History
Early history
Onions rolls originated in the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Eastern Europe several hundred years ago, and were brought to the Americas by Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century (late 1800s). These refugees brought their traditional Jewish foods with them to their new homes in America, especially in New York City, which became a center of Jewish culture and was where the onion roll became most notable.
20th century
Onion rolls could be found at Jewish bakeries, restaurants, delicatessens, and markets around the United States and other places with a significant Jewish population. However most notably, the kosher dairy restaurant Ratner's opened in New York City’s Lower East Side neighborhood in 1908, and began serving its famous onion rolls soon after. These onion rolls became famous both within the Jewish community and among other New Yorkers as well. The restaurant opened several more locations but eventually, they all closed in 2002. At the restaurant’s peak up to 3,000 onion rolls were baked and served every day. [2]
2002–present
According to Jewish American cookbook author and baker Stanley Ginsburg, “It’s almost impossible to find a decent onion roll.”, since the closing of Ratner’s in 2002 which prompted him to help write a cookbook, ”Inside the Jewish Bakery”, offering his version of an onion roll, and other classic Jewish breads and other baked goods. [3] Onion rolls have since been featured in other Jewish baking cookbooks as well. The family that formerly owned Ratner's later published a book with a recipe for their original onion rolls after the restaurant's closing.
Today onion rolls are most commonly found in supermarkets across the Northeastern United States, as well as the Los Angeles and Miami areas, due to their large Jewish populations. Onion rolls are sold by a variety of brands including Kasanoff’s, Miami Onion Roll Company, Ratner’s, Zomick’s, and others in stores across the country.
Onion rolls are also still found in Jewish bakeries and dairy restaurants in the United States, as well as Israel.
In popular culture
Onions rolls are a popular bread in Jewish culture, particularly the American Jewish culture of New York City, where they are commonly served at Jewish bakeries, delis, kosher markets and restaurants. They have also been featured in popular culture.
Onions rolls were the most famous food served at the popular, but now-closed Ratner's restaurant in New York’s Lower East Side, a kosher restaurant only offering foods made with dairy. Ratner's was an iconic Jewish restaurant in the city for many decades, and its onion rolls were very popular among its clientele, some of whom still remember them and attempt to recreate them to this day.
According to the restaurant's cookbook, the winner and undisputed champion at Ratner's was its famous onion rolls which were featured on every table with every meal served at the restaurant. More than 1500 onion rolls were baked daily, 3000 on Sundays. [4]
Onion rolls were featured in the 2000 movie, Boiler Room where the main character Seth, (Giovanni Ribisi) has a meal with his family. An exterior shot shows the front of the restaurant. The interior scene that immediately follows shows Ratner's famous onion rolls on the family's table. [5]
Challah is a special bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays. Ritually acceptable challah is made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering. Challah may also refer to the dough offering. The word is biblical in origin, meaning "loaf". Similar braided breads such as kalach and vánočka are found across Central and Eastern Europe.
Schmaltz is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, latkes, matzah brei, chopped liver, matzah balls, fried chicken, and many others, either as a cooking fat, spread, or flavor enhancer.
Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions centred around Shabbat. Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture, and culinary traditions of the many countries where Jewish communities have settled and varies widely throughout the entire world.
A hamantash is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן, meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Bourekas or burekas are a popular baked pastry in Sephardic Jewish cuisine and Israeli cuisine. A variation of the burek, a popular pastry throughout southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East, Israeli bourekas are made in a wide variety of shapes and a vast selection of fillings, and are typically made with either puff pastry, filo dough, or brik pastry, depending on the origin of the baker.
Ratner's was a famous Jewish kosher dairy (milkhik) restaurant on the Lower East Side of New York City. It did not serve meat in deference to the kosher prohibition against mixing milk and meat products.
Israeli cuisine primarily comprises dishes brought from the Jewish diaspora, and has more recently been defined by the development of a notable fusion cuisine characterized by the mixing of Jewish cuisine and Arab cuisine. It also blends together the culinary traditions of the various diaspora groups, namely those of Middle Eastern Jews with roots in Southwest Asia and North Africa, Sephardi Jews from Iberia, and Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.
American Jewish cuisine comprises the food, cooking, and dining customs associated with American Jews. It was heavily influenced by the cuisine of Jewish immigrants who came to the United States from Eastern Europe around the turn of the 20th century. It was further developed in unique ways by the immigrants and their descendants, especially in New York City and other large metropolitan areas of the northeastern U.S.
Miller Baking Company is an American, privately owned company that specializes in a line of bakery products known by the brand name Pretzilla. The company is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Jewish rye bread is a type of rye bread commonly made in Jewish communities. Due to the diaspora of the Jews, there are several geographical variations of the bread. The bread is sometimes called sissel bread or cissel bread, as sissel means caraway seed in Yiddish.
A babka is a sweet braided bread which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. It is popular in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora. It is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese, then rolled up and braided before baking.
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.
Jewish almond cookie, also known as a Chinese cookie, is a popular Jewish cookie made with almonds and commonly served at Jewish delis and eateries.
A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a delicatessen establishment that serves various traditional dishes in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. They are typically known for their sandwiches such as pastrami on rye, as well as their soups such as matzo ball soup, among other dishes. Most of these establishments are traditionally considered Ashkenazi. Like much of the Jewish cuisine stemming from the period of the Jewish diaspora, the emergence of the Jewish deli developed in accordance with local culture. These days, Jewish delicatessens serve a variety of Jewish dishes. While some delis have full kosher-certification, others operate in a kosher-style, refraining from mixing meat and dairy in the same dish, despite potentially using non-certified ingredients. There are also delis that serve food without adhering to any traditional Jewish dietary restrictions, offering non-Kosher dishes such as the Reuben sandwich.
Poppy seed paste, also known as mohn, is a common ingredient in Ashkenazi Jewish pastries and desserts. It is made from ground poppy seeds and additional sweeteners. Examples of pastries featuring the filling include mohn kichel, babka, and, most famously, hamantashen. In Jewish cuisine, the filling is traditionally referred to as mohn, the word for poppy in both Yiddish and German. Poppy seed-filled pastries are particularly associated with the holiday of Purim.
Mohn bar, also known as mon bar, or poppy seed bar, is an Ashkenazi Jewish baked good consisting of a shortcrust pastry base with a sweet mohn filling, and a streusel/crumb topping. It may be commonly found at kosher bakeries and Jewish delis across the United States.
