Foods of the foreign-born in relation to health

From Spain and Portugal comes the fondness of the modem Jew for olives and the use of oil as a frying medium. The sour and sweet stewing of meats and vegetables comes from Germany. The love of pickles, cabbage, cucumbers, and herring comes from Holland, as does also the fondness for butter cakes and bolas (grain rolls). From Poland the Jewish immigrant has brought the knowledge of the use of Lokschen or Fremsel soup (cooked with goose drippings), also stuffed and stewed fish of various kinds. From Russia comes Kasha, made of barley, grits, or cereal of some sort, which is eaten instead of a vegetable with meat gravy. Blintozos are turnovers made of a poured batter and filled with preserves or cheese, and used as a dessert. Sholend, sometimes called Kugel, are puddings of many kinds, such as Magan, Lokschen, and Farfil. Zimes or compotes of plums, prunes, carrots and sweet potatoes, turnips and prunes, parsnips and prunes, and prunes and onions, are all puddings, and come from Russia. Zimes of apples, pears, figs, and prunes are Southern Roumanian, Galician, and Lithuanian as well. Soups are the great standby of the poor. Krupnick is a term used for cereal soups, made of a cereal like oatmeal with potatoes and fat. When the family can afford it, meat or milk is added, as the case may be. This is the staple food of the "Yeshibot" (schools to which Jewish boys are sent to be instructed in rabbinical lore). When there is neither meat nor milk in the soup, it is called "Soupr mit nisht." This really is "Supper mit nichts." Borsht is a form of soup. It is made of either cabbage, spinach or beet-root, and rossel (juice derived from the beet). This is made by the addition of meat, bones, onions, raisins, tartaric acid or "sour salt/' sugar and sometimes tomatoes. Eggs are added just before serving, to whiten it. This is called "Farweissen." Gehakte herring is really a salad made of chopped, boned herring, with hard-cooked eggs, onions, apples, pepper, and a little vinegar and sugar. It is used as an appetizer in the form of a canapi. Sabbath Kugel or Sholend is a dish of meat, peas, and beans, sometimes barley or potatoes as well, which is placed in the oven before Sabbath and usually eaten hot on the Sabbath. This dish is sometimes also called a Shalet. Petshai, or Drelies, characteristic of South Russia, Galicia, and Roumania, is a calves' foot jelly made at home. (Commercial gelatin is prohibited.) The calves' feet are cleaned by first singeing off the hair. They are then koshered and stewed with onions and seasonings of salt and pepper. Like the Sabbath Kugel, this is placed in the oven the day before, and is ready Sabbath noon to be served hot. What is left is freed from bone, hardcooked eggs and vinegar are added to it, and it is allowed to congeal. This forms a sort of aspic which is served cold in the later afternoon. Strudel, taken from the Germans, is a single-layered jelly or fruit cafce, and takes the place of pie as a dessert. It is usually rolled. The dough is as thin as tissue paper. Teigachz is a pudding, sometimes called Kugel or Sholend, and may be made of rice, noodles, or even mashed potatoes. These usually have some drippings, eggs, and flavorings added. Gebrattens is pot roast, and is usually accompanied by Kasha^ though it is often served with potatoes which have been cooked with the pot roast. These are usually stewed to a golden brown. Onions are always an important ingredient. Almond pudding is a favorite, because it requires neither meat nor butter, and can therefore be eaten at either type of meal. It is made of almonds, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon rind, and baked.