Kreplach (from ) are small

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

s in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine filled with ground

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

, mashed potatoes or another filling, usually boiled and served in chicken soup, though they may also be served fried. They are similar to other types of dumpling, such as Polish

pierogi Pierogi ( ; ) are filled dumplings made by wrapping Leavening, unleavened dough around a Stuffing, filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, ...

, Polish and Ukrainian uszka, Russian pelmeni, Italian ravioli or tortellini, German Maultaschen, and Chinese jiaozi and wonton. The dough is traditionally made of

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and eggs, kneaded and rolled out into thin sheets. Some modern-day cooks use frozen dough sheets or wonton wrappers.Quick and Easy Kreplach Recipe
, MavenMall Ready-made kreplach are also sold in the kosher freezer section of supermarkets.

History

In Ashkenazi Jewish homes, kreplach are traditionally served on

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

, at the pre-fast meal before Yom Kippur, and on Hoshana Rabbah and Simchat Torah.Claudia Roden, ''The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day'', Penguin Books, 1999, p. 77-78. According to Kabbalah, it is customary to eat kreplach during these days because they are days of judgment, and we seek divine mercy. Therefore, we eat meat covered in dough—the meat symbolizes the attribute of strict justice, while the white dough represents kindness and divine compassion. In this way, we symbolically ask God to envelop the severity of judgment with mercy. Kreplach with vegetarian or dairy fillings are also eaten on

Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...

because the hidden nature of the kreplach interior mimics the "hidden" nature of the Purim miracle. In many communities, meat-filled kreplach are served on Purim. A variety with a sweet cheese filling is served as a starter or main dish in dairy meals, specifically on Shavuot. Fried kreplach are also a popular dish on Chanukah because they are fried in oil, which references the oil miracle of Chanukah. Stuffed pasta may have migrated from

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

to the Ashkenazi Jews in Germany during the 14th century.Claudia Roden, p. 133-134

Name

The Yiddish word ''kreplekh'' or ''kreplakh'' (properly transliterated as ''qreplekh'' and ''qreplakh'') is the plural of ''krepl'', a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of ''krap'', which comes from Yiddish's ancestor language

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

, where meant "a piece of pastry". From the same source come the German ("deep-fried pastry") and its East Central German dialectal variant , as well the Silesian ("doughnut"). By

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

, the name has been sometimes explained as standing for the initials of three Jewish holidays which are not real holidays; therefore the meat is covered in dough: K for (Eve of Yom) Kippur, R for (Hoshaana) Rabbah, and P for

, which together form the word KReP. However, this hypothesis ignores that Kippur is spelled with a כִּ (''kaf'') and kreplach with a ק (''qof'').

Shape

Some cooks use a square of dough that is filled and folded into triangles. Others use rounds of dough resulting in a crescent shape, or two squares of dough.

References

{{Dumplings Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Chicken soups Dumplings Frozen food Hanukkah foods Hoshana Rabbah Israeli cuisine Potato dishes Purim foods Rosh Hashanah foods Simchat Torah Yiddish words and phrases

History

Name

Shape

See also

References