The Filling of the Knish
Similar to an oral history excerpt, a lot of the cooking material used in making a knish filling has to be cut, so the filling is not overstuffed. If overstuffed the knish filling might explode the pastry in the oven. Like an oral history excerpt having different themes, Knish’s can come with a variety of fillings including potato, meat and vegetable and cheese. The most popular filling is a potato. Even when making a potato knish the potatoes still have to be cut to 1 inch be the filling for the knish. Similarly, in a meat knish where pastrami meat is typically used, not all of the meat purchased will be used and the pastrami meat has to be cut and chopped. Even the dough used to hold the filling has to be cut to hold the filling, so it holds an appropriate amount of filling.
(pastrami meat via Wikipedia) (Russet potatoes via Wikipedia)
The Video Content
When crafting an oral history excerpt like making a knish one must cut material from the original source. The full oral testimonies that I view are typically two to three hours long and material has to be cut to the point where the excerpt is only 5 minutes long. Furthermore, like a knish having different fillings, in an oral history excerpt, there are many different topics and themes that can be explored in an oral excerpt. Some of these themes the like the horrors of camp life may be more difficult for a viewer to hear about than the joy of liberation, though it is important that all these aspects are explored in excerpts.
(Inmates of a concentration camp after liberation, 1945, Photo by Margaret Bourke-White)
(view of the death march from Dachau passing through villages in the direction of Wolfratshause, April 1945) (Holocaust Encloypedia)
The Description of the Survivor
Below a survivor video excerpt, one will typically see a description. The description should provide a background on the individual in the video and the excerpt. This typically includes where they were born and when they came to Canada and a small description timeline of their experiences during the Holocaust. It should lead into the video and make the reader of the website want to watch your video. If there are spelling mistakes or historical inaccuracies in the description then there is a higher probability that the reader of the website will not watch the excerpt. The description of the survivor and the video you provide are intrinsically linked together.
Knish Exterior
The dough and preparation of the exterior of the knish are essential to the dish's success. A person will not eat a knish if it does not look appetizing. Even, if the filling is great, a chef must ensure the knish dough that is used to hold the filling is golden brown after being cooked in the oven. If the dough is not properly prepared then a good knish filling can be ignored.
The Editing of the Survivor Excerpt
When working with oral histories one will have to cut a lot of material that is not central to the message that you are telling in the excerpt. Even in the small story, one is trying to tell, one will probably have to make some edits. One will need to edit certain parts of a survivor excerpt as the individual can go on a separate tangent on a different topic during the story. While not all information is necessary for the excerpt topic, one has to achieve balance and one cannot have too many edits. With too many edits and cuts in the testimony, the excerpt will look jarring.
Seasoning
When making a knish, like any dish seasoning is very important and is similar to the editing of the survivor excerpt. Typically the garlic powder, salt and pepper are used for seasoning and these can help accentuate flavours of the knish. Similar to editing a survivor except, overseasoning is problematic as the dish will be overpowered by the seasoning and other flavours will not be tasted. Not seasoning is also problematic as the flavours will not be fully experienced.
For more knish recipes you can try some of those below:
