Make It! Challah Baking at Manchester Jewish Museum
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Manchester Jewish Museum’s approach to hands-on cultural sharing is best experienced in their incredible learning kitchen. Food is such a big part of any culture but when it comes to talking about and sharing Jewish history, the influence and power of baking cannot be underestimated. This is why the Jewish Museum’s approach to sharing culture through experience, talking, eating and sharing is such a refreshing way to learn. Join them for an informative, fun and delicious Challah Baking workshop.
Challah bread is a braided loaf that’s origins comes from the Ashkenazi Jewish community. It’s usually made for occasions such as Shabbat where people will be sharing a meal together. Often a small piece of the dough is set aside as an offering as part of the occasion or holiday. There are many variations on how the loaf can be flavoured or served, leaving a lot of room for creativity and personality to be baked into the process.
In the workshop, you will learn how to knead and shape your own Challah Bread. While you create you’ll become more familiar with the history behind the shape and cultural significance of the loaf. There will also be a variety of toppings and fillings for you to add to your bread allowing you to play with the egg enriched dough and create a personalised loaf. You can go down the road of sweet, savoury or somewhere with a delicate balance of both, depending on your taste.
Once the breads are in the oven, you’ll spend the baking time exploring some of the other stories in the Museum and learning about the history behind artefacts from the Museum’s collection.
After the workshop you’ll have your own Challah bread to take home with you as well as the skills and recipe to make more bread for your friends and family. The workshop is open to everyone regardless of baking experience, Jewish or non-Jewish. The best thing to do with any culture is to celebrate it by sharing.
