View source for Kugel

{{Short description|Traditional Ashkenazi Jewish casserole}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Kigel|a Russian theatre director|Alla Kigel}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Kugel
| image            = File:Noodle Kugel.jpg
| image_size       = 
| caption          = 
| alternate_name   =
| country          = [[jews|Jewish]] communities from Central Europe, [[American Jewish cuisine|United States]], [[French Jews|France]], [[Canadian Jews|Canada]], [[British Jews|United Kingdom]], [[Australian Jews|Australia]], [[Argentine Jews|Argentina]], [[South African Jews|South Africa]], and other communities in the [[Jewish diaspora]].
| region           =
| creator          = [[Ashkenazi Jews]]
| course           =
| type             = [[casserole]]
| served           =
| main_ingredient  = [[Lokshen]] noodles or [[potato]]es, less commonly [[Matzah|matzo]], [[challah]], [[rice]], [[apple]], [[cornmeal]], [[dough]]
| variations       =
| calories         =
| other            =
}}

'''Kugel''' ({{langx|yi|קוגל}} {{lang|yi-Latn|kugl}}, pronounced {{IPA|yi|ˈkʊɡl̩|}} or {{IPA|yi|ˈkɪɡl̩|}}) is a baked [[casserole]], most commonly made from egg noodles ([[lokshen]]) or shredded [[potato]]. It is a traditional [[Ashkenazi]] [[Jewish cuisine|Jewish]] dish, often served on [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] and [[Jewish holidays]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5189151 |title=In Search of the Holy Kugel |last=Vered |first=Ronit |date=February 22, 2012 |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> American Jews also serve it for [[Thanksgiving dinner]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bronner |first=Simon J. |title=Jewish Cultural Studies |page=310 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |date=2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Desai |first=Jigna |title=Rooted Homelands, Routed Hostlands: (en)gendered Mobility in the South Asian Diaspora |page=86 |publisher=University of Minnesota}}</ref> In [[Hungary]] it is known as "[[:hu:Vargabéles|vargabéles]]" and served as a sweet dish.

==Etymology==
The name of the dish comes from the [[Middle High German]] {{lang|gmh|kugel}} meaning 'sphere, globe, ball'; thus the Yiddish name likely originated as a reference to the round, puffed-up shape of the original dishes (compare to [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|[[Gugelhupf]]}}—a type of ring-shaped cake). However, nowadays kugel is often baked in square pans.

In Yiddish (and sometimes in English), noodle and potato kugel are called {{lang|yi|לאָקשן קוגל}} {{lang|yi-Latn|lokshn kugl}} and {{lang|yi|קאַרטאָפל קוגל}} {{lang|yi-Latn|kartofl kugl}}, respectively. The name of the dish may also be spelled {{lang|yi-Latn|kigel}}, reflecting the [[Galician Jews|Galitzianer]] (Southeastern European) Yiddish pronunciation. <ref name="Spiel">{{cite book |first1=Joyce |last1=Eisenberg |author2=Ellen Scolnic |title=The Whole Spiel: Funny essays about digital nudniks, seder selfies and chicken soup memories |publisher=Incompra Press |date=2016 |page=132 |isbn=978-0-69272625-9 }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Kigel.JPG|thumb|''Yerushalmi'' or [[Yerushalmi Kugel|Jerusalem kugel]]]]
The first kugels were made from [[bread]] and [[flour]] and were savory rather than sweet. About 800 years ago, Jewish cooks in Germany replaced bread mixtures with [[lokshen]] noodles or [[farfel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishrecipes.org/jewish-foods/kugel.html |title=What is Kugel? |work=Jewish Recipes |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107041907/http://www.jewishrecipes.org/jewish-foods/kugel.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Eventually [[egg (food)|eggs]] were incorporated. The addition of [[cottage cheese]] and [[milk]] created a custard-like consistency common in today's dessert dishes. In [[Poland]], Jewish homemakers added [[raisin]]s, [[cinnamon]] and sweet [[curd cheese]] to noodle kugel recipes. In the late 19th century, [[Jerusalem]]ites combined [[caramel]]ized sugar and [[black pepper]] in a noodle kugel known as the Jerusalem kugel ({{langx|he|קוגל ירושלמי|kugel yerushalmi}}), which is a commonly served at Shabbat [[kiddush]]es and is a popular side dish served with [[cholent]] during Shabbat lunch.

In Romania, this dish is called {{Lang|ro|Budinca de macaroane}} ("macaroni pudding") or {{lang|ro|Baba acolo}}. It is made with or without cheese, but almost always includes raisins.<ref>{{cite web |title=Budinca de Macaroane |url=http://www.lalena.ro/96-reteta-budinca-de-macaroane.html |work=Lalena |language=ro }}</ref> In [[Transylvania]], especially in the [[Hungarians in Transylvania|Hungarian-speaking regions]], a very similar dish is called {{lang|hu|Vargabéles}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vargabeles |url=https://www.e-retete.ro/retete/vargabeles |website=E-Retete |access-date=26 April 2018 |language=ro |date=29 March 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Vargabeles - budinca ungureasca de taitei cu branza |url=https://www.gustos.ro/sfaturi-culinare/retete-la-papa-gheorghiu/vargabeles-budinca-ungureasca-de-taitei-cu-branza.html |website=Gustos.ro |access-date=26 April 2018 |language=ro }}</ref>

Savory kugel may be based on potatoes, [[matzah]], [[Cabbage#Cooked|cabbage]], [[carrot]]s, [[zucchini]], [[spinach]], or [[cheese]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/category.cgi?category=KUGELS |publisher=Mimi's Cyber Kitchen |title=Kugels |work=rec.food.cuisine.jewish Archives |access-date=July 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504225513/http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/category.cgi?category=KUGELS |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref>

[[Romani people]] call it ''pirogo''. The Romani version is made with raisins, cream cheese, and butter.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/inside-culinary-traditions-roma-people|title= Inside the Culinary Traditions of the Roma people}}</ref>

==Varieties==
===Jerusalem kugel===
{{Main|Yerushalmi Kugel}}

[[File:PikiWiki Israel 44658 Cities in Israel.JPG|thumb|right|Yerushalmi Kugel packaged for sale at a market in Israel]]
{{Transliteration|yi|[[Yerushalmi Kugel]]}}, ({{lang|yi|ירושלמי קוגל}} 'Jerusalem kugel'), also known as ''Galilean kugel'', is an [[Israeli Jews|Israeli Jewish]] kugel dish originating from the [[Old Yishuv|local Jewish]] community of [[Jerusalem]] in the 1700s.

===Noodle kugel===
{{Main|Noodle kugel}}

[[Noodle kugel]] ({{Transliteration|yi|lokshen kugel}}) is an [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] casserole, side dish and popular variety of kugel made with [[lokshen]] noodles and either a variety of dairy or [[pareve]] ingredients.

===Potato kugel===
{{Main|Potato kugel}}

[[Potato kugel]] is a potato-based kugel of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, made with grated or pureed [[potato]]es, [[onion]]s, [[egg (food)|eggs]], [[flour]] or [[Matzah|matzo]] meal, [[Cooking oil|oil]], [[Edible salt|salt]] and [[Black pepper|pepper]].

===Vargabéles===

A Hungarian sweet dish made with [[angel hair pasta]], curd, eggs, raisin, and phyllo pastry.

==Jewish festivals==
Kugels are a mainstay of festive meals in Ashkenazi Jewish homes, particularly on the [[Shabbat|Jewish Sabbath]] and other [[Jewish holiday]]s or at a [[tish (Hasidic celebration)|tish]]. Some [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] Jews believe that eating kugel on the Jewish Sabbath brings special spiritual blessings, particularly if that kugel was served on the table of a Hasidic [[Rebbe]].<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Allan Nadler |author-first=Allan |author-last=Nadler |chapter-url=http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/112/Holy-Kugel.pdf |chapter=Holy Kugel: The Sanctification of Ashkenzaic Ethnic Food in Hasidism |editor=Leonard Greenspoon |title=Food & Judaism |publisher=Creighton University Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-881871-46-0 |pages=193–211 |access-date=2016-01-08 |archive-date=2016-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427014431/http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/112/Holy-Kugel.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==South African slang usage==
Among [[South African Jews]], the word ''kugel'' was used by the elder generation as a term for a young Jewish woman who forsook traditional Jewish dress values for those of the ostentatiously wealthy and became overly materialistic and overgroomed, mirroring how the kugel is a plain pudding garnished as a delicacy. The women thus described [[reappropriation|made light of the term]], and it has since become an amusing rather than derogatory [[slang]] in [[South African English]] for a materialistic young woman.<ref>{{cite book |author=Sarah Britten |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZTLigR2t5UC&pg=PT132 |title=The Art of the South African Insult |year=2006 |publisher=30 degrees South Publishers |pages=198–199 |isbn=978-1920143053 |access-date=July 2, 2013}}</ref>

==Similar dishes==
* [[Hotdish]]
* [[Potatonik]]
* [[Zucchini slice]]
* [[Kugelis]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Food}}
* [[Israeli cuisine|Cuisine of Israel]]
* [[List of casserole dishes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}

*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/dining/arts/kugel-unraveled.html|title=Kugel Unraveled|first=Joan|last=Nathan|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 28, 2005}}

{{Shabbat}}
{{Jewish cuisine}}
{{Pasta dishes}}
{{Potato dishes}}

[[Category:Kugels| ]]
[[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]]
[[Category:Casserole dishes]]
[[Category:Desserts]]
[[Category:Israeli cuisine]]
[[Category:Jewish American cuisine]]
[[Category:Jewish cuisine]]
[[Category:Jewish noodle dishes]]
[[Category:Lithuanian cuisine]]
[[Category:Pasta dishes]]
[[Category:Potato dishes]]
[[Category:Romani cuisine]]
[[Category:Romanian cuisine]]
[[Category:Savory puddings]]
[[Category:Shabbat]]
[[Category:Thanksgiving food]]
[[Category:Yiddish words and phrases]]