Kasha Varnishkes (Buckwheat, Bow Ties and Onions)
In the 1880s, this simple yet beloved dish of buckwheat (kasha), onion and bow tie noodles (varnishkes) came to New York’s Lower East Side with Eastern European Jewish immigrants. At the time, it was made with homemade egg noodles that were rolled out, cut into squares and painstakingly pinched into bow ties. Nowadays, store-bought bow tie egg noodles are traditional, but any hardy pasta, like gemelli or fusilli, will also work well. Lola Landa, chef and owner of Kafe Jerusalem in Lviv, Ukraine, suggests using European-style whole buckwheat groats for this dish. (The more broken-up varieties tend to get mushy unless toasted first with beaten egg.) What really makes this dish, however, are the onions. While Ms. Landa deep-fries thin slices of onion, I prefer to caramelize them in a skillet. To really gild the lily, add mushrooms before tossing everything together.
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