Zomick's Challah – Web Developer

The Kosher Baking Story

Bread has been considered to be the most elementary of foods for over centuries. Baking has always been a big thing for humans. The way of making bread varies from culture to culture. As the man started to migrate, the cooking and baking changed forever. Each kitchen has its own specific taste which differentiates it from the others.

Although the Jewish people have traveled a lot, the Jewish kitchen has not changed much. Probably, this is because of the segregate nature of the Jewish nation.

In today's post, Mr. Zomick's, the owner of the Inwoood-based Zomick's bakery, will share with us what is the Zomick's Challah Bread, how is prepared and when it can be consumed.

According to Mr. Zomick's, the Challah bread is eaten by the religious Jewish people at the eve of Friday. The religious Jews are not allowed to cook on Saturday’s (Shabbat), also they cannot even light a fire or do any kind of work. Due to that Jewish law, all the food for the traditional family dinner at the evening of Friday has to be prepared in advance.

Many different traditions, dictate different strategies for the preparation of the Challah bread. According to some, it is preferably the mixture of the flour and the ingredients to be started early on Friday morning. According to others, it is preferably to prepare the whole thing on Thursday lunch, following the old saying that the Challah is at its prime once it has aged for two whole days.

The different ways of cooking does not have a big effect on the real basics of the Challah making. There are just little changes that create diversity in food from one place to another. Everyone sticks to his personal way of cooking and there is no need one to adopt other ones way, simply because it is not his way. The Zomick's bakery follows the most traditional way when it comes to preparing the Zomick's Challah.

The procedure of making Kosher food is a very complicated task. The same applies to Kosher baking. There are a lot of rules to be followed. Some of them does not allow different kind of foods to me mixed and some are more spiritualistic and social like making sure that a portion of the flour has been deducted for the poor and needy.

Once you give it a go, Kosher baking will not seem like a difficult task anymore. You will not notice any difference, except if you are using an animal fat. The whole process will seem like a normal baking to you, except that the baker like to sing some Hasidic songs while he is working.

Bakers from the Zomick’s bakery recommend you to try some Jewish cooking. It will certainly make a change in your dinner. If you decide to make a Challah, try and serve it on a family dinner on the evening of Friday. After all it is meant to be enjoyed with the whole family around the table, in the spirit of love and peace.

Zomick's Bakery Original Challah Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cups water
1/2 cup +1 tbsp sugar
tsp active dry yeast
cups high gluten white or wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
large eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
Sprinkle of sesame, poppy seeds, raisins, honey or cinnamon & sugar
5lb Version (Original x3)
1/2 cups water (start with 4 cups)
1/2 cups + 3 tbsp sugar
tbsp yeast
¼ tsp salt
15-16 cups flour
large eggs
cup olive oil

Directions
Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar into 1 cup hot water. Sprinkle the yeast on top without mixing. Let rest 10 - 15 mins until air pockets form at top.
Combine flour, remaining sugar, and salt in mixing bowl. Add yeast mixture, 1 egg, oil and remaining 1 cup water.
Knead for 15 minutes. If you use a mixer, watch for elasticity as kneading times may vary. Add more water or flour if needed.
Place the dough in large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for ½ hour.
Punch down and place on floured surface. Rip off piece of dough, wrap it in foil, say the Bracha and throw it into the oven as an offering.
Divide the dough into two or three sections, then divide each section into three ropes. Braid and say a prayer for others. Loosely cover braids and allow to rise for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300*F. Beat the remaining egg and generously brush braids. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, raisins or cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown crust has formed.
Enjoy this challah recipe with Zomick's!

Zomick's Bread - How Zomick’s Challah is prepared?

Zomick’s Bread has been prepared according to the kashrut, which represents a set of rules found in the bible. In addition, the kashrut also lays out how foods can be prepared, which foods can be combined, and which combinations should be avoided. Zomick’s Bread has packaging that is marked with a kosher stamp to indicate that it has been prepared according to the strict guidelines of the kashrut.

How Zomick’s Bread is prepared

Basic concerns regarding bread
The three basic concerns regarding bread are the ingredients, the equipment used to prepare the bread, and some additional rules that only pertain to bread.

When people at Zomick's kosher bakery are preparing bread, make sure that all the ingredients are kosher. In addition, wheat is by its nature always kosher, with no special considerations needed. Some very conservative Jews follow the practice of not eating wheat before a special sacrifice call Omer on the second day of Pesach. Bread that adheres to this rule is labeled as Yoshon. Since most breads are baked with animal fats and yeast, a rabbi must be present to ensure these and any other ingredients are kosher.

Utensils used to bake kosher bread cannot have been used to make foods that are not kosher. If they were used for something non-kosher, they have to be kashered, or cleansed in the proper manner using a high heat. The utensils are then ritually purified by a rabbi. Kosher bread also cannot be prepared on one of the holy days or the sabbath.

According to Zomick’s Bakery guys, you should break off a small portion of bread, about the size of an olive, when the bread is either in raw form or baked. And this small piece is called the challah. The challah is then burned by throwing it on the floor of the oven, after which it is thrown away. If this traditional kosher ritual isn't performed in the bakery, it can be performed at home before the bread is eaten to ensure the bread is kosher.

We proudly bake certified kosher and pareve dairy-free, as well as different specialty lines of Zomick’s Challah Recipe, vegan, vegetarian, diabetic-friendly sugar-free, and wheat-free, so that everyone can enjoy traditional Zomick’s Challah shipped fresh daily from Zomick’s Kosher Bakery.

Here at our bakery we like to think of the process of baking Zomick's challah as a mystical combination of art and science. It is not difficult at all, on the contrary, it can be a lot of fun while preparing and baking it in the oven. And this Zomick’s bread can be made ​​in many different shapes.
This is one of the many recipes we use at our Zomick’s bakery:

Ingredients

• 400g flour

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 20g of fresh yeast

• 200ml of lukewarm water

• 2 eggs

• 40g melted butter

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Olive oil (optionally)

• 1 egg

While preparing the dough for Zomick’s challah recipe you’ll need to mix the yeast, honey, lukewarm water and some flour and let the yeast foaming. Cover it and put it in a warm place. Depending on the quality and freshness of yeast it can take up to 20 minutes. Be patient. Mix rest of the flour and salt into a bowl and add the yeast. Add water gradually to the flour and begin to knead.

Then add the melted butter with eggs, knead it into dough and leave it covered with plastic foil and wrapped in cloth, in a warm place to rise for 45 min. If the dough is too sticky grease your hands with olive oil while kneading.

After 45 min, take the dough knead it again and let it rest for another hour.

After an hour knead it one more time, divide the dough into 3 equal parts and form the Zomick’s challah bread. Heat up the oven to 200 C and while waiting to reach this temperature, grease the braided dough and leave it near the oven to warm and rise once again.

When the oven is heated, coat the bread in egg yolk and sprinkle it with sesame seeds.

Bake it for about half an hour until you get your homemade golden-brown challah bread.

ABOUT ZOMICK’S KOSHER BAKERY

Do you know that the finest challah in New York City is made by Zomick’s bakery, following the instruction of their traditional Zomick’s Challah Recipe? Have you ever tasted their Challah?

If not, let us make some arguments… Zomick’s Challah is considered “the best recipe in fine baking”. Additionally, Zomick’s is one of the few New York-based kosher bakeries which have incorporated the latest FDA food standards. Plus, Zomick’s has been providing their customers with baking goods for nearly 50 years, providing them with a win-win formula.

People at Zomick’s Bakery prepare Zomick’s bread with kosher ingredients, according to the traditional Challah recipe.

This New York-based kosher bakery offers a wide variety of Zomick’s Challah bread. They are different from each other due to the different ingredients which are used during the preparation. The most famous are Zomick’s Challah bread with wholegrain flour, vegan Zomick’s Challah bread, Zomick’s Challah bread with oat flour and flax seeds.

Apart from the different types of bread, Zomick’s kosher bakery also offers bakery treats, cakes, cookies, babkas and rugelach.

Zomick’s bread is prepared according to the kashrut law. The package in which comes Zomick’s bread is marked with a kosher stamp to indicate that it has been prepared according to the strict guidelines of the kashrut.

Looking for Zomick’s bread recipes? Follow Zomick’s on social media in order to find more information.

Zomick’s Challah Recipe is used to create some of the best pieces of kosher bread called challah. Zomick’s challah is so great that when you try it, you will never again try another challah bread. Just the braided shape with sesame on top, the golden colors, the smell of fresh baked product… yummy yum yum. We miss it already.

Visit Zomick’s Facebook page to learn more about this New York-based kosher bakery.

Zomick’s Challah on Medium

Zomick’s Challah bread is traditional Jewish bread with braid shape. Is eaten for the Sabbath and for other festivities. For the Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Challah is rolled in a circular way. It symbolizes the desire for long life. It is braided because the Talmud says that when a knot is made with three fibers, it is impossible to be destroyed.
The word Challah also refers to the practice of Hafrashat Challah by which a portion of the mass is separated symbolically, as an offering to the priests of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Zomick’s Challah Bread is different from European brioches. The main difference is that it does not contain any dairy products, such as milk or butter. The reason for that is because according to the Jewish law, kashrut, dairy products, and meat cannot be mixed in the same food.
Challah bread from Zomick’s kosher bakery is one of the best in New York. It is prepared by experienced bakers following the traditional Challah recipe. It is a bread made with eggs, with a light texture which is served during the celebrations of the Jews. It is prepared using three or four dough strips which are braided. However, for very special occasions, up to 8 strips are added in order to give the bread a more festive look.

Zomick’s Challah Recipe is used at Zomick’s bakery for the production of their famous Challah Bread. This recipe dates from the Middle Ages, while its certain origin region is quite unknown. There are many theories and some historians suggest that it comes from Europe. This belief is contrary to the popular belief that this bread is solely Jewish.
There are more accepted challah recipes in the world, but most of them use various eggs, fine white flour, water, sugar, yeast, and salt. Zomick’s challah may utilize fewer eggs and may replace white flour with whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour. In some cases, they also include raisins. At Zomick’s, bakers prefer to sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top for flavor. There is one more special thing about this challah, and it is the fact that Zomick’s kosher bakery uses special kosher salt for their baking goods.