Mary’s Onion Challah

Name: Mary’s Onion Challah
Yield: Yield: 2 Medium Loaves
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for glaze; 2 teaspoons ground cumin, preferably freshly toasted; Table salt; 2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) active dry yeast; 1 teaspoon plus ¼ cup sugar; ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons mild olive oil; 2 large eggs; 4 to 5 cups plus 1 tablespoon bread flour, plus additional for dusting the work surface, kneading, and shaping the dough; Coarse salt; 2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into coarse chunks (about 1½ pounds); 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered; 1 cup onion-garlic liquid (reserved from recipe); Oil for greasing the bowl, plastic wrap, and baking sheet

Preparation info

Yield:
2
Medium Loaves

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Jewish Holiday Cooking

By Jayne Cohen

Published 2008

About

Though he lived to be 94, my grandfather never tasted an ice cream that could match the ones he remembered buying from the old Turkish vendor back in Minsk or Smolensk before he arrived in New York at age 12.

He taught me a valuable food lesson: our most cherished food memories inevitably lead to disappointment. Perhaps that is because our culinary selves are constantly evolving—we taste the world with a different tongue at various times in our lives. Or maybe no real food could eve