Challah (spelled chaloh in The New Jewish Cookbook) is a bread surrounded by symbolism and tradition. One of Betty Dean’s inclusions in the chapter dedicated to Jewish foods, this recipe on page 322 lies adjacent to those for matzoh meal cookies, cheese blintzes, and kashe varnishkas.

This challah recipe, however, is light on the quantity of eggs and oil called for. In many challah recipes available to home cooks now, it’s not unusual to see 2-3 eggs and ¼ cup of vegetable oil go into a loaf calling for a similar amount of flour. It could be that Betty Dean’s recipe comes from one developed during a time of food shortages, such as the recently passed economic depression of the 1930s, or the restricted years of the Second World War. But it’s just as possible that in a cookbook dedicated to improving the nutrition of Jewish cooking, this recipe omits the extra eggs and oil to cut down on extraneous cholesterol and fats. 

The term “meat substitute” first appeared in print in 1893, and the first soy-based meat alternative was developed in 1922. The last chapter of The New Jewish Cookbook begins on page 325, and is called "Soybeans as Meat Substitutes." It contains over a dozen recipes using soybeans as a substitute or supplement for meat in many different forms. Meat shortages and substitutes were indeed a common experience during the Second World War and in the postwar era, where those on the Homefront were encouraged to reduce their consumption of various foods so that more could be sent overseas. This meatless meatloaf is an interesting way to integrate other sources of protein into the diet. By virtue of using a plant-based “meat,” many of the recipes in this chapter allow milk to be used in situations where it would previously not have been permitted due to kosher laws.