Tag: Shabbat

Fennel and orange challah brings the sun-warmed flavors of the Mediterranean to the Shabbat table. Toasted fennel seeds add a gentle anise note, while fresh orange zest infuses the dough with bright citrus fragrance. Together, they create a challah that smells like a Mediterranean garden and tastes like nothing you have braided before.

This flavor combination is inspired by Sephardic baking, where fennel and citrus appear together in breads, pastries, and cookies across the Mediterranean basin. Italian-Jewish bakers in particular loved the pairing of finocchio (fennel) and arancia (orange) in their enriched breads.

The fennel seeds are lightly toasted to release their oils, then folded throughout the dough and scattered on top. The orange zest is mixed directly into the wet ingredients, where it perfumes the entire loaf from within. When this challah bakes, the kitchen fills with an aroma that is absolutely intoxicating.

Challah croutons are the smartest thing you can do with day-old challah. Those golden cubes of leftover Shabbat bread, tossed in olive oil and herbs, baked until crackling crisp on the outside and still slightly tender within — they transform every salad, soup, and snack plate they touch.

In a kitchen that observes bal tashchit (the prohibition against waste), stale challah is not a problem but an opportunity. The same enriched dough that made your Friday bread magnificent makes croutons that are leagues ahead of anything from a box. The honey and egg in the challah caramelize in the oven, creating a depth of flavor that plain bread croutons cannot match.

This is a 15-minute active recipe that turns what might have been wasted into something people fight over at the salad bowl.

Challah breadsticks transform the Shabbat bread you love into crispy, golden sticks perfect for dipping. Using the same enriched challah dough, rolled thin and baked until crackling crisp on the outside yet tender within, these breadsticks are the appetizer that every Shabbat dinner is missing.

Think of them as challah reimagined — all the honeyed, eggy richness of traditional challah compressed into elegant sticks rolled in sesame seeds, za’atar, or everything bagel seasoning. They are the bridge between bread basket and first course, equally at home with hummus, matbucha, or a bowl of chicken soup.

The best part? They come together faster than braided challah. No braiding, no shaping anxiety, no worrying about symmetry. Just roll, twist, and bake.

Olive oil challah is the bread that Italian Jews have been baking for centuries. While Ashkenazi challah relies on neutral oil or schmaltz, the Jewish communities of Rome, Livorno, and Venice have always reached for the olive press. The result is a challah with a golden, almost amber hue, a delicate fruity fragrance, and a crumb so tender it practically dissolves on the tongue.

This is a simpler, more rustic challah than its heavily enriched cousins. With fewer eggs and the olive oil taking center stage, the flavor is cleaner, more Mediterranean — bread that tastes of sun-warmed hillsides and ancient groves. It is the challah you want with a bowl of good soup, torn into pieces and shared around a table.

The Italian-Jewish tradition of olive oil challah reminds us that Jewish bread is as diverse as the Jewish people. From the olive groves of Puglia to the Shabbat tables of the Roman Ghetto, this bread has its own beautiful story to tell.

Use the best extra-virgin olive oil you can find. The bread’s flavor depends on it.