The foods of Yom Kippur

Ten days after the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah, which began on September 25) is Yom Kippur, the most holy day on the Jewish calendar. It is the last of the ten days of penitence, and this year begins at sundown on October 4. Although this isn’t necessarily as food-centric as other holidays, there are two meals associated with this fasting day of atonement: the pre-fast meal and the break-fast meal.

The pre-fast meal’s traditional foods include rice, kreplach (stuffed dumplings), challah dipped in honey (a nod to the traditional New Year food), chicken, or fish. The break-fast meal often consists of high-carb dairy foods, with many brunch recipes such as noodle kugel, cheese blintzes, quiches, or soufflés, although some families indulge in heavier traditional meals like brisket.

If you don’t have a cherished family recipe that you use for your holiday table, a quick query of the EYB Library will return loads of recipes for traditional items like these:

• Joan Nathan’s chosen cheese blintzes from Food52
• Classic cheese blintzes from The Washington Post
• Chicken dumplings (Kreplach) from Tasting Table
• Blintze soufflé from Savory Simple
• Sweet noodle kugel from Saveur Magazine
• How to make kugel without a recipe from Food52 (pictured above)