SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 | 37

J

ews have prepared special 
foods just for the holidays 
for at least 1,700 years, 
when Talmudic sage Abaye rec-
ommended eating foods which 
symbolize a good new year 
(Keritot 6a). In 16th century 
Poland, R. Moshe Isserles noted 
with approval the custom of 
serving all sorts of sweets, with a 
prayer that God grant us a sweet 
new year.
In Jewish Lithuania, a special 
High Holiday treat was Taiglach. 
 
Jews from that area, known as 
Litvaks, delighted in this con-
fection. 
Recipes for Taiglach vary 
from simple to exquisitely com-
plex. They all have in common 
the basic ingredients: dough, 
cut into small pieces, given a 
crunchy crust and then covered 
with a syrup of boiled honey. 
In some recipes, the dough 
gets rolled into a rope, then sim-
ply cut into chickpea sized bits. 
Other recipes call for tying the 
dough into little knots, or mak-
ing miniature circlets, as if for 
tiny doughnuts or bagels. The 
name “taiglach” is a diminutive 
plural of the Yiddish word for 
dough, “taig.
” Taiglach are “little 
doughs” or, in more idiomatic 
English, “little bits of dough.
” 
Meanwhile, the recipes call 

bringing honey — perhaps with 
some other ingredients — to 
a boil to make a thick syrup. 
Many of the recipes suggest 
adding spices, usually ginger and 
cinnamon. 
The recipes vary about what 
to do next. Some call for fry-

ing the dough bits, some for 
toasting them, some for drying 
them in the sun. Some forgo the 
drying entirely, and just add the 
dough bits a few at a time to the 
honey syrup as it boils. Most 
recipes call for adding toasted 
nuts. Once you have fried, dried 

or baked the dough, then you 
mix the dough bits into the 
syrup. 
And there you have it: 
Taiglach. So sticky-sweet that 
you will want to eat only a small 
serving, washed down with a 
cup of hot tea or coffee. 

A special dessert for the High Holidays. 
Sweet Treat

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Directions
Sift together the sugar, flour and 
baking powder. Add in the eggs and 
the oil. Mix until a soft dough forms. 
Roll the dough into a thick rope and 
cut into small pieces. Roll each piece 
into a ball and place on a parchment 
paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 
375°F until brown, about 10 minutes.
Heat the honey, sugar, ginger, 
cinnamon and water in a pot until 
it boils. Add in the baked dough, 
nuts and dried cherries. Cover and 
simmer for 10 minutes. Once that’s 
done, uncover the pot and let it 
simmer slowly, stirring occasional-
ly until all the honey is absorbed, 
about 10-20 minutes or until you start 
smelling a delicious caramel smell. 
Turn out onto a serving tray, shape 
into a mound, garnish with extra 
sliced almonds and dried cherries. 
Let cool and enjoy.

Recipe from Yocheved Perlman 
Magier of Cookies and More by 
Shelly and Yocheved. Visit at 
facebook.com/cookiesandmore2016.

Ingredients
Dough:
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ cup oil
4 eggs

Honey sauce:
20 ounces honey
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup water
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup dried cherries

TAIGLACH 

KLEZMERGUY/WIKIMEDIA

Yom Kippur

Eib ich zitz or eib ich shtay
Dos the rabbi has to say.
 And oh, ich vil Shayn essn
 But ich can nisht fargessn,
Dos iz Yom Kipper, friends, 
 today.

Eib ich zitz: if I sit
eib ich shtay: if I stand

Dos: this
Ich vil shayn essn: I want to 
 eat
Ich can nisht fargessn: I can
 not forget
Dos iz Yom Kipper: this is 
 Yom Kippur

By Rachel Kapen

Yiddish 
Limerick

