East Bay women learn to weave lore, love of challah

Did you know a predecessor of the braided bread that graces the Shabbat table was probably offered as a sacrifice during the time of the First and Second Temples?

Or that there are supposed to be two challahs at Shabbat dinner to signify abundance and the double portion of manna that was collected on the sixth day when the Israelites were in the desert?

Or that these two loaves should contain a total of 12 braided strands to represent the 12 tribes of Israel?

While many are familiar with the round shape for Rosh Hashanah, challah can also be shaped like a ladder for Shavuot or like a three-fingered hand for the meal before Kol Nidre, which symbolizes the hand of God but is incomplete, to avoid committing the sin of image-making.

And challah is always torn from the loaf, never sliced, because it's the Shabbat bread and Shabbat is a day of peace and knives don't go along with that.

And you thought challah just tasted good.

Earlier this month, a group of 28 women got the full scoop on challah from cooking teacher and Jewish Bulletin columnist Rebecca Ets-Hokin at a challah-baking workshop. The class, offered in plenty of time for students to become experts before Rosh Hashanah, was organized by Jill Smith, chair of the outreach committee of the Women's Division of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay. To introduce as many people as possible to the joys of challah, the class was taught first in Berkeley at Sur La Table and then in Danville at Cooks and Books and Corks.

"Challah baking is simple," said Ets-Hokin, explaining that every Thursday night she mixes her dough -- about a 10-minute process -- and then refrigerates it. On Friday she does the two risings, braiding the dough, and she has two loaves of fresh challah for her family's Shabbat dinner and a house that smells warm and welcoming for Shabbat.

As Ets-Hokin baked and braided, she bantered with the class, telling family stories and dispensing cooking tips. Her easy manner and simple explanations made challah baking look as easy as she said it was.

Ets-Hokin demonstrated how to mix the dough as well as how to knead by machine and by hand. She also showed how to do a complicated six-strand bread, with two three-strand braids on one loaf, and also how to make all the holiday shapes.

And she answered everyone's questions.

Even though most of the women had some experience in the art, they used the opportunity to ask the expert, probing the nuances of challah-baking with talmudic devotion.

"What's the best kind of flour to use?" someone asked.

"Should you store yeast in the refrigerator or freezer?" "Does it affect the texture of the bread if you knead the dough by hand or by machine?" "Can you use quick-rising yeast?" "Does it make a difference whether you use butter or oil?" "Is it OK to substitute honey for white sugar?" "How can you tell when the bread has doubled in bulk?"

You can use any kind of white flour, but Ets-Hokin prefers unbleached, stone-ground. You can store yeast in the refrigerator or the freezer, although Ets-Hokin keeps hers in the freezer because her mother always did.

It's also easier and faster to let a machine -- mixer, food processor or bread machine -- do the kneading for you and it may affect the texture, but not enough to make it worth the effort to hand-knead, she said. However, if you're into the Zen of hand kneading, go for it.

You can use any kind of yeast, but Fleischmann's is kosher. The bread comes out whiter if you use oil, but it has a richer taste if you use butter. However, if you keep kosher, use oil if you're serving meat. You can use any sweetener, even molasses or barley sugar. You just have to eyeball it to figure out when your dough has doubled in bulk.

In addition to challah, Ets-Hokin made two other recipes, a wild mushroom bread pudding and a salmon spread, which everyone got to sample.

But best of all were the baking tips Ets-Hokin offered during the evening, the things that can only be learned by experience or in a cooking class from an expert. For instance, a terra cotta slab set on the floor or a shelf of the oven improves the oven's heat retention. Baking with a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet makes cleanup faster.

Always put your challah on a wire rack to cool because the steam from the hot cookie sheet will make the bread soggy. Salt can kill yeast so always make sure the salt is well integrated into the flour before adding the yeast.

If you' re putting raisins or other fruit in your holiday challah, toss them in flour first. That way they won't clump together. And if you're a multitasker in the kitchen, get a cordless headset for your telephone so you can cook and talk on the phone without having a permanently crooked neck.

And the most important tip of all: The best challah is made with love.