View source for Knish

{{Short description|Ashkenazi Jewish and Eastern European baked or fried snack food}}
{{for|the Ukrainian surname|Knysh}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name            = Knish
| image           = Knysh.jpg
| image_size      = 250px
| caption         = Knishes with mashed potato and fried onions
| alternate_name  = Knysh
| country         =
| region          = [[Ukraine]], [[United States]], [[Israel]], [[Argentina]], other countries with a significant [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] population
| creator         = [[Ukrainians]] (original version), [[Ashkenazi Jews|Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe]] (modern version)
| course          =
| type            = [[Snack]], [[side dish]], [[finger food]]
| served          =
| main_ingredient = [[Mashed potato]]es, [[dough]], [[ground meat]], [[sauerkraut]], [[onion]]s, [[kasha]], [[cheese]]
| variations      =
| calories        =
| other           =
}}
A '''knish''' or '''knysh''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|n|ɪ|ʃ}} or {{IPAc-en|k|n|ɪ|ʃ}}, {{langx|uk|книш}}) is a traditional food of Eastern European origin, characteristic of [[Ukrainian cuisine|Ukrainian]] and [[Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]].<ref name=reformknish>{{cite journal|url=http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1537 |journal=Reform Judaism Magazine |author=Wasserman, Tina D. |date=Winter 2009 |title=Cooking: The Ultimate Jewish Finger Food |access-date=2010-09-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222112225/http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1537 |archive-date=December 22, 2010 }}</ref> It typically consists of a [[filling (cooking)|filling]] covered with [[dough]] that is [[baking|baked]] or sometimes [[deep frying|deep fried]].

In most traditional versions, the filling is made entirely of [[mashed potato]], [[kasha]] ([[buckwheat]] [[Groat (grain)|groats]]), or [[cheese]]. Other varieties of fillings include [[beef]], [[Chicken as food|chicken]], [[sweet potatoes]], [[black turtle bean|black beans]], or [[spinach]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Durand |first=Faith |date=2019-05-24 |title=The Newbie's Guide to the Knish |url=https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-a-knish-food-history-205340 |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=Kitchn |language=en}}</ref>

Knishes may be round, rectangular, or square. They may be entirely covered in dough, or some filling may peek out of the top. Sizes range from those that can be eaten in a single bite [[hors d'oeuvre]] to [[sandwich]]-sized.

==Etymology==
Knish (קניש) is a Yiddish word of Slavic origin, related to Ukrainian words ''knysh'' (книш)  and Polish ''knysz'', the exact origin of which is unknown. It could be connected to the [[Ancient Greek]] term κνίση - "smell of roasting meat".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-04-08 |date=2023-08-15 |title=Що таке книш? Історія одного слова |url=https://localhistory.org.ua/rubrics/word/shcho-take-knish-istoriia-odnogo-slova/}}</ref>

==In Ukraine and other Eastern European countries ==
The ancestor of the knish was a medieval fried vegetable patty or fritter; eventually, it became a stuffed item. In Ukraine, the ''knysh'' evolved into a filled yeasted bun, and today it is usually sweet rather than savoury; the Russian cousin to the Jewish knish is the [[Pirozhki|pirozhok]] (пирожóк, plural пирожки́). The traditional food spread to neighbouring countries, migration from which helped spread the food further. Knishes began to be baked (rather than fried) around the same time the potato was popularized in Eastern Europe, and the dough wrapper gradually became more like a pastry than bread.<ref name="Marks">{{cite book |last1=Marks |first1=Gil |title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |date=2010 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=New York |pages=322–323 }}</ref>

The traditional Ukrainian knysh could be made both with and without a filling. In [[Volhynia]], a special kind of knysh would be baked before [[Christmas]] and decorated with crosses or other symbolic figures, playing an important part in festivities. On [[Christmas Eve]], a knysh was used to meet the guests and accompanied [[kutia]], the traditional festive food. One or several knyshes would be put near a [[didukh]], where they remained for two weeks until the end of the holidays. During [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], it would be used as an attribute of the blessing ceremony by the head of the household. Afterward, a knysh would be given to a priest or shared between the family, with the crust being fed to a cow or other household animals, as it was considered to possess its own "soul". In parts of Ukraine, knyshes would also be baked in memory of a deceased person and brought to churches during [[wake (ceremony)|wake ceremonies]], as well as on memorial days. Small varieties of knysh made from sweet dough would also be given to children singing carols (shchedrivky) on [[New Year's Eve]].

In [[Eastern Galicia|Ukrainian Galicia]], knysh was a daily food of the local population and could have various fillings, such as cabbage and potatoes. Among [[Boykos]] from the Carpathian region, knyshes with boiled potato, buckwheat, or cheese were widespread and are still cooked in some places. In [[Hutsul]] territories, knyshes without filling were used during [[confession]] and on Christmas Eve, meanwhile filled ones would be consumed as ordinary food.  In the Ukrainian part of [[Polesia]], knyshes could be baked without a filling or stuffed with various ingredients such as onions, [[dill]], cheese, [[salo (food)|salo]], apples, pears, berries, and poppy seeds. In [[Chernihiv oblast]], knyshes were traditionally baked with [[hemp]] seeds. In [[Dnieper Ukraine]], a specialty known as knysh was more similar to a pancake. In modern-day [[Poltava oblast|Poltava region]] during the early 19th century, knyshes were baked from rye and buckwheat dough with an addition of pork lard. There and in nearby [[Chernihiv oblast|Chernihiv region]], knyshes were baked by unmarried girls before the New Year and would be used during a ritual of searching for a potential husband.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-08-15|title=Що таке книш? Історія одного слова|url=https://localhistory.org.ua/rubrics/word/shcho-take-knish-istoriia-odnogo-slova/|access-date=2025-04-08}}</ref>

==In the United States ==
[[File:Knishes with nigella seed.jpg|thumb|left|Potato knishes with nigella seed topping.]]
Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who arrived sometime around 1900 brought knishes to the United States.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWlCmNDA3QC&q=origin+of+knish+ukraine&pg=PT359 |title=The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink – Google Boeken |date= May 2007|isbn=9780195307962 |access-date=2013-01-21|last1=Smith |first1=Andrew F. |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA }}</ref> 

The first knish bakery in America was founded in New York City in 1910.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kugel, Knishes, and Other Tasty Dishes |first=Nina |last=Yellin |year=2001 |location=Flower Mound, TX |publisher=Smylan Reed Books |isbn=9780962281129}}</ref> Generally recognized as a food made popular in New York City by Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century,<ref name=":0" /> the United States underwent a knish renaissance in the 2000s driven by knish specialty establishments such as Knishes and Dishes in Philadelphia, the Knish Shop in Baltimore, Maryland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishinbaltimore.com/The-Knish-Shop.html |title=The Knish Shop, Baltimore |publisher=Jewishinbaltimore.com |access-date=2013-01-21|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524222744/https://www.jewishinbaltimore.com/The-Knish-Shop.html|archive-date=2022-05-24}}</ref> Buffalo and Bergen<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/bestbites/food-restaurant-news/524-gina-chersevanis-union-market-soda-shop-and-bar-will-be-called-buffalo-and-bergen.php |title=Gina Chersevani's Union Market Soda Shop and Bar Will Be Called Buffalo and Bergen |magazine=Washingtonian |date=2012-05-24 |last=Spiegel |first=Anna |access-date=2013-01-21}}</ref> in Washington, DC, or My Mother's Knish,<ref>{{cite web |first=Alan |last=Richman |url=https://www.gq.com/food-travel/alan-richman/200602/ida-richman-knish-kitchen-family |title=A Mother's Knishes |work=GQ |date=8 February 2006 |access-date=2013-01-21}}</ref> in Westlake Village, California.

In the 20th century, New York City and state politicians portrayed themselves eating knishes to show solidarity with Jewish working-class people. The trend declined after suburbanization and the policies of [[Ed Koch]] and [[Rudy Giuliani]] that restricted the sale of knishes from food carts.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Silverstein|first=Andrew|url=https://forward.com/culture/466857/once-the-staple-of-new-york-politics-giuliani-andrew-yang-john-lindsay/|title=Once the staple of New York politics, whatever became of the knish?|work=[[Forward (magazine)|Forward]]|date=2021-04-07|accessdate=2021-04-15}}</ref>

Knishes are often purchased from [[street vendor]]s in urban areas with a large Jewish population, sometimes at a [[hot dog stand]], or from a butcher shop. They are still strongly associated with [[New York City cuisine]].<ref name=Knish>{{cite book|last=Silver|first=Laura|title=Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food|date=May 6, 2014|publisher=Brandeis University Press|location=Waltham, Mass.|isbn=978-1-61168-312-7|url=http://www.upne.com/1611683127.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222194816/http://www.upne.com/1611683127.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Food|Judaism}}
* {{annotated link|Bourekas}}
* {{annotated link|Croquette}}
* {{annotated link|Jewish cuisine}}
* {{annotated link|Israeli cuisine}}
* {{annotated link|Turnover (food)|Turnover}}
* {{annotated link|Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery}}
* [[Baozi]] – a Chinese steamed bun that can be made with a variety of fillings, such as meat

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary-inline|knish}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|קניש}}

{{Jewish baked goods}}
{{Potato dishes}}
{{Dumplings}}
{{Street food}}

[[Category:Jewish baked goods]]
[[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]]
[[Category:Dumplings]]
[[Category:Potato dishes]]
[[Category:Savoury pies]]
[[Category:Cuisine of New York City]]
[[Category:Snack foods]]
[[Category:Street food]]
[[Category:Jewish cuisine]]
[[Category:Jewish American cuisine]]
[[Category: Ukrainian cuisine]]