Bubbe's Blintzes

This blog post is dedicated to my Grandma Koss who taught me many important life lessons including how to make delicious blintzes, I can’t wait to see her when I get home.

A few years ago my grandmother moved from Arizona to Maryland to be closer to family. We started spending a lot more time together and when she came to the house we would often cook. We made traditional Ashkenazi dishes that she used to cook for my mom when she was little like kugel, mondel bread, and blintzes. 

Chocolate Creme Blintzes at HaBlintzim

Being in Tel Aviv, Israel I miss cooking with my bubbe so when I saw HaBlintzim Hungarian Blintzes on Yirmiyahu, across from FU Sushi and Ruben's, I was so excited for the chance to savor the sweet memories and the deliciousness of blintzes. If you don't know, blintzes are a sort of Eastern European crepe (blini in Russian) with the texture of a thin American pancake. The pancake is wrapped around either sweet or savory fillings. The typical fillings are sweet cheese, apple, or potato but there are countless variations and possible shmears to enhance the blintz.

The Pretty Porch of HaBlintzim

I dragged my roommate Lauren to Hablinzim as soon as I could and we tried the most popular flavors chocolate creme and sweet cheese and raisin. We added whipped creme and ice cream to the mix for just 3 NIS. The chocolate blintz was warm, overflowing with decadent chocolate, and incredibly decadent. The more traditional sweet cheese and raisin, the kind that I made with grandma, brought me back to our kitchen with it's rich, thick slightly sweetened cheese and fluffy pancake shell. Our dessert was completed with complementary homemade eggnog and chocolate liqueurs, a perfect end to our self-indulgent treats.

Potato Blinzes with Paprika

I told my friend Debra about HaBlintzim but she had never heard of blintzes! So of course I had to take her there to experience the wonder that are warm delicious blintzes. Last night Debra, Lauren, and I went again to HaBlintzim. They ordered the chocolate creme and Lauren added bananas to hers. I decided to try something new and looked through the savory section. I choose the potato blintzes filled with mashed potatoes cooked with onion and spicy Hungarian paprika. The potato filling was creamy, smooth, and very satisfying. I enjoyed my savory blintzes but I still favor the sweet variety. 

I am so glad that I finally got a taste of  the comforting blintzes that I missed so much at the unique Tel Aviv Restaurant HaBlintzim and at the same time they make me excited to get cooking with my grandma again as soon as I get home!

HaBlintzim Hungarian Blintzes is located at 35 Yirmiyahu and is Kosher dairy