Perfect for a Fall Shabbat
I have never met a homemade challah I didn't like.
There is something undeniably cozy and inviting about warm, fresh bread on the
Shabbat table. Few other tastes can rival this. On the other hand, challah's
ubiquitous appeal means that it's hard to find one loaf that stands out from the
crowd. Enter: pumpkin challah. With a heady mix of pureed winter squash, cinnamon, and cardamom braided into deep, strawberry-blond loaves, pumpkin challah is at once exotic and familiar to my Ashkenazic taste buds. A rare find, indeed.
In Maggie Glezer's indispensable baking book, A Blessing of Bread, she writes that pumpkin challah--a.k.a. pan de calabaza--is a Sephardic specialty imbued with deep meaning. Like other foods made with pumpkin, it represents the hope that God will protect the Jewish people just as the pumpkin's thick shell protects the flesh inside.
Sephardic Jews traditionally serve this bread during Rosh Hashanah, when eating auspicious, symbolic foods is especially popular. Still, it is equally delicious served on any cold autumn or winter Shabbat when the added heartiness and kick of spice can be fully appreciated. Needless to say, the leftovers make a spectacular base for challah French toast.
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