Though the official tally on Shabbat meals is three (Friday night dinner, Shabbat day lunch and the third meal on Saturday at dusk called the third meal, or seudah shlishit) some people like to add a breakfast. The reason for this is largely practical. Though sleeping in on Shabbat has a certain loveliness and in many places synagogue services only begin at nine, to accommodate the sleepers, the most pious Jews rise for prayer at dawn. In Jewish law this is regarded as optimal, as morning worship is timed to coincide with the rising of the sun. When those early birds come back from synagogue they are hungry but not necessarily ready to tuck into cholent at eight o’clock in the morning—hence the emergence of the Shabbat morning kiddush/ breakfast. This meal can be as simple as a glass of wine or shot of whiskey and a cookie or as elaborate as the Yemenite kiddush of kubaneh or the Sephardi desayuno, an elegant dairy brunch featuring a variety of fresh salads, cheeses and pastries.
The Jews of Yemen would assemble a buttery, yeast dough on Friday afternoon, leaving it overnight to bake so that it could be warm and fluffy for a post-services breakfast. Kubaneh can be enjoyed with a simple grated tomato dip.
These recipes are excerpted from Carol Ungar’s new book Jewish Soul Food: Traditional Fare and What It Means.
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