Food & Drink
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Maida Candler's grandmother Anna, back right, immigrated from Austria to the United States. She married Isador and raised children Saul (front left) and Clara, Candler's mother, in Far Rockaway. N.Y.
Mike Leggett
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Kraut pletzlach translates literally as 'cabbage noodles' and it's one of the comfort foods of Maida Candler's childhood.
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Pretty much everybody not raised in a cave by bears has one, that favorite home-cooked dish that can bring joy and peacefulness just by the very thought of it. Maybe mom cooked it, or grandma, or dad, or Uncle Ramon. We'd like to hear from readers about the dish — be it peanut butter and banana sandwiches, fish with garlic and capers or baked possum and sweet potatoes — and possibly feature the recipe in this monthly column called Your Mama's Kitchen by American-Statesman writer Mike Leggett.
If the dish is picked, Leggett will visit with you as you prepare it, hear about its special meaning to you and maybe even get a taste. Contact Mike Leggett at mleggett@statesman.com or 512-756-8918.
Kraut Pletzlach (cabbage noodles)
- 1 large head of cabbage — basketball-sized if possible, and heavy for its size
- Kosher salt (to wilt the cabbage; table salt will work as well)
- 1 package extra-wide egg noodles (Manischewitz or similar)
- 1-2 Tbsp. butter or vegetable oil
- Kosher or table salt and pepper to taste
Remove the core and cut cabbage into slices approximately 1/2 inch in width.
Place sliced cabbage in a large colander, wash thoroughly and sprinkle very generously with salt, tossing cabbage to distribute salt evenly. Leave for 20-30 minutes. This will wilt the cabbage and shorten the sauté process. Rinse the cabbage to remove the salt. Blot with paper towels to remove as much water as possible.
Sauté the cabbage in a large skillet with butter or vegetable oil until completely soft and brown on the edges. It will shrink considerably. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook noodles in salted water according to directions. Strain, then add the sautéed cabbage and salt and pepper to taste.
Note: My father loved to add a dollop or two of dry-curd cottage cheese to his (large) portion.
— Maida CandlerMULTIMEDIA
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FOOD & LIFE
A grandmother's simple flavors of Eastern Europe
Kraut pletzlach recipe passed down
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Anna was Austrian, separated from her family in the early 20th century, shipped alone to U.S. shores as a girl of 16 by her father.
She found work here, in New York at least, as a seamstress, where her height — less than 5 feet — wasn't a hindrance.
Anna eventually met Hungarian immigrant Isador Gidaly, whom she married and with whom she raised two children, Saul and Clara.
It was the classic melting pot family, rich in tradition and Jewish heritage, working their way up through and into the American way of life. But always there was the connection to her roots, especially the foods of Eastern Europe.
And one of her favorites, one that clamped onto the minds of her children and grandchildren was kraut pletzlach. Literally translated as cabbage noodles, kraut pletzlach is granddaughter Maida Candler's living homage to her grandmother's life.
"This was one of her most requested dishes," Candler said recently as she stirred a deep skillet of organic cabbage, working up just the perfect amount of caramelization before the noodles went in. "There's something about those aromas ... just coming up on the elevator (to her apartment), the smell just permeated the halls."
Candler lived in New York and often visited her grandmother's small apartment in Far Rockaway. Kraut pletzlach was a part of most of those visits. Even after she moved to Houston at 12 and then to the University of Texas for college, Candler never was far away from the cabbage and broad noodles.
"My mother made the same dish. It's very much a peasant dish," she said. "And she let me stir the cabbage because it takes a long time to caramelize. I've always loved to cook, and it's what got me started cooking."
Candler said she enjoys lots of traditional Jewish dishes, including some reserved for specific holidays and worship periods. But kraut pletzlach was served by her grandmother whenever cabbage and the noodles were in the house. "She treated it like a surprise but it wasn't really a surprise. She'd open her apartment door and the smell would just come rolling out."
Candler has taught the dish to her own three children but knows they can't have the same memories associated with it that she does. "They love it, but they never met their grandmother. She died in the 1970s before they were born."
Stirring and testing, Candler keeps the cabbage moving in a deep, wide skillet as she steers it toward just the right level of brown, talking all the while about her grandmother. "She never learned to drive, but she shopped for food every day," she says. "She walked everywhere she went. It was a very Jewish neighborhood. She had seltzer delivered to her apartment every week, and she made the best raspberry soda with syrup she bought."
When she was in high school, Candler went back to Far Rockaway to see her grandmother. "She still walked every day. She still read Yiddish papers every day." And she still made kraut pletzlach.
mleggett@statesman.com; 512-756-8918
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