Knish
A
knish /ˈknɪʃ/ or
knysh is an Eastern European snack food made popular in North America by Eastern European immigrants. A knish consists of a filling covered with dough that is either baked, grilled, or deep fried. Knishes can be purchased from street vendors in urban areas with a large Jewish population, sometimes at a hot dog stand or from a butcher shop. In the most East European traditional versions, the filling is made entirely of mashed potato, ground meat, sauerkraut, onions, kasha, or cheese. Other varieties of fillings include sweet potatoes, black beans, fruit, broccoli, tofu, or spinach. Many cultures have variations of baked, grilled, or fried dough-covered snacks to which epicurean family the knish belongs including the Cornish pasty, the Scottish Bridie, the Jamaican patty, the Spanish and Latin American empanada, the Middle Eastern fatayer, the Portuguese
rissol, the Italian calzone, the Indian samosa, the Texas klobasnek, the Czech kolache, the Polish pierogi, the Russian Pirozhki, and the Ukrainian Pyrizhky. Knishes may be round, rectangular, or square. They may be entirely covered in dough or some of the filling may peek out of the top.