Iconic Food #9: Gabila's Square Knish
Eastern European immigrants Elia and Bella Gabay were as good together in business as they were at running a family. The year was 1921 and much of New York's Lower East Side was populated by immigrants who brought hearty and familiar peasant-food recipes to their new home. An enterprising young couple, the Gabays noticed the preponderance of a highly spiced, soul-satisfying delicacy common to the kitchens of European, Jewish immigrants being sold on pushcarts throughout the area. Before you could say, "How'd you get it to be that shape?," a fried-potato dynasty was born.
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It's Hip To Be Square
The Gabays started manufacturing square, pocket-sized knishes in three flavorful varieties: Potato, spinach and kasha, and called the business Gabila's. Mostly sold from pushcarts and later by street vendors throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, the popularity of the crunchy dough, deliciously filled squares took on a life of their own. The ultimate comfort food, the distinctly-flavored fried knishes became the mustard-smothered lunch of choice for generations of school kids who couldn't make it home during the day and harried office workers scrambling for a quick snack. Deep fried but never greasy, with just the right amount of seasoning and ever-warm, softly pureed middles, the knishes were delicious, filling and priced right.
Eventually, the company expanded to take on other types of traditional, certified-kosher products, as well as purchase the equipment needed to mass produce their cornerstone Original Coney Island Square Knishes. Soon, the delicious squares with the humble beginnings became a mainstay at New York restaurants like Katz's Delicatessen, as well as a staple in supermarkets nationwide. The company, which currently produces around 12 million knishes a year, picked up stakes and moved from its long-time location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to Copiague, Long Island. Business had never been better when suddenly "knishtopia" experienced a setback.
The Knish Crisis of 2013
On September 24, a small fire erupted in the Gabila factory, knocking out the equipment needed to produce the square knishes. Production of other products including cherry cheese blintzes and baked, round knishes was not disrupted, but that was small consolation to those missing their square knish fix. Called the "fried-potato famine" by some and "knishmaggedon" by others, the factory stayed out of production for around three months. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the fire, but some who had to go without the fried, doughy squares reported a kind of vague, post-traumatic knish disorder. Thankfully, all was mercifully cured the following January when Gabila's Famous Coney Island Square Knishes were once again made available coast to coast.
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Corey Whelan is a freelance writer in New York. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.