![\"image](\"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/nov-07-FoodDrink.07.knishes-book-cover.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSilver has written on food and culture for the New York Times<\/em> and the Forward<\/em>, and she is the author of what her publisher calls \u201cthe one and only absolutely definitive biography of the knish,\u201d making her the world de facto authority on the Jewish pastry.<\/p>\n Mrs. Stahl\u2019s produced \u201cbaked round mounts, each plump with a stuffing, savory or sweet. Each piece \u2013 the size of a fist or just bigger \u2013 revealed a hint of filling on the top, a bald spot, as if for a yarmulke…. If you cut the knish in half, the cross-section revealed a membrane of dough that split the innards into chambers, like those of the human heart.\u201d<\/p>\n From this, we divert to two of the strong influences in Silver\u2019s life: her Riga-born grandmother who arrived in New York in 1906 and their relationship until her death, as well as the 2005 closing (after 70 years) of the infamous Mrs. Stahl\u2019s, which started her on the journey. \u201cKnishes,\u201d she writes, \u201cwere my family\u2019s religion.\u201d<\/p>\n Beginning with the Brighton Beach Neighborhood Association, Silver investigates many New York connections to the knish; she travels to Israel, Paris, Warsaw, Bialystok and Knyszyn, Poland, where she found her family\u2019s roots. She goes to Banff and St. Paul, where she finds groups of seniors making knishes, and San Francisco where she meets Mrs. Stahl\u2019s granddaughter.<\/p>\n Closing her book, she lists the best spots for knishes today, including New York, Michigan, Baltimore, Boston, Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Minnesota. The book also contains many pages of interesting notes, an extensive bibliography, an index and acknowledgments. In between, she recounts her visit to such knish hot spots as the Pasta Factory in Vineland, N.J., which purchased Mrs. Stahl\u2019s bakery knish recipes. Then she tells the story of Gussie Schwebel, a New York knish maker, who learned that Eleanor Roosevelt was going to be in town and wanted to introduce her to the knish, several of which were dispatched at 5 p.m. on Jan. 27, 1942, to the first lady\u2019s New York apartment.<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019ve never been a big fan of knishes, this is an utterly charming book that recreates a bygone world and captures Silver\u2019s hope that \u201cJewish soul food\u201d is ready for its second renaissance.<\/p>\n In San Francisco, Silver met Toby Engelberg, Mrs. Stahl\u2019s granddaughter and includes the famuos family recipe.<\/p>\n TOBY ENGELBERG\u2019S POTATO KNISHES<\/strong><\/p>\n Dough Turn oven on low until dough is ready. Mix flour, sugar and salt. Add oil and water. Mix with a spoon until the dough pulls together, or use a food processor or stand mixer (with a dough hook). Turn out on board and knead, incorporating all pieces. Knead until dough is one piece and is smooth and glossy. Turn off oven. Oil dough and place in oiled, covered bowl. Place in oven until ready to use. Let rest at least two hours; the dough should barely rise, if at all. Keeping the dough overnight in the refrigerator is fine. Bring back to room temperature before use.<\/p>\n Potato filling Scrub potatoes and peel (except if using new potatoes with very thin, unblemished skins). Boil about 20 minutes until knife tender and drain. Mash with a potato masher. Add oil, salt (not adding all at once and tasting as you add) and pepper, and mix. Stir in the onion.<\/p>\n Assembling and baking: Preheat oven to 450\u00b0F. Roll out about half the dough on a lightly floured counter or table top. Roll with a handle-less, rod-style rolling pin out from the centre until dough is thin enough to see through, about 1\/16-inch thick.<\/p>\n Oil top edge of dough with a pastry brush. Place two-inch diameter line of filling about two inches from top edge. Pick up top edge and drape over filling. Brush oil on dough in a two-inch strip on the bottom edge of the filling. Pick up the dough with filling and roll again onto the oiled dough, compressing the filled dough as you turn it. Repeat until the dough covers filling three to four times, being sure to always brush oil on the dough first. Cut to separate the filled potato knish log from the remaining dough. Cut off edges of filled dough. Cut the filled roll into pieces about six- to eight-inches long and coil like a snail, tucking last end under the coil. Alternatively, place roll onto ungreased cookie sheet, and slash with a knife crosswise every two inches. Either rolls or snails should be placed on the pan with an inch of space between. Repeat with remaining dough on countertop. When that is used up, repeat with reserved dough.<\/p>\n Bake 20-25 minutes (starting knishes on lowest oven rack and raising to top rack after about 10-12 minutes) until tops are browned and knishes are cooked through. Cool in pan. If cooked in rolls, cut into serving pieces. Knishes can be reheated in the oven or in a skillet on the stove top.<\/p>\n Makes 16-18 knishes.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>3 1\u20444 cups flour
\n<\/strong>1 tbsp sugar
\n<\/strong>1 tsp salt
\n<\/strong>1\u20442 cup vegetable oil
\n<\/strong>1 cup lukewarm water<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>6 lbs russet or new potatoes
\n<\/strong>1 cup oil
\n<\/strong>1\u20444 cup salt, or to taste
\n<\/strong>1 1\u20442 tsp pepper
\n<\/strong>8 cups raw thinly sliced onions<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Vegetable oil and flour as needed<\/strong><\/p>\n