still sometimes be found in Jewish delis and other Ashenazi Jewish restaurants. 
Rugeluch: A rolled pastry, often filled with chocolate, or could be filled with apricots, nuts, cinnamon, and other flavors. Rugeluch can be shaped like a rolled crescent, or can be small rolled rectangular pastries. Rugeluch can be made either with a cream cheese crust or with a pareve (neutral) crust, making them a delicious dessert possibility for meat meals. Rugeluch come from the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, and the word in Yiddish means, roughly, "little corners." They're a great snack and can be enjoyed all year round or at special non-Passover occasions.
Rye Bread: A hearty, yeasted, often sourdough-ish bread made with rye grain, and often with caraway seeds. Rye bread has been popular for centuries across Europe. The Jewish variation, light in color due to mixing wheat and rye flour, with an egg washed crust and caraway seeds, can be traced back to Eastern Europe. Rye bread is typically part of Jewish delicatessen food, the bread of sandwiches of pastrami, corned beef, smoked meat, tongue and others, but can also be found at home as a bread for toast in the morning.
Schmaltz: Animal fat, usually chicken fat. Schmaltz is used primarily for cooking and sometimes as a spread to top crackers or bread. Schmaltz comes from the Ashkenazi tradition, by way of German and Ukrainian traditions, which may have also used pork fat as a type of schmaltz. Schmaltz is often used in cooking as a replacement for butter because Jewish dietary laws (Kashrus) prohibit cooking meat with milk, so cooking a meat dish with butter was not allowed. Schmaltz is created by cooking down chicken fat, usually rendering the skin, and then draining out the drippings. The remaining crispy parts are the delicious gribenes talked about above.
Schnapps: Often a catch-all term for alcoholic beverages. Yiddish, derived from German for "alcoholic spirits," and mainly spirits that are derived from fruit; freshly pressed juices that include skin, seeds and stems of the fruits. Schnapps are often served after synagogue services along with whiskey, vodka and other beverages. German style fruit-based schnapps can also be potentially Passover-friendly beverages as well.
Schnitzel: A fried piece of boneless poultry, usually chicken or turkey. The piece of poultry is often coated in egg, then breadcrumbs, spices and often sesame seeds, and then fried. The popularity of Schnitzel in Jewish foods comes from Israel by way of Europe. The origin of schnitzel is in Europe, in Austria, where weiner schnitzel was made from cutlets of veal, and in Italy, where the Milanese style cutlet was also popularized. Economic necessity and scarcity in early Israel made using poultry a much more popular and affordable choice and new immigrants to Israel were taught how to make schnitzel as an easy, one pan food that could be made for Shabbos or any time of the week. Schnitzel is incredibly popular in Israel and is gaining popularity in Jewish foods in America as an alternative to American style fried chicken.
Shakshuka: A dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, often flavored with onions, garlic, chili and cumin. Shakshuka in Hebrew means "all mixed." Shakshuka has its origins in Morocco and was brought to Israel by Tunisian Jews. Variants of shakshuka are enjoyed in the Northern African countries near the Mediterranean rim, including Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Shakshuka is often served as a breakfast dish, in the cast iron pan it was prepared in and with bread to sop up the sauce. The dish is Passover friendly as long as the bread isn't made from grain, so it is often seen as a breakfast or lunch dish during Passover.
Sponge Cake: A light, airy cake usually made of eggs, flour, and sugar, though the flour can be replaced by matzo meal. Sponge cake, as Jews know it in North America, can be traced back to the Sephardic community's pan de'Espania, with a stopover in England where it is known as plava. Because it still comes out light and tasty with matzo meal as a part of the recipe, sponge cake is found primarily during Passover time.
Tongue: Beef tongue, often pickled and served on a sandwich. Often found alongside pastrami, corned beef, and other meats at a Jewish delicatessen. Tongue that is pickled and found in Jewish delis most likely has its root in Ashkenazi Jewish culture, though beef tongue is consumed in lots of other cultures as well. Tongue in this form is primarily available at Jewish delis and not necessarily something you'd find during holidays.
Tzimmes: A sweet mix of vegetables and fruits cooked slowly over a low heat together, with carrots being a primary ingredient, as well as dried fruits and honey. Tzimmes is usually made pareve so it can be served with either meat or dairy meals, though some cooks add chunks of flanken (a specific cut of beef ribs) or pastrami to make it a meat side dish. Tzimmes is from the Ashkenazi tradition, and its name could come from tzim, the Yiddish word for "eat." Some say tzimmes is good side dish for Rosh Hashanah, because of the honey in the recipe, as well as carrots, which some consider good luck for the new year. However, as with a lot of different festive Jewish foods, it can be found at many occasions, and the absence of grain makes it a potential Passover side dish.
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