Challah

Miscellaneous notes:

• This recipe yields two loaves of challah.

• I took all the pictures included in this recipe, and I baked all baked goods depicted in those pictures as well.

• The plural of "challah" is "challot".

• Challah is pronounced with a throaty KH sound, similar to (but rougher than) the sound a J makes in Spanish. It's not the same as the way CHs are usually pronounced in English.

• Challah is a traditional Jewish braided egg bread eaten on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath, which begins every Friday evening and ends twenty-four hours later).

• You can find many good tutorials on how to braid challah on YouTube. I usually make mine with six strands because I think it looks nicer, but it's a good idea to start with something simpler, such as using three strands. Challot are usually long, but we make round challot (such as the one pictured below) for Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish new year. You can also be creative with the shapes into which you braid your challot.

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast

• 3 teaspoons sugar

• 1 cup warm water

• ½ cup vegetable oil

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ⅔ cup sugar (yes, more)

• 5 cups bread flour

• 1 additional egg beat with 1 tablespoon water (for the egg wash)

Preparation:

Patience is the most important ingredient in this recipe. Yeast is combined with three teaspoons of sugar and warm water. This is left for fifteen minutes, requiring patience right off the bat. If the water is too cold, the yeast doesn’t activate, but if it’s too hot, it’s killed. One must learn the right balance to make the perfect challah.

Fortunately, Rose loved to learn, which is why COVID-19 boredom caused (them to make) the decision to learn to make challah—invoking two age-old Jewish values: learning and food.

The pandemic also brought waiting. This was especially true when it came to Rose’s abuelitos, whom they called weekly for Shabbat. Rose showed off their beautiful challah without knowing when the abuelitos would taste it.

Oil, eggs, salt, and two-thirds cup of sugar are mixed into the now-bubbly yeast concoction. Flour is added and the ingredients are kneaded to form dough, which is placed into a greased bowl and covered with a clean towel. It then rises for two hours.

Challah was a reminder that good things required patience. The abuelitos finally visited over a year later, and Rose got the ingredients ready to make challah with Abuelita for the first time. They loved baking with her and being able to say the bracha together.

A Kosher challah requires a small piece of dough to be separated while a prayer is said (בָּרוּך אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֱלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶר קִדְּשֳנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָנוּ לְהַפְרִישׁ חַלָּה). The dough is split to make two loaves, and each half is cut into strands. The pieces are rolled out and braided. Egg wash is applied, and the bread rises for twenty-five minutes before being baked in an oven preheated to 350°F. It bakes for about thirty minutes, until the bread is golden-brown.

As Rose pulled the challah out of the oven, Abuelita closed her eyes and said, “That smells delicious. I am so happy that I got to make this with you, mi niña linda—my beautiful [child].”

The family shared the bread that Shabbat. As Abuelita tasted her grandchild’s challah for the first time, she cried. Through the months, Rose learned not only how to make challah (one of their original goals, along with having the food), but also how important patience can be for a good result. And after months of longing and waiting patiently, they finally had a sweet reunion, filled with love and the scent of fresh-baked bread.