kugel

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A traditional savoury or sweet Jewish dish consisting of a baked pudding of pasta, potatoes, or rice, with vegetables, or raisins and spices.

   “Many cooks prepare one kugel in honor of the Sabbath. Some families serve extra kugels in honor of a Yom Tov or Rosh Chodesh that falls on a Sabbath. Their idea is to serve as many kugels as there are Torah scrolls read in the synagogue. Kugel recipes run the gamut from sweet to salty, soft to crisp, bland to sharp. They may be baked in the oven or pan-fried on the range.”

   “With the dipsy-doodle, the kit and caboodle / The truth is brutal, your grandma's kugel”

   “Our mother wanted us and loved us dearly. Her chicken and fish, her stews, her meatloaves, her lasagna and kugels and everything else were flavorful in their own, unadulterated way.”

2. (South-Africa, broadly, countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable)A wealthy young Jewish woman characterized as materialistic and selfish.

   “She was minding her own business, taking a visitor from struggle days in London around the sights of the New South Africa, when she was recognised by a clutch of ageing kugels, out doing what kugels of all ages do on a Saturday morning in Hyde Park, namely shopping.”

   “Yet [Barbara] Ludman wants to take Michelle [in The Day of the Kugel (1989)] out of the "Kugel" category (a Kugel being a "disgusting, dull, boring noodle pudding"—the people in Johannesburg suburbs whose wealthy lives are one long party).”

   “The trouble is that now, in this new century, the kugel is a rare and unprotected species in South Africa. […] The kugels have all left, and the few who stayed behind, protected by their high walls and heavy security, don't venture out at night to come and see themselves in a local revue. Kugels have now re-emerged in the form of black divas – beautiful, glamorous, loud and opinionated women who set store by hair and nails, sunglasses and cars.”

3. A traditional hanging ornament of German origin, made of thin glass with a metal coating, usually spherical but also produced in other shapes such as bunches of grapes and drops.

   “Along one wall of the Motts' home is an array of kugels, or glass balls, antique forerunners of today's classic $3.99-a-dozen-at-the-local-drugstore ornaments. However, unlike those made today, antique kugels are considerably sturdier and served as more than just decorations. Kugels decorated the house year-round and were known as "witches' balls." It was believed that if a witch were to visit it and see her face in one, the distorted image created by the rounded glass would scare her away.”

   “• Original ‘Kugels’ are made of very heavy glass, too heavy for Christmas tree branches. / • The colour of the ‘Kugel’ is decorated from inside the ornament (the lining) unlike modern ones which are blown coloured glass.”