Comfort Foods is a Life section series highlighting AU students and the food that reminds them of home and heritage.
It can feel so easy to become overwhelmed with work, school, the news and so much more. Sometimes all we need is a little comfort, and what better way to get that than through some good food?
When it comes to the foods that make me feel at home, no dish is better than homemade noodle kugel.
Noodle kugel (also known as noodle pudding), is a classic Jewish dish and a staple meal within my family. A combination of noodles, eggs, cream cheese and more, kugel is a hallmark holiday food and has been passed down from my grandmother, to my father and then to my mother. Thanksgiving and Rosh Hashanah simply are not the holidays without homemade kugel.
Ever since I was young, kugel has been one of my all time favorite dishes. Even though it’s usually considered a meal for holiday occasions, I love to have it all year round. Eating it makes me feel even more connected to my heritage and to a family history that has gone back centuries. Even the sight of my mother making it over the kitchen stove feels like looking into an old picture album.
The contrast of sweet noodles, smooth cream cheese and crunchy corn flakes (something that my family loves about this recipe) is like nostalgia on a plate.
When it comes to actually eating the dish though, there’s usually some discussion.
Half of my family prefers to eat kugel warm, right out of the oven, while the other half (in my opinion, the correct half) prefers to eat it cold, after being refrigerated. But warm or cold, crunchy or soft, every part of kugel still tastes and feels like home.
No matter the season, time of day or occasion, homemade kugel is everything that a comfort food should be: filling, warm and soothing. The dish feels like wrapping a warm blanket around myself on a rainy day, like getting a hug from family after months of travel and, most importantly, like coming home.
