Pletzel

File:Kossar's Baking Oven.jpg

In Bialystok, Poland, where the pletzel likely originated, it was known as Bialystoken tzibele pletzel kuchen, or "Bialystock onion pletzel cakes" in Yiddish. They are related to the bialy, but larger, sweeter, thinner, harder, and flatter.{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Joan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBVDDgAAQBAJ&dq=pletzel&pg=PA161 |title=King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World: A Cookbook |date=2017-04-04 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-385-35114-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Amster |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sKcztJJhg0oC&dq=pletzel&pg=PA450 |title=The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More Than 825 Traditional and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World |date=2003-09-15 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-29093-1 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nathan |first=Joan |date=2004-12-01 |title=Lights of Life, and Food of Memory |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/20041203snapfriday.html |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=The New York Times}} In Eastern Europe, they were sold as a street food from pushcarts. They are also called flam pletzel or "flame cakes."{{Cite book |last=Glezer |first=Maggie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jAkqFgvrkWUC&dq=pletzel&pg=PA119 |title=A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking Around the World |date=2004-01-01 |publisher=Artisan Books |isbn=978-1-57965-210-4 |language=en}} In Yiddish and Germanic languages, pletzel literally refers to a small town square, perhaps inspiring the name for the square of dough with onions and poppy seeds imaginatively invoking a plaza.{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Arthur R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BmNqfU1lduwC&dq=pletzel&pg=PA214 |title=Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited |date=2008 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=978-1-58008-898-5 |language=en}} An American Jewish immigrant autobiography written in Yiddish in 1936 mentions eating pletzel.{{Cite journal |last=Peleg |first=Kristine |date=2004 |title=The Original Text of Rachel Calof's Memoir |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23887433 |journal=American Jewish History |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=103–112 |jstor=23887433 |issn=0164-0178}} They became common within the Lower East Side Jewish community in New York City, where they became a staple food alongside bagels and bialys. They could also be found in the Jewish East End of London.{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALxtAAAAMAAJ&q=platzel |title=A Social History of the Jewish East End in London, 1914-1939: A Study of Life, Labour, and Liturgy |date=1991 |publisher=E. Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-9770-2 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=White |first=Jerry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-O-3Pr21IQC&dq=platzel&pg=PT148 |title=Rothschild Buildings: Life in an East-End Tenement Block 1887 - 1920 |date=2011-06-08 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4464-8306-0 |language=en}}

Baked with onions and poppy seeds, they may also be served with goose fat or schmaltz, pot cheese, butter, chopped liver, egg salad, or cream cheese, as a spread (schmear).{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltEbAAAAMAAJ&q=platzel |title=Enjoy, Enjoy! |date=1960 |publisher=World Publishing Company |language=en}} They also can be served with meats or soup. Pletzlach were commonly sold in American Jewish bakeries and Jewish dairy restaurants until the end of the 20th century, and have become considerably rarer, but can still be found.{{Cite book |last=Marks |first=Gil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&dq=pletzel+%22gil+marks%22&pg=PT1451 |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |date=2010-11-17 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-470-94354-0 |pages=470 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Hertzberg |first1=Jeffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7M49DQAAQBAJ&pg=PP250 |title=Five Minute Bread: The revolutionary new baking method: no bread machine, no kneading! |last2=Francois |first2=Zoe |date=2016-11-10 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4464-4668-3 |pages=250 |language=en}} The pletzel may be obtained at Jewish bakeries such as Kossar's Bialys of the Lower East Side, or Zabar's.{{Cite book |last1=Leader |first1=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esuDAwxI2G8C&dq=pletzel+%22kossar's%22&pg=PA41 |title=Simply Great Breads: Sweet and Savory Yeasted Treats from America's Premier Artisan Baker |last2=Chattman |first2=Lauren |date=2011 |publisher=Taunton Press |isbn=978-1-60085-297-8 |language=en}}{{cite web |url= http://nymag.com/listings/stores/kossars-bialys/ |title= Profile: Kossar's Bialys |author= Colleen McKinney |work= New York Magazine |access-date= December 28, 2006 |archive-date= July 16, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060716091532/http://nymag.com/listings/stores/kossars-bialys/ |url-status= dead }}

• Pletzl, from Middle High German ple(t)zel, "little square", is also the name of the center of the former Jewish quarter in Paris, France.
• Cebularz
• Bialy
• Bagel
• List of Jewish cuisine dishes

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{{Jewish baked goods}}

{{Flatbreads}}

Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine

Category:Crackers (food)

Category:Flatbreads

Category:Jewish American cuisine

Category:Jewish breads