The Jewish specialty Noodle Kugel came into my life sometime in the 1950s. At that time, the student body, at Bloor Collegiate Institute, was comprised mostly of Displaced Persons ( DPs)’ from the post-WWII refugee camps and immigrants who had fortunately, left Europe, before the blood bath of the Second World War. In our Toronto working class neighbourhood, almost every child’s story contained an element of displacement and/or tragedy. (I, myself, was a migrant from far-away Cape Breton.) One of my two best friends, at Bloor C.I. was Arliene Pratz.
Arliene’s mother, Jennie, had left Poland, in the 1920s, and her family settled in Toronto. Jennie married Izzie Pratz when she was 18.They had five children and Jennie buried three of them. One son was killed by a truck, at age four, another pre-teen son died after brain surgery, and an adult daughter pre-deceased Jennie. Also 130 members of the extended Pratz family perished in the Holocaust and Arliene’s father died when she was 13.
Arliene and I were thick and often, after school, I was invited to her home on Rusholme Rd. On two occasions, it happened to be the beginning of Passover, a high holiday in the Jewish calendar, and I found myself at the family seder. (A seder is a meal, at the start of Passover, that commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. See: Exodus 1) I felt completely comfortable with The Old Testament story, rituals and vocabulary having been brought up on Old Testament Bible stories, in Sunday School, featuring the likes of Moses parting the Red Sea, Daniel in the Lion’s Den and Joshua and the crumbling walls of Jericho. Anyway, I never forgot the delectable baked noodle pudding, Mrs. Pratz served for dessert.
Arliene married her high-school sweetheart, Ron Botnik and they had five children together. Tragedy struck when Ron, a music teacher, suddenly died, in 1986, leaving Arliene with five children to raise. Arliene, always a scholarship student, threw herself into academics to help ease the pain. She worked part-time, on a Master of Education degree and also studied for a Reformed Jewish Educator (RJE) certificate. For the past 22 years, Arliene has been the Director of Education at the Solel Reformed Synagogue, in Mississauga. Currently, she is teaching two evening courses at Solel: Doing Jewish and Jewish Information. “I explain the rituals of Judaism, what the prayers mean and Jewish values and beliefs,” Arliene says. “The students tend to be people who have discovered Jewish roots or are non-Jews with a Jewish spouse. Right now, I also have two United Church people, a Muslim lady and an Asian man who likes to study religions.”
Arliene is also a member of the Steering Committee of the 905 Interfaith Organization.
Back to kugel, a confection that originated in mediaeval Germany. Arliene’s daughter, Juliayetta Botnik, an accomplished baker, sent along her version of her Grandmother Jennie’s traditional kugel recipe. Julia adds “dairy” to the mix, making it a much richer dessert than the one served decades ago on Rusholme Rd. For the record, Jennie died, in 1993, at 85.
Baked Noodle Kugel (pudding)
500g broad egg noodles (approx. 1 ½ – 375g packages)
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter (melt ¼ cup and reserve it to drizzle on top of frosted flakes)
1 lb softened cream cheese (Philadelphia)
1 ½ cups sour cream
2 cups Frosted Flakes –crushed into smaller pieces, but not crumbs.
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, boil noodles(see pkg instructions) until soft and drain well. While noodles are boiling, beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed. Add eggs and sour cream and mix again.
While noodles are draining, melt ¾ cup of butter in the noodle pot then add noodles. Mix to coat evenly. Pour cream cheese mixture into the pot and stir well.
Place in a lightly greased 9” X 13” pan (or foil lasagne pan). Spread frosted flakes over the top and drizzle with remaining melted butter. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature 1-2 hours before baking.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 40-45 minutes. Check centre for warmth before removing from oven.
