Request #14: Knishes

The last thing I made — before I was so rudely interrupted by Mose and his cider-squeezing machine — was a rather frilly bit of French pastry shop pastry: Opera Cake. How fitting then that I should return to my request list to find something that really puts the “Joe” back in Joe Pastry: knishes. For those of you who may never have encountered the word before, it’s pronounced kuh-NISH, and it is (really, was) one of New York City’s archetypal street foods. Knishes are fast-disappearing in their native environment. So now’s as good a time as any to rally to the greater cause of the knish.

All you folks who’ve written in this fall requesting ideas for easy, home-baked school lunch items, you’ll want to pay close attention. An argument can be made that knishes are less a legendary street food than a proto-pocket sandwich. So, I’ll not only talk about how to make knishes (they’re easy as pie…actually even easier than pie), I’ll put forward some strategies for storing and baking them off in a fashion that integrates easily with a hectic family schedule.

So…two birds with one stone. And probably in record time. I’ve got a very busy week going here at Joe Pastry world headquarters. Posting may be a little light this week generally.