Schmaltz

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about cooking fat. For the brewery, see Shmaltz Brewing Company. For the surname, see Schmaltz (surname).
"Schmalz" redirects here. For the Canadian ice hockey administrator, see Tubby Schmalz.
Schmaltz
chicken, goose, or duck
)
Schmaltz (Chicken)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy3,767 kJ (900 kcal)
0 g
99.8 g
Saturated30 g
Monounsaturated45 g
Polyunsaturated21 g
0 g
Other constituentsQuantity
Cholesterol85 mg
Vitamin E2.7 mg
Selenium0.2 mg
Fat percentage can vary.
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[2] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[3]

Schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) is

flavor enhancer.[4][5]

Etymology

Schmaltz is a noun derived from the German verb schmelzen, meaning "to melt". The verb can be traced back to the West Germanic root *smeltan, which survives in the Modern English verb smelt. The term entered English usage through

Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews who used schmaltz to refer to kosher poultry fat; the Yiddish word שמאַלץ shmalts refers to rendered chicken fat.[6][7] The English term schmaltz is derived from Yiddish and is cognate with the German term Schmalz, which refers to any rendered fat of animal origin, including lard (more precisely Schweineschmalz) and clarified butter (Butterschmalz). English use tends to follow Yiddish, which limits its meaning to rendered poultry fat.[8][9][10]

History

Historically, chicken and to a lesser extent other poultry have been the most popular meat in Ashkenazi

Roman Israel, and it remained popular in Sephardic and Mizrahi cuisines.[4][11][12]

As olive oil and other vegetable oils (e.g.

kosher dietary laws.[1][4]

At the turn of the twentieth century, as the Ashkenazi Jews fled escalating

Jewish community of New York.[1][4]

Over time, schmaltz was replaced with what often were

Jewish delicatessens and Jewish restaurants as well as among those in the Haredi community.[1][4][16]

Beginning in the twenty-first century, however, schmaltz regained much of its former popularity as various

Jewish foods. Schmaltz also began being used in various non-traditional ways, such as cornbread, chicken pot pie, and other foods as a flavor enhancer.[21]

Process

The manufacture of schmaltz involves cutting the fatty tissues of a bird (chicken or goose) into small pieces, melting the fat, and collecting the drippings. Schmaltz may be prepared by a dry process where the pieces are cooked under low heat and stirred, gradually yielding their fat. A wet process also exists whereby the fat is melted by direct steam injection. The rendered schmaltz is then filtered and clarified.

Homemade Jewish-style schmaltz is made by cutting chicken or goose fat into small pieces and melting in a pan over low-to-moderate heat, generally with onions. After the majority of the fat has been extracted, the melted fat is strained through a cheesecloth into a storage container. The remaining dark brown, crispy bits of skin and onion are known in Yiddish as gribenes.

Another simple method is as a by-product of the making of chicken soup. After the chicken is simmered in the pot or crock-pot, the broth is chilled so the fat rises to the top. Then the fat can be skimmed off, at once providing schmaltz to set aside for other uses and a lower-fat soup that is heated before serving.

Uses

Schmaltz typically has a strong aroma, and therefore, often is used for hearty recipes such as stews or roasts. It is a key ingredient in Jewish soups such as

latkes, matzah brei, or potato kugel, or instead of butter when pan-frying potatoes, onions, or other foods.[citation needed
]

Vegetarian schmaltz

Various vegetarian (and consequently

Vegetable shortening also is used as a substitute.[22]

Vegetarian schmaltz was manufactured in South Africa from 1951 under the brand Debra's Schmaltz, with Debra referring to Debora Bregman, who founded Debras Manufacturers. The slogan "Even the chicken can't tell the difference" was added later. Chef Oded Schwartz discusses Debra's Schmaltz in his book In Search of Plenty — A History of Jewish Food.[23]

Debra's Schmaltz label from 1951

Derived meanings

  • Schmaltz herring means 'fatty herring' and refers to the stage of development in the life cycle of herring when the fish contains the most fat, popular in Ashkenazi Jewish cookery, but it does not contain schmaltz.[citation needed]
  • In American English, via Yiddish, schmaltz (adj. schmaltzy) also has an informal meaning of 'excessively sentimental or florid music or art' or 'maudlin sentimentality', similar to one of the uses of the words corn or corny. Its earliest use in this sense dates to the mid-1930s.[24][25] In German, schmalzig also is used in the same sense.[citation needed]
  • Schmaltz and Schmalz are rare
    last names amongst people of German and Austrian descent.[26] Schmaltz was used as a metonymic occupational name for a chandler.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Yoskowitz, Jeffrey. "Schmaltz". 100 Most Jewish Foods. Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  3. PMID 30844154.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. ^ a b c d e Marks, Gil. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH.
  5. ^ Ruhlman, Michael. The Book of Schmaltz.
  6. ^ "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 11th ed". Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  7. ^ "American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., 2000". Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2007.
  8. ^ List of English words of Yiddish origin See entry schmaltz in this list
  9. ISBN 978-0749465438
    . Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  10. ISBN 978-0316254083
    .
  11. ^ "Olive Oil". Chabad. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  12. ^ "The Slippery History of Jews and Olive Oil". The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. JTA. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  13. ISBN 978-0471293187
    .
  14. ISBN 978-0811827911
    .
  15. ^ Lavine, Eileen (1 December 2013). "Foie Gras: The Indelicate Delicacy". Moment Magazine. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  16. ^ "What is Schmaltz?". Chabad. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  17. ^ Bourdain, Anthony. "Chopped Liver on Rye". Eat Your Books. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  18. ^ Bourdain, Anthony. Appetites: A Cookbook.
  19. ^ Solomonov and Cook, Michael and Steven. Zahav.
  20. ^ Nathan, Joan. "Joan Nathan's Matzo Ball Soup". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  21. ISBN 978-0451494160
    .
  22. ^ "Parev Products Co. v. Rokeach & Sons (36 F.Supp. 686)". 29 January 1941. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  23. ^ "Eat, mein kind, eat". The Mail & Guardian. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  24. JSTOR 452424
    .
  25. ^ Steig, J.A. (17 April 1937). "Profiles: Alligators' Idol". The New Yorker. Vol. 12, no. 3. pp. 27–31.
  26. ISBN 0-19-508137-4
    .
  27. ^ "The Schmalz Surname at ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2010-08-14.

Further reading

  • Michael Ruhlman, Donna Turner Ruhlman (2013). The Book of Schmaltz: Lovesong to a Forgotten Fat,
    ISBN 978-031-625-408-3

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schmaltz&oldid=1220304175"