By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews
Admit it. It has been a hard week. The last thing you want to do is come home and make a nice Shabbat dinner, especially the fresh-from-the-oven challah your family expects. But your family expects it. That’s something Sharon Smith Elsayed recognized, and once Passover ends she’s got a solution: Bubby’s Bread.
Over the past several months, Smith Elsayed has been mixing, kneading, experimenting and testing flavors and consistency of dough that could be frozen and easily thrown into the oven just before Shabbat.
Admittedly, all that work was grueling, “but I had plenty of friends around the Seattle area who were willing to be test subjects,” she told JTNews.
Bubby’s will offer four traditional flavors of challah in three different packages: Lithuanian, Sephardic pumpkin, Czernowitzer and honey whole wheat. All but the whole wheat are based on recipes by James Beard award-winning artisan baker Maggie Glezer, from her book “A Blessing of Bread.”
The Lithuanian challah is the lightest of the flavors, and doesn’t actually contain eggs.
“The women would sometimes divide a single egg amongst them to glaze their challah,” Smith Elsayed said.
She described the Czernowitzer as “much more of a classical European challah,” with a substantial amount of olive oil to make it rich and dense.
Smith Elsayed said that with people watching their diets and cholesterol levels, many of them want the fresh challah experience but with the health benefit of whole grains, which is why she offers the honey whole wheat.
The last flavor, “the one that has gotten the most rave reviews all over, is the Sephardic pumpkin challah,” Smith Elsayed said. The pumpkin is hardly noticeable, she said, but gives the bread a very moist texture. Like many baked pumpkin goods, the challah is subtly spiced with ginger and cardamom. And, the next morning, she said, “It is just incredible as French toast.”
The frozen challahs are available as either dough only, to allow for families to braid themselves; pre-braided in six strands; and in smaller knots for individual-sized portions. During the first week of operation, Bubby’s will also offer challahs in the traditional post-Passover key shape. Prices run $3.50—$5.50, depending upon flavor and style.
Smith Elsayed has her own production facility in Kirkland, which allows her dough to be kosher-certified by the Va’ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle.
“They have been wonderful to work with,” Smith Elsayed said.
Once the facility gets up to speed, Smith Elsayed will begin hiring. Her company does business as Bubby’s Bread, but it’s under the umbrella of her corporation which she calls We Work Together.
“My goal is to provide local employment for people who otherwise are struggling to find work,” Smith Elsayed said. She plans to “provide both mentor and apprentice opportunities.”
She said she is currently talking with programs in the area to identify at-risk youth or people with disabilities who can help with the preparation and braiding.
The idea for Bubby’s came from a friend who saw a picture of the Sephardic pumpkin challah posted on Facebook. Smith Elsayed’s children grew up helping her make challah every week, and she continued to bake after her kids went off to college. This friend, it just so happened, has a husband who owns a company that ships frozen food all over the world and urged Smith Elsayed to think big. At the same time, she had just been laid off from the University of Washington because of state budget cuts. The timing, she decided, was right.
“I need to support my family,” she said.
Though she has been in Seattle for 18 years — she grew up outside of Spokane but lived for a while on the East Coast and spent two years along the Israeli-Lebanese border providing emergency psychological services after the first Lebanon war in the 1980s — when she came back here “I heard this constant refrain that you can’t get decent challah,” she said.
Most commercially available challahs in the area are at least a day old, Smith Elsayed said. In areas with more densely packed Jewish populations like New York or Baltimore, just before Shabbat someone can pick up a challah still warm in the bag.
“Challah tastes best when it’s freshly baked,” she said.
Ultimately, Smith Elsayed wants to help families take time out to remember how to live a Jewish life in a busy world.
“Jewish traditions are a big part of a healthy, well-rounded life,” she said. “Somehow making it easy for people, for families, for kids, to participate in those traditions, to keep them in a way that’s meaningful for them but isn’t so onerous…let’s make it easy for you to do so.”
Bubby’s Bread is taking online orders for delivery the week following Passover. Pickup spots are at the Bubby’s preparation facility in Kirkland on Tues., and Wed., April 17 and 18, and at the Pike Place Market in Seattle on Thurs., April 19. Visit www.bubbysbread.com for further information.