Kasha Varnishkes and America’s Melting Pot

Like matzo ball soup, kasha varnishkes is a dish I discovered while living with an Ashkenazi Jewish family in the Bronx, and like the soup, it’s something I crave when the cold and darkness set in. It’s a simple dish where kasha (roasted buckwheat groats), onions, fat (I use butter and olive oil), and bowtie pasta come together. Eating it feels like being at grandma’s house again.

I learned to make this dish 16 years ago when Mark Bittman had his Minimalist column in the New York Times with accompanying videos. Here’s the video and the recipe, which I still use. I love mushrooms and add them generously although they are not in Bittman’s recipe.

I got curious about this Jewish dish while I opened a box of pasta that sounded really Italian: farfalle. How did this dish come to be? I was surprised to learn that the word varnishkes is likely a Yiddish variation of varenyky, the Ukrainian word for pierogi. After reading that and eating my kasha varnishkes, it made total sense. The dish tastes like deconstructed varenyky. But how did farfalle become part of it? According to Wikipedia, Jews fleeing Europe brought the dish with them, and food writer Gil Marks suggested that farfalle was introduced as Jewish and Italian communities influenced each other in New York City in the late 1800s. It’s a prime example of the richness of America through cultural exchange.

Every time I make kasha varnishkes, I’m reminded of the warmth and simplicity of home-cooked meals and the Silverbergs, especially Jean, the matriarch, the cook, and the person who was like a Jewish grandma to me. But it’s also a reminder of America, the place where so many people have come to escape hardship and find a better life and where diversity enriches our lives through food and connections.