Poultry Dishes

Many Jewish families in the shtetlach kept a few chickens, as these could be reared on a small amount of grain. When the birds reached the right plumpness – which, with luck, coincided with a family simcha or a festival – they were ritually slaughtered and examined for kashrut. Today, poultry is still beloved of Jews everywhere, and it is not difficult to see why, as it can be prepared and cooked in so many different ways. Whether a Friday night roast chicken, a Rosh Hashanah goose redolent of apples and honey, an Ethiopian stew of chicken and chillies or an Indian dish of curry and herbs, it would be hard to find a Jewish cook who did not make use of these meats. And when Ashkenazim arrived in what would one day be the state of Israel, and missed their delicate wiener schnitzel from the Old Country, what did they make? Schnitzel from turkey meat, arguably Israel’s national dish.