By Lisa Driban, Member of the Jewish Living Delaware Advisory Committee
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My bubbe, Jennie Costin (nee Seres), z”l, grew up in Russia in a small town between Kyiv and Odessa that may currently be called Chisinau. Bubbe used to talk about dishes from her childhood as she got older and my mother tried to recreate them for her.
One dish my mother, Charlotte, would make to bring to Bubbe was called Kaftellin. I am not sure of the dish’s derivation, or the accuracy of the name and spelling—this is just what we called it. As far as I can figure, the dish was the Seres family take on Kotleti, a common Slavic dish sort of like oval-shaped meatballs. Though they hold many similarities, Bubbe’s variation diverges from the classic recipe with the introduction of a borscht-based sauce.
Like so many recipes handed down through generations, there is no real recipe, just an approximation of the ingredients. I learned by watching my mother, who in turn learned by watching her mother. The recipe I’m sharing is how my mother made it and passed it down to me.
Bubbe was always excited when I visited at Pesach and brought her a container of Kaftellin along with some Passover kamish bread, also called mandel bread. Sadly, I lost both my mother and Bubbe many years ago. At a time of year when families often gather together to remember the story of Pesach and partake in seders, this recipe is like a taste of home, bringing with it memories of family members who are no longer with us.
Bubbe’s Kaftellin
Ingredients
- 1 package of ground chicken
- 2 parsnips, peeled and ground or finely gated
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Matzo meal, enough to hold the patties together
- 1 jar of beet borscht
Directions
- Mix ground chicken, parsnips, egg, matzo meal, and salt and pepper together
- Form into oval-shaped patties
- In a large skillet, heat the borscht until simmering
- Slide the chicken patties into borsht and poach until cooked, turning occasionally so beet juice soaks into patties turning them pink
- Serve the patties and sauce over broken matzo
Notes
- I usually sweat half of a small onion and dice up a small can of beets to add to the sauce for more depth and texture
- When I brought this dish to Bubbe, she often commented that I could add potatoes to the borscht when heating. I assume her mother used to serve it like this, but my mother never made it that way
Charolotte’s Kamish Bread
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- ¾ cup of oil
- 1 cup of potato starch
- 1 cup of cake meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Combine eggs, sugar, and oil in a large bowl and mix well
- To the same bowl, add the potato starch, cake meal, salt, and vanilla. Mix well
- Pour the mixture into a greased pan that has been floured with either cake meal or potato starch
- Bake in at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Slice, return to the pan, and toast for several more minutes
Notes
- You can also include raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips. Mix them in just before adding the mixture to the pan for baking
