Lokshen mit kaese


Lokshen mit kaese, also known as lokshen with cheese or Jewish mac and cheese, is an Ashkenazi Jewish dish popular in the Jewish diaspora, particularly in the United States. It consists of lokshen that are served with a cheese sauce — typically made with cottage cheese and black pepper — and sour cream. Butter, caramelized onions, garlic, tomatoes, mint, currants, parmesan, and other ingredients may be added depending on the region and season. Sometimes a sweet variety is made with cinnamon sugar. It has been compared to a deconstructed noodle kugel and is considered by many to be a Jewish comfort food.

Etymology

Lokshen mit kaese comes from the almost identical Yiddish term for the dish, Lokshn mit kez, meaning Lokshen with cheese.

History

According to the late Jewish culinary historian Rabbi Gil Marks, lokshen mit kaese originated more than 800 years ago in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe sometime during the Middle Ages as a relative of the lokshen kugel, and was a relatively cheap meal for the then impoverished Jewish population of the shtetl. The Lithuanian Jews preferred a savory version of the dish seasoned with salt and pepper while the Polish Jews preferred a sweet version of the dish sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon. When Jews fled from the escalating antisemitism and pogroms in Eastern Europe and sought refuge in the United States and other countries in the Jewish diaspora, as well as in Israel, they brought this dish with them. Lokshen mit kaese remained popular in the American Jewish community, though beginning in the late 20th century it began to decrease in popularity due to a growing mistrust of saturated fat due to its possible health effects, and a general desire to move away from old-fashioned tastes.
Today lokshen mit kaese remains popular and is considered a comfort food comparable to macaroni and cheese for many American Jews, some of whom introduced new ingredients into the dish such as Italian pasta, butter, parmesan cheese, mint, cherry tomatoes and currants, among others.

Overview

Two main types of the dish exist, a savory and a sweet. Both are typically made with lokshen noodles along with cottage cheese, sour cream and sometimes butter. The savory version of lokshen mit kaese usually includes salt, pepper and caramelized onions. While the sweet version is topped with cinnamon and sugar similar to a noodle kugel. Melissa Clark makes a variation with mint, cherry tomatoes, scallions and dried currants.

Preparation

Lokshen mit kaese is typically prepared by boiling a variety of lokshen or Jewish egg noodles. Traditionally longer homemade lokshen egg noodles were and are still sometimes used, however store bought lokshen as well as varnishkes also known as bowtie pasta are a popular choice as well, sometime various shape of Italian pasta such as macaroni elbows are used as well. The Jewish egg noodles are boiled until al dente and then mixed with cottage or pot cheese, and sometime butter, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, chive, or other ingredients may be added, along with a fair amount of cracked black pepper. Sometimes it is made with broad lokshen and served with ketchup.

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