Chowing down at the 6th annual Big Nosh Jewish culture festival

People from all over the Midlands came out to the sixth annual Big Nosh Jewish Cultural Festival on Sunday afternoon at the Tree of Life Congregation to eat traditional Jewish cuisine more commonly referred to as “getting your nosh on.”

Although the Yiddish word “nosh” really means a small bite to eat or to snack, the Big Nosh is much more than just eating. It’s a chance for people of the Jewish community to enjoy foods that they might only get to have once a year, as well as non-Jewish folks to come and learn more about their neighbors.

Starting Sunday morning, nearly 2,000 latkes – golden fried potato pancakes with onions and special spices – were made to keep up demand for the crowd favorite dish. Other dishes like stuffed cabbage, matzah ball soup, corned beef and pastrami sandwiches and kugel – a sweet noodle casserole – were also prepared in bulk for the hungry festivalgoers.

But for Jennifer Salley, the festival allowed her to hunt down a specific Jewish delight that has evaded her for several years, a knish; it’s a snack food filled with mashed potatoes, ground meat, sauerkraut, onions, kasha or cheese wrapped in dough. and fried or baked.

“The last time I had it I was in San Francisco, and I loved it. I haven’t been able to find it since,” Salley said. “We had a lot of Jewish friends in Florida, and we would do the big holiday dinners, but I never got to have knish.”

Salley and her friend Beth Wingard were first-time “noshers,” who traveled from Prosperity in order to join in on the fun.

“My friend confirmed that I absolutely had to try (knish), and it’s delightful,” Wingard said. “It’s the perfect way to kick off the day.”

Like Salley and Wingard, who aren’t Jewish, the festival drew people from all over the area who wanted to try foods normally served only once a year during Jewish holidays. Jeff Selig and Debbie Cohn, who both helped start the festival years ago, said the open-to-the-public atmosphere is a chance to share their culture with their neighbors in the community.

“The food is the entry point,” Cohn said. “But while they are here, they might never have been in our temple or in the synagogue to see the scrolls. Everybody can do food, but what we really love is to educate people about the religion.”

The festival was completed with learning experiences for the public with mock Jewish weddings, mock confirmations and mock bar and bat mitzvahs. Festivalgoers also had the opportunity to participate in hands-one challah making classes, which taught them how to make the braided bread served during the three Sabbath meals; Friday night, Saturday lunch and Sunday late afternoon.

“It’s an educational, food and celebration event,” Selig said. “We all have different ways of eating and living our lives. So what better way to eat and celebrate on a beautiful spring day?”

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Chowing down at the 6th annual Big Nosh Jewish culture festival."