Gribenes
Ashkenazi Jewish dish
title: "Gribenes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ashkenazi-jewish-cuisine", "israeli-cuisine", "chicken-dishes", "skin", "yiddish-words-and-phrases", "fried-foods"] description: "Ashkenazi Jewish dish" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gribenes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Ashkenazi Jewish dish ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox food"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Gribenes |
| image | File:Shkvarki.jpg |
| caption | Chicken gribenes |
| alternate_name | Grieven |
| creator | Ashkenazi Jews |
| type | Snack, side dish, or garnish |
| main_ingredient | Chicken or goose skin, onions |
| :: |
| name = Gribenes | image = File:Shkvarki.jpg | caption = Chicken gribenes | alternate_name = Grieven | country = | region = | creator = Ashkenazi Jews | course = | type = Snack, side dish, or garnish | served = | main_ingredient = Chicken or goose skin, onions | variations = | calories = | other = Gribenes or grieven (; ) is a dish consisting of crisp chicken or goose skin cracklings with fried onions.
Etymology
The word gribenes is related to the German Griebe (plural Grieben) meaning "piece of fat, crackling" (from the Old High German griobo via the Middle High German griebe), where Griebenschmalz is schmaltz from which the cracklings have not been removed.
History
A favored food in the past among Ashkenazi Jews, As with other cracklings, gribenes are a byproduct of rendering animal fat to produce cooking fat, in this case kosher schmaltz.
Gribenes can be used as an ingredient in dishes like kasha varnishkes, fleishig kugel, and gehakte leber.
Gribenes is often associated with the Jewish holidays Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah. It is also associated with Passover, because large amounts of schmaltz, with its resulting byproduct gribenes, were traditionally used in Passover recipes.
Uses
Gribenes can be eaten as a snack on rye or pumpernickel bread with salt, or used in recipes such as chopped liver, or all of the above.
The dish is eaten as a midnight snack, or appetizer.
References
References
- (1992). "The Language and culture atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry". M. Niemeyer; Yivo Institute for Jewish Research.
- ''gribenes'' appears in Jewish stories and [[parables]], for example in the work of the [[Hebrew]] poet [[Chaim Nachman Bialik]].[https://books.google.com/books?id=bOxiAAAAMAAJ&q=cracklings Random Harvest: The Novellas Of Bialik]
- Claudia Roden, ''The Book of Jewish Food'', Penguin Books, 1999, p. 56
- Gil Marks, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Food'', p. 239 (John Wiley and Sons, 2010). {{ISBN
- Esther Rosenblum Cohen, "Chicken Fat", ''Jewish Magazine'', August 2007. Found at [http://www.jewishmag.com/116mag/chickenfat/chickenfat.htm ''Jewish Magazine'' online]. Accessed January 4, 2011.
- Grossinger, Jennie. (1958). "The Art of Jewish Cooking". Random House.
- Traditionally, ''gribenes'' were served with potato ''[[kugel]]'' or ''[[latke]]s'' during Hanukkah.Miriam Rubin, "This kugel is about NOT using your noodles", ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'', November 22, 2010. Found at [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10326/1104415-34.stm#ixzz1A5OPpyIp ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' website]. Accessed January 4, 2011.
- Amy Scattergood, "Chef recipes: A Recipe From the Chef: Ilan Hall's Gribenes Sandwich," ''[[LA Weekly]]'', December 23, 2009. Found at [http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2009/12/ilan_hall_the_gorbals_gribenes.php LA Weekly website] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-04-05. Accessed January 4, 2011.)
- P Campbell, "Restaurant News, Updates: Pastrami, babka and schmaltz and gribenes", October 14, 2010. Found at [http://cincinnati.com/blogs/dining/2010/10/14/pastrami-babka-and-schmaltz-and-gribenes/ Cincinnati.com website] {{webarchive. link. (2010-10-22. Accessed January 4, 2011.)
- It is often served as a [[side dish]] with [[pastrami on rye]] or [[hot dog]]s.Frank Bruni, "Quit Kibitzing and Pass the Gribenes", ''[[New York Times]]'', February 13, 2008. Found at [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/reviews/13rest.html ''New York Times'' website]. Accessed January 4, 2011.
- "Recipes: Charlie Klatskin's Gribenes," found at [https://web.archive.org/web/20021021184349/http://www.pbs.org/mpt/jewishcooking/recipes/season2/213r.html PBS website]. Accessed January 4, 2011.
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