Breadmaking Event at Wimbledon Synagogue,
21st January 2018, by Hana Bader
On a cold, rainy day, a group of Muslim and Jewish ladies and children gathered at Wimbledon Synagogue, excited to roll up our sleeves and get busy in the kitchen. The aim of the afternoon was to watch demonstrations of bread-making then try to make our own versions, and finally enjoy the fruits of our labour together.
We started with the challah, a slightly sweet, yeasted bread. We learned how it might be eaten on Shabbat (the Sabbath) and would be traditionally covered with a decorative cloth. The plaiting of the strands of loaf was initially tricky, but fun once we got the hang of it!
Next, was the chapatti. We were shown how to roll out pats of dough and tried our best to get them as thin and as round as possible. These would then be brushed with oil and cooked on a hot plate.
The last of our breads were bagels, which were great to make, especially watching how the hole was formed.
However, the best part of the afternoon was eating together – we had our warm bagels with cream cheese & smoked salmon as well as hot chapattis with lots of delicious coconut & corn curry. Our challahs were thoughtfully packaged up for us to take home, still fresh from the oven. Nothing went to waste as we all took home plenty of extra bagels, chapattis and curries.
It was fascinating to be able to watch our demonstrators first-hand, and interesting to talk to one another about our food customs.
Muslim Women of Merton 