Babka

Babka, or Bobka, also known as baba, is a sweet pastry yeast cake.

East European version

It is a spongy yeast cake that is traditionally baked for Easter Sunday. Darra Goldstein, professor of Russian at Williams College says "babka comes from baba, a very tall, delicate yet rich yeast-risen cake eaten in Western Russia and Eastern Poland." [Joan Nathan, "Inviting an Old Favorite to the Hanukkah Table", "The New York Times", (December 5, 2007) page F5.] Traditional babka has some type of fruit filling, especially raisins, and is glazed with a fruit-flavored icing, sometimes with rum added. Modern babka may be chocolate or have a cheese filling.

Jewish version

Babka is popular among Jews, particularly those with family origins in Eastern Europe. The Jewish version however is different from the one described above. It is made from a doubled and twisted length of yeast dough and is typically baked in a high loaf pan. There is never a fruit filling; the dough contains either cinnamon or chocolate. It is usually topped with streusel. A similar cake called a "kokosh" is also popular in Jewish bakeries. "Kokosh" also comes in chocolate and cinnamon varieties, but it is lower and longer than babka, is not twisted, and not topped with streusel.

Babka of this style has become popular in North American cities with large Jewish populations, including Montreal, New York and Toronto. This sort of babka was used as a MacGuffin in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Dinner Party." [ [http://seinfeldscripts.com/TheDinnerParty.html Seinfeld - The Dinner Party ] ]

Other than the dessert variety, there also exists a traditional Eastern European Jewish variety prepared during Passover in lieu of bread. Generally, this sort is not sweet and is prepared using crushed matzos with water, egg, and salt. Some Polish Jews refer to pancakes with these ingredients as "bubbeleh," a name similar to "babka."

Belarus and Lithuania: savoury dish

Babka is also the name of a savoury dish, popular especially in Belarus and in Lithuania, where it is called "bulvių plokštainis". It is made from grated potatoes, egg, onions, and smoked bacon. It is baked in a crock, and often served with a sauce of sour cream and pork flitch. Depending on recipe and cooking method it may be either a flaky potato pie, or a heavy potato pudding.

Etymology

The names "babka" ( _ru. бабка) and "baba" ( _ru. баба) mean "grandmother", and probably refer to the shape of the pastry, a tall cylinder, sometimes with corrugations resembling a skirt’s pleats. [Oxford Companion to Food] The name of the pastry entered the English language from Polish, via French, although it is also sometimes used in its original sense, especially among those of Eastern European descent. [Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed.]

See also

* Paska
* Rum baba
* Cozonac

References