When German Jewish immigrants came to America they brought with their noodle making traditions. Noodles making was a labor of love and also an inexpensive way to feed a family. In the street markets of the lower east side teaming with people, the frugal housewife would leave the home with her shopping basket in the basket she would have a couple of tin cups, she would go to the egg seller and look for the cracked eggs, the cracked eggs of which there were in abundance were a fraction of the price of the uncracked eggs. The smart shopper would then proceed to crack the egg fully into one of her tins cups and smell it, if it was still fresh she would purchase it, if not she would go on to the next cracked egg until she had enough for the families noodles for the week.
The noodle kugel a favorite side dish in Europe when it came to America enjoyed the ‘land of plenty’ treatment, no longer a mear sprinkling of raisins and apples but handfuls and what could be more American Jewish than an old-world recipe topped with a new world invention – Corn flakes. Where in Europe the topping of a kugel – if it had one would have been stale breadcrumbs, in America inspiration for the topping of a kugel could be found in the bottom of a box of cereal!
- 250g (8 ounces) large flat egg noodles
- 4 apples, peeled and diced small
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 65g (¼ cup) unsweetened hazelnut or almond butter
For topping:
- 30g (1 cup) corn flakes, crushed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- Heat oven to 180℃ (350℉).
- Cook noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water until cooked, rinse and drain and place the noodles in a large bowl.
- Add the diced apples, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to the noodles and mix until all the ingredients are evenly combined. Add the eggs and nut butter and mix well.
- Place the noodle mixture in a well greased medium casserole dish (about 20x20cm (8x8inch).
- Make the topping by mixing the crushed corn flakes, cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the kugel.
- lightly drape a piece of aluminum foil over the kugel and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
