A Community of Women Kept a Ukrainian Knish Tradition Alive in Canada’s Prairies
Photos by Armando Rafael
Shared by Barbara Taranto
Recipe Roots: Ovruch, Ukraine > Montreal > D’Arcy, Canada > Saskatoon > Vancouver > New York City > Tel Aviv
When Barbara Taranto was growing up in the Canadian city Saskatoon in the 1950s and 1960s, invitations to Jewish celebrations or simchas, like bar mitzvahs and weddings, were never mailed within the small community. “Everyone assumed that you went,” says Barbara, a librarian and archivist who now lives in Tel Aviv.
“There was a really strong inclination [towards] socialism, for sharing everything and sharing ideas and taking care of the Jewish community as a whole,” she adds. Women like her grandmother Sarah and her mother Goldie would gather together to cook for the celebrations making Ashkenazi staples like kugel, brisket, kasha, chopped liver, and their signature knishes filled with potatoes for parties in the evening when meat would be served and with cheese and rice for midday gatherings. “The recipe is one that was brought to Canada by a lot of different women,” Barbara explains.
Barbara’s mother Goldie on the family farm in the 1920s
Barbara’s grandparents came to Canada from Ovruch in Ukraine in 1900, likely to escape pogroms, she says. The family was part of a wave of Ukrainian immigrants, many of whom were enticed by Canada’s promise of a “quarter section of free land,” or 250 acres where they could build a farm in Canada’s prairies. For a time, her grandfather worked building cabinets for ships in Montreal until the government gave him a homestead. He took a train to Saskatchewan and walked the 100 miles from Saskatoon to D’Arcy with a map from the government to find the land set aside for his family.
The family wasn’t alone. Many Jews settled across the Canadian prairies and “All those communities had one thing in common — they looked after each other,” Barbara says. That continued when the family later moved to Saskatoon when her mother Goldie was a teenager. When Barbara was little, she recalls watching her mother and other women at the local Jewish Community Center as they rolled the dough for the knishes, using an unusual technique where the dough is formed into a large ring and then broken with the heel of one’s hand. “They were like one unit,” she says. Sometime in the 1930s, when dairy products were rationed and rice was cheap and readily available, the rice was added to the cheese knish recipe, according to Goldie.
There was no written recipe, but the style of knishes endured with women making their own renditions at home. Barbara came across some at a Bar Mitzvah in Ottawa a few years ago — made by a woman who came from the prairies. And Goldie, who is 100 years old, continues to make them. When the family gathered for her birthday party “there was a fight over them — who got how many,” says Barbara.
In Tel Aviv, she’s made the recipe with her son Isaac, but she’s never been able to stretch the dough quite as her mother does, adding that, “to me, the magic is in the hands of who makes it.”
Cheese and Rice Knishes
Makes: 20 knishes
Total active time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
For the dough:
1 large egg, beaten
¾ cup warm water
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the filling:
¼ cup short-grain rice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cups dry curd cottage cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
For assembly:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preparation
Make the dough: Add the eggs, water, vegetable oil, and vinegar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix on medium for 30 seconds to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on medium-high for 15 minutes until a sticky smooth dough is formed, and it starts pulling away from the sides.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
While the dough rests, make the filling: Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then add it to a small pot with salt. Cover with ⅓ cup of cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 12 minutes until the rice is tender. Remove from the heat, and stir in the butter. Fluff with a fork while the butter melts. Set aside to cool
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese, sugar and tapioca flour. Add the cooled rice and mix well. The mixture will be loose. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Once the dough has rested, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Assemble the knishes: Cover a work surface with a clean thin cotton cloth or bedsheet. Sprinkle lightly with flour and place the dough onto the surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large circle. Once it gets too large for the rolling pin, begin to gently stretch the dough by hand until it measures 20 inches in diameter. To avoid tearing, rest the dough every once in a while between stretching.
Evenly place the filling in a ring shape along the edge of the circle. Rub 1 teaspoon of oil into the center of the dough, and press a finger into the middle, creating a small hole.
Roll the edge of the dough over the filling, encasing it. Continue rolling into the center until the dough is a long ring log shape. As you roll, the center of the dough will tear. Roll out the log so that the filled width is about 1-inch thick.
Use the heel of your hand to cut 3 inch long pieces from the log to create each knish portion. Once all the knishes are separated, twist each knish end closed to seal in the filling, and stand them up vertically on the baking sheets. Use your thumb to press down the top sealed end.
Brush each knish lightly with oil and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the knishes are golden brown and cooked through.
Potato Knishes
Makes: 30 knishes
Total active time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
For the dough:
1 egg, beaten
½ cup warm water
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ teaspoon white vinegar
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, plus more for shaping
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
For the filling:
1 ¾ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 small), peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces
½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil or schmaltz (chicken fat)
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For assembly and baking:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preparation
Make the dough: Add the egg, water, vegetable oil, and vinegar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix on medium for 30 seconds to combine. Add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix on medium-high for 12-14 minutes until a sticky smooth dough is formed, and it starts pulling away from the sides.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
While the dough rests, make the filling: Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water and ½ tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and reduce to medium and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender (about 10 minutes). Drain the potatoes, and transfer to a large bowl. Mash the potatoes until smooth using a fork or potato masher.
Heat the schmaltz or vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and black pepper and mix to combine. Saute until the onions are softened and start to brown, 15-20 minutes. Add them to the potatoes, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Once the dough has rested, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Assemble the knishes: Cover a work surface with a clean thin cotton cloth or bedsheet. Sprinkle lightly with flour and place the dough onto the surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large circle. Once it gets too large for the rolling pin, begin to gently stretch the dough by hand until it measures 20 inches in diameter. To avoid tearing, rest the dough every once in a while between stretching.
Evenly place the filling in a ring shape along the edge of the circle. Rub 1 teaspoon of oil into the center of the dough, and press a finger into the middle, creating a small hole.
Roll the edge of the dough over the filling, encasing it. Continue rolling into the center until the dough is a long ring log shape. As you roll, the center of the dough will tear.
Use the heel of your hand to cut 3-inch long pieces from the log to create each knish portion. Once all the knishes are separated, twist each knish end closed to seal in the filling, and stand them up vertically on the baking sheets. Use your thumb to press down the top sealed end.
Brush each knish lightly with oil and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the knishes are golden brown and cooked through.
