Using her Grandma Rose’s recipe, our niece Gillian makes the best lokshen kugel. She serves it on a Friday night and when all the family gathers. I’m sure many people cook and enjoy much-loved dishes that have been handed down by forebears. This recipe, with a heritage that dates back at least four generations to my certain knowledge, is a case in point. As I have noted in many of my recipes, nostalgia adds a flavour that no other ingredient can match.


  • 400g dried egg lokshen (use tagliatelle or wide egg noodles if you cannot find lokshen)
  • 2 medium eggs, beaten
  • 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
  • 4 teaspoons of ground ginger
  • 200g raisins
  • 1 x 540g can of rhubarb, drained, or 4 sticks of fresh rhubarb cut into 12mm chunks
  • 3 Bramley apples, peeled and coarsely grated
  • 175g seedless raspberry jam
  • Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 125g margarine, plus extra to coat the inside of the baking dish
  • 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
  • Boil the lokshen or noodles until just al dente, strain and rinse with cold water.
  • Put the lokshen back into the pan, add the margarine, jam, lemon zest and juice and stir over a low heat until well combined.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
  • Grease a baking dish, pour in the lokshen mixture and smooth the top.
  • Cover the dish with foil, place on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for 1½ hours.
  • Remove the foil and bake for a further 45 minutes until the top of the kugel is well browned and sticky.
  • Take the lokshen kugel out of the oven, sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar and, as Gillian pointed out in the recipe she sent me, all that’s left to do is: ‘Eat the bloody thing!’. Leftovers can be successfully frozen and reheated.
Gillian’s Lokshen Kugel

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