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Yerusalmi (Jerusalem) Kugel Recipe

By Aviva Goldstein

In Jerusalem, when there is a kiddush in the synagogue, it is traditional to serve a nice warm Yerusalmi kugel. When I lived in the States, we had all sorts of kugels, rice kugel, the many forms of lukchen (sweet noodle) kugel, potato kugel and even bread kugel. Here in Jerusalem those kugels are not on the par with the famed Yerusalmi kugel.

Most people either go to the store and buy a ready made kugel or for special simchas order a large kugel that come in a pot but pre-cut. All that is necessary is to have it warm for the festive kiddush or meal and serve it with a slice of dill pickle. The combination seems to be so deeply rooted in the Jerusalem culture that to serve the kugel with out a pickle is like ordering corn beef on white bread with mayonnaise.

In reality the making of a good tasty kugel is not difficult. I make it for my family and I will give you the secret recipe for the tastiest kugel you and your family will ever enjoy.

By the way, I make this kugel to send to my friends for Purim as part of my Mashloach Manot, the traditional food gifts that are a mitzvah to send between friends on the day of Purim.

First the ingredients:

• One bag of kugel noodles, these are a special type, long, thin and flat.
• Sugar
• Black Pepper
• Koshering Salt
• Oil
• 2 Eggs

First boil the noodles until soft and then drain. Put them in a pot or large mixing bowl. Add to this ½ cup of sugar, ¾ tablespoon of black pepper, and one tablespoon of koshering salt. Mix.

Now take a frying pan and cook together ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of oil. Fry them until they turn brown. Carefully add this hot mixture in the fry pan to the noodle mixture in the bowl.

Add two beaten eggs and mix well. Put mixture in a baking pan. I use disposable baking pans and divide up the ingredients into several small pans. In this manner I can freeze some of them and use them for subsequent Sabbaths. Make certain that the mixture is at least 1 ½ inches thick, two to three inches is good; less than 1 ½ inches gives a stiff kugel.

Bake in an oven at 350ºF for 40 to 50 minutes. The kugel will be ready when the top begins to turn dark brown and it becomes solid it is ready. Take it out of the oven and enjoy!