Later expeditions, 2012–2018 › 2013 Expedition

AHEYM-2013-022 · Oradea

Oradea (Nagyvarad in the project's index) 2013-05-16 8 min · 6 stretches · 6 questions about words Yiddish 89% Hungarian 11%

Not online: the recording is held by the project and is not on Media Collections Online, YouTube or archive.org. Everything below is a paraphrase of a machine transcript, the weaker of this site's two transcript layers — see how it was made.

Summary

A short camera file (about eight minutes) from a longer 2013 session recorded in Nagyvarad, in which Kerler talks with an elderly woman. After a brief opening exchange about a letter from Germany and where Kerler will have lunch, the talk turns to Jewish home cooking: kugel, kipfel and cheese pastries for Shavuot, meat and dairy days, goose fat, and gefilte fish. The file ends with a short exchange in English about regional differences in how fish is prepared.

Stretches

00:00–01:22

The woman tells of a letter from Germany that turned out to hold money. Kerler says he will probably eat lunch in Cluj (Kolozsvár/Klausenburg) rather than at the community. The two settle the time of day, and Kerler then begins to ask about bundlach.

Informal · Cluj, Kolozsvár, Klausenburg, Germany

01:22–03:25

The woman talks about Jewish dishes of her childhood: a noodle (ribl) kugel, cholent, and bundlach, which neither she nor her siblings liked. Her mother made kipfel with cocoa and cheese pastries, eaten at Shavuot as a dairy meal. Kerler asks whether she has the recipe written down. She says she once knew how to make them but no longer can.

before the war FoodFamily historyOther holidaysChildhood · Sziget (?)

03:25–04:09

The woman speaks Hungarian about baking, which she can no longer do. She says she used to make cream cakes and butter biscuits (fogácsa). Kerler then returns to the kipfel and compares it with what was said in Debrecen the day before.

life today FoodLife today · Debrecen

04:09–06:10

Kerler asks how often meat was eaten at her parents' home. She says meat was not eaten daily and that one day a week, Wednesday, was dairy. Chicken, goose and goose fat are mentioned. On Thursday she went to buy a large fish for the Sabbath.

06:01–07:29

The woman describes making mock fish (falshe fish) and says she likes fish. Kerler asks whether gefilte fish was the usual name and she confirms it, saying her mother made it. She says she can make it but no longer does.

before the war FoodCultural terminology

07:29–08:18

The speakers briefly compare regional differences in preparing fish. Kerler mentions Israel and Polish influence, and the exchange is partly in English.

Informal Food · Israel

Questions about words

  • 01:06
    Did you eat bundlach at your home? — whether bundlach were eaten
  • 01:31
    Did they make a kugel from bundlach? — a dish made from bundlach
  • 02:48
    Do you know how to make kipfel? Is the recipe written down? — the recipe for kipfel
  • 04:09
    How often was meat eaten? — frequency of meat meals
  • 05:30
    Which day was the dairy day? — the weekday
  • 06:41
    Did you say gefilte fish? — the term for stuffed fish