Kugel Yerushalmi, or as most Americans call it, “Jerusalem Kugel,” is a peppery hot kugel that is ubiquitous at Shabbos Kiddush, served with a sour pickle alongside each portion. This is actually the only occasion on which pickles brined in vinegar are eaten. Israelis otherwise prefer their pickles brined in salt.
The kugel tastes vaguely of caramel, but mostly of black pepper. Some cooks use as much as two full tablespoons of pepper in their kugel. Less sweet than most sweet kugels, the flavor reflects this kugel’s origins, which are in the Lithuanian Jewish emigration to pre-state Israel. Litvaks prefer savory foods to sweet. The kugel is completely parve, and unusually, is baked overnight, making it perfect for any Sabbath meal.
Kugel Yerushalmi
Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. (400 grams) thin soup noodles (lokshen)
- 1 tablespoon margarine
- ½ cup oil
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons or up to 1 heaping tablespoon ground black pepper
Method:
- Boil noodles in salted water for 4 minutes. Drain, place in a heat-proof mixing bowl, and toss with 1 tablespoon margarine.
- In a medium-sized pot, combine the oil and the sugar. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. The mixture will bubble at the edges, then at the center, and will then foam up.
- Here is where you need speed, strength and caution: Immediately remove the oil and sugar mixture from the heat, pour it over the noodles well away from you to avoid burns from the hot caramel, and working quickly, vigorously stir the mixture hard until no clumps remain.
- The caramel residue in the pot will have already hardened. Not to worry. Beat the eggs in the pot with the fork and this will liquefy the caramel and mix it into the eggs. Add the eggs to the noodles. Any extra-stubborn caramel on your saucepan can be easily soaked away with water)
- Add the salt and pepper (Jerusalemites like it hot! Some use as many as 2 tablespoons of pepper).
- Pour the kugel mixture into a greased high, round, flat-topped metal mold as is traditional, or alternatively, a greased tube pan. Bake overnight at 200°F or for 1 hour at 350°F or until the top is crusty and brown, and a thin knife, inserted into the center of the kugel, comes out clean.