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Knish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knishes
Knishes with mashed potato and fried onions
Alternative namesKnysh
TypeSnack, side dish, finger food
Region or stateUkraine, United States, Israel, other countries with a significant Ashkenazi Jewish population
Created byUkrainians (original version), Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe (modern version)
Main ingredientsMashed potatoes, dough, ground meat, sauerkraut, onions, kasha, cheese

A knish or knysh (/kəˈnɪʃ/ or /knɪʃ/, Ukrainian: книш) is a traditional food of Eastern European origin, characteristic of Ukrainian and Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.[1] It typically consists of a filling covered with dough that is baked or sometimes deep fried.

In most traditional versions, the filling is made entirely of mashed potato, kasha (buckwheat groats), or cheese. Other varieties of fillings include beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, black beans, or spinach.[2]

Knishes may be round, rectangular, or square. They may be entirely covered in dough or some of the filling may peek out of the top. Sizes range from those that can be eaten in a single bite hors d'oeuvre to sandwich-sized.

Etymology

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Knish (קניש) is a Yiddish word of Slavic origin, related to Ukrainian words knysh (книш) and Polish knysz, the exact origin of which is unknown. It could be connected to the Ancient Greek term κνίση - "smell or roasting meat".[3]

In Ukraine and other Eastern European countries

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The ancestor of the knish was a medieval fried vegetable patty or fritter; eventually it became a stuffed item. In Ukraine, the knysh evolved into a filled yeasted bun, and today is usually sweet rather than savoury; the Russian cousin to the Jewish knish is the pirozhok (пирожки́). The traditional food spread to neighbour countries, migration from which helped spread the food further. Knishes began to be baked (rather than fried) around the same time that the potato was popularized in Eastern Europe, and the dough wrapper gradually became more like pastry than bread.[4]

The traditional Ukrainian knysh could be made both with and without a filling. In Volhynia a special kind of knysh would be baked before Christmas and decorated with crosses or other symbolic figures, playing an important part in festivities. On Christmas Eve a knysh was used to meet the guests and accompanied kutia, the traditional festive food. One or several knyshes would be put near a didukh, where they remained for two weeks until the end of holidays. During Epiphany it would be used as an attribute of the blessing ceremony by the head of the household. Afterwards a knysh would be given to a priest or shared between the family, with the crust being fed to a cow or other household animals, as it was considered to possess its own "soul". In parts of Ukraine knyshes would also be baked in memory of a deceased person and brought to churches during wake ceremonies, as well as on memorial days. Small varieties of knysh made from sweet dough would also be given to children singing carols (shchedrivky) on New Year's Eve.

In Ukrainian Galicia knysh was a daily food of the local population and could have various fillings, such as cabbage and potatoes. Among Boykos from the Carpathian region knyshes with boiled potato, buckwheat or cheese were widespread and are still cooked in some places. In Hutsul territories knyshes without filling were used during confession and on Christmas Eve, meanwhile filled ones would be consumed as ordinary food. In the Ukrainian part of Polesia knyshes could be baked without a filling or stuffed with various ingredients such as onions, dill, cheese, salo, apples, pears, berries and poppy seeds. In Chernihiv oblast knyshes were traditionally baked with hemp seeds. In Dnieper Ukraine a speciality known as knysh was more similar to a pancake. In modern-day Poltava region during the early 19th century knyshes were baked from rye and buckwheat dough with an addition of pork lard. There and in nearby Chernihiv region knyshes were baked by unmarried girls before the New Year and would be used during a ritual of searching for a potential husband.[5].

In the United States

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Potato knishes with nigella seed topping.

Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who arrived sometime around 1900 brought knishes to the United States.[6]

The first knish bakery in America was founded in New York City in 1910.[7] Generally recognized as a food made popular in New York City by Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century, the United States underwent a knish renaissance in the 2000s driven by knish specialty establishments such as Knishes and Dishes in Philadelphia, the Knish Shop in Baltimore, Maryland,[8] Buffalo and Bergen[9] in Washington, DC, or My Mother's Knish,[10] in Westlake Village, California.

In the 20th century, New York City and state politicians portrayed themselves eating knishes to show solidarity with Jewish working-class people. The trend declined after suburbanization and the policies of Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani that restricted the sale of knishes from food carts.[11]

Knishes are often purchased from street vendors in urban areas with a large Jewish population, sometimes at a hot dog stand, or from a butcher shop. They are still strongly associated with New York City cuisine. [12]

See also

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  • Bourekas – Filled pastry in Sephardic Jewish cuisine
  • Croquette – Small breaded, deep-fried food
  • Jewish cuisine – Culinary traditions of Jewish communities around the world
  • Israeli cuisine – Culinary traditions of Israel
  • Turnover – Sealed pastry with filling
  • Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery – Bakery and restaurant located in Manhattan
  • Baozi – a Chinese steamed bun that can be made with a variety of fillings such as meat

References

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  1. ^ Wasserman, Tina D. (Winter 2009). "Cooking: The Ultimate Jewish Finger Food". Reform Judaism Magazine. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  2. ^ Durand, Faith (2019-05-24). "The Newbie's Guide to the Knish". Kitchn. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  3. ^ "Що таке книш? Історія одного слова". 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  4. ^ Marks, Gil (2010). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 322–323.
  5. ^ "Що таке книш? Історія одного слова". 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  6. ^ Smith, Andrew F. (May 2007). The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink – Google Boeken. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780195307962. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  7. ^ Yellin, Nina (2001). Kugel, Knishes, and Other Tasty Dishes. Flower Mound, TX: Smylan Reed Books. ISBN 9780962281129.
  8. ^ "The Knish Shop, Baltimore". Jewishinbaltimore.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  9. ^ Spiegel, Anna (2012-05-24). "Gina Chersevani's Union Market Soda Shop and Bar Will Be Called Buffalo and Bergen". Washingtonian. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  10. ^ Richman, Alan (8 February 2006). "A Mother's Knishes". GQ. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  11. ^ Silverstein, Andrew (2021-04-07). "Once the staple of New York politics, whatever became of the knish?". Forward. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  12. ^ Silver, Laura (May 6, 2014). Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press. ISBN 978-1-61168-312-7. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014.
[edit]
  • The dictionary definition of knish at Wiktionary
  • The dictionary definition of קניש at Wiktionary
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