Rugelach

Rugelach ( ; , or yi, רוגעלעך, translit=rugelekh and he, רוגלך ''rōgalaḵ'') is a filled baked confection originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is popular in Israel, commonly found in most cafes and bakeries. It is also a popular treat among Jews in the diaspora.

Traditional rugelach are made in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling.Joan Nathan
Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook
Schocken, 2004; page 284.Judith M. Fertig
All American Desserts
Harvard Common Press, 2003; page 135. Some sources state that the rugelach and the French croissant share a common Viennese ancestor, crescent-shaped pastries commemorating the lifting of the Turkish siege, Gil Marks
The World of Jewish Cooking
Simon and Schuster, 1996; page 326. possibly a reference to the Battle of Vienna in 1683. This appears to be an urban legend however, as both the rugelach and its supposed ancestor, the Kipferl, pre-date the Early Modern era, while the croissant in its modern form did not originate earlier than the 19th century (see viennoiserie). This leads many to believe that the croissant is simply a descendant of one of these two.

An alternative form is constructed much like a strudel or nut roll, but unlike those, the rolled dough and filling are cut into slices before baking.

Etymology

The name is Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews. The ' ending () indicates plural, while the ' () can be a diminutive, as, for example, ' (, villages) is the plural of ' (, village), the diminutive of ' (, town). In this case, the root means something like "twist" so the translation would be "little twists," a reference to the shape of this pastry. In this context, note that ' () means "corner" in Yiddish. In Polish, which influenced Yiddish, ' can mean "corner", but can also mean "horn" – both the kind on an animal and the musical instrument. Croissant-shaped pastries, which look like horns, are called ' in Polish, see . ' is almost identical in pronunciation and meaning to the Yiddish word '.

Alternatively, some assert that the root is ', meaning "royal", possibly a reference to the taste. This explanation is in conflict with Yiddish usage, where the word ' () is the dominant word meaning "royal".

Ingredients

Rugelach can be made with sour cream or cream cheese doughs, but there are also pareve variants (with no dairy ingredients),The Taste of Shabbos
Aish HaTorah, 1987; page 118. so that it can be eaten with or after a meat meal and still be kosher. Cream cheese doughs are the most recent, while yeast leavened and sour cream doughsHelene Siegel and Karen Gillingham, Ida's Rugelach
Totally Cookies Cookbook
Celestial Arts Publishing, Berkeley, 1995; page 74. are much older.

The different fillings can include raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seed, or fruit preserves which are rolled up inside. Vanilla-filled rugelach have become popular in New York in recent decades.

In recent years, chefs have introduced savory versions of these pastries, filled with chicken and schmaltz or salmon and boursin cheese.Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, "The Whole Spiel: Funny essays about digital nudniks, seder selfies and chicken soup memories," Incompra Press, 2016; p. 126.

See also

* Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
* Israeli cuisine
* Jewish cuisine
* American Jewish cuisine
* Culture of Israel

Other crescent pastries and rolls

* Croissant
* Kifli

Other fruit-filled pastries

* Hamantash
* Bourekas
* Ma'amoul
* Kolach
* Krantz cake

References

Further reading

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External links

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"Rugelach—Elsie Waldman's Recipe"
from ''The Jewish Cookbook'' by Mildred Grosberg Bellin

{{Cuisine of Israel

Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
Polish cuisine
Israeli pastries
Jewish baked goods
Pastries with poppy seeds
Foods with jam