This week in my worldly bread journey I made challah. After spending Easter with my Protestant and Catholic family I learned that not everyone knows as much about challah as I did even before my research. So, I though I would take a little time to inform the uninformed masses about challah, its significance, and history. Challah is a slightly sweet braided bread comprised of multiple eggs, white flour, sugar, yeast, water, and salt. It is used in Jewish ceremonies and blessings but can also be found around Eastern Europe in countries and cultural that are not Jewish. In the Jewish religion this bread is blessed and consumed, along with wine, during Sabbath, which is the Jewish time of rest lasting from Friday evening to Saturday evening. If you are preparing challah for Sabbath it is traditional to prepare two loaves of challot (plural of challah) each with braids of six pieces to represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Challah is often eaten in the Jewish culture and faith with salt. Salt was essential to the ancient Israelites. Geographically located close to the Dead Sea, salt was ever present in the life of the ancient Israelites. From a religious perspective salt is significant because salt represents the eternal convenient that God made with the Israelites. Salt never spoils or decays just as the convenient between God and the Israelites is everlasting. In addition salt adds flavor to food just as the convenient with God adds meaning and flavor to life. I think thats enough of the basics of challah to get us started...
Update: This week was Easter and my stepdad, aka my toughest critic, requested I make the Japanese milk bread for Easter dinner. Apparently he had already told my aunt, uncle, cousin, and Grammy about the bread and once he got to my Grammy's house proceeded to tell all of my other relatives about how delicious it was and that they had to try it. There was only one problem...I only made one loaf which would probably equal to eight portions...there were twelve people. Oh well in my family if you don't grab your plate and get started you miss out.
On to my challah adventure... I was extremely excited to make challah. I have always been fascinated with the Jewish religion and culture, plus challah is delicious and beautiful. To add to my excitement I only needed to buy eggs and honey. No problem compared to my biscuit market trip fiasco of $25. I found a great cite that had a receipt I liked and pictures of step by step instructions to help me. I have learned from doing this little bread experiment that I learned best when I am given photos. Although not surprising to most of you this did surprise me. I have always been "word smart" and I can pick up a song in no time flat. This left me pondering...have I been a secret visual learner all along...or is this spike in visual learning because of the task at hand? The jury is still out on this question I will keep you updated. Everything was going great. The preparation was simple and the mixing only required ten minutes of kneading, which was nothing compared to the focaccia and the Japanese milk bread. I had to let the bread proof for a little longer because it was chilly but that okay, it just showcased my expert bread makers intuition. The dough smelled amazing. I portioned out twelve somewhat equal dough balls and rolled them into similarly "equal" strands of dough. Everything was going great. Then it was time to braid the challah... As the six legged octopus of dough lay in front of me I was confident. I had watch the video once. I had a lifetime of hair braiding experience on my side. How hard could this be? Fast forward five minutes to the sixth time I watched the video, the forth time of unraveling my mess of a braid, and the single time I snapped at my mom when she tried to assist me in my time of need. It was not going well. I contemplated baking twelve tiny strands of braid very seriously for a moment but ultimately decided that would be ugly (and as I learned from the failed focaccia of last week, even if it tastes terrible at least it can look delicious). I took a deep breathe and coaxed them into something that somewhat resembled the loaf in the video. I like to think of my first loaf following the "first pancake rule"; the first pancake to hit the griddle never goes well, and neither did my first challah loaf. Luckily I had a second attempted because challah is baked in paired loaves, and this one went much better. It actually looked above average if I do say so myself. I let the loaves proof again. Bushed them with egg washed and sprinkled the ugly first loaf with sesame seeds because it needed all the help it could get. I threw them in the oven and waited impatiently. The kitchen started to smell amazing and I was already beginning to beam with pride. As I pulled the dual loaves out of the oven I was ecstatic. They were gorgeous! Ironically, the ugly first loaf was much prettier than the second. It was straight and shiny and had lovely accents of sesame. As I waited for them to cool I cooked some chicken to add the the salad I had made for dinner for my family. Just as it was about time to eat I went to move my loaves. One problem...they were stuck. I had misread the "greased cookie sheet" as an "ungreased cookies sheet". Que breakdown number two. After a little pep-talk from my stepdad and some tricky maneuvering with a spatula they broke free. And let me tell you they were delicious. I could not have asked for a better first attempt at challah.
4 Comments
Caitlin Eichlin
3/30/2016 01:04:51 pm
Morgan,
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Sophia Monaco
4/5/2016 04:52:17 pm
I learned a lot from reading what posted challah and the history behind it. I am so glad you did such thorough research! I am also extremely impressed with your braiding skills and patience. I also like your "fist pancake rule"! I always think the same thing when I make pancakes and always end up eating the ugly one :) Your bread looks so delicious and I am so glad you had a successful bread making experience this week!
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4/6/2016 09:41:14 am
Morgan,
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Sarah Hunter
4/27/2016 01:15:31 pm
Hollllaaaaa! She rocked the Challllllaaaaah! Man you had me a little nervous reading through this one, but I'm so glad you came through victorious! Your dedication on this baking adventure has been totally rockin'. I don't think I would have the patience to stick with it after so many ups and downs. High five!
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