{{Short description|Ashkenazi Jewish dish}} __NOTOC__ {{Infobox food | name = Helzel | image = Helzel2.jpg | caption = | alternate_name = Gefilte helzel,<br/>heldzl, helzele,<br/> false kishke | country = | region = Central and Eastern Europe, Israel | creator = Ashkenazi Jewish communities | course = | type = | served = | main_ingredient = Chicken, flour | variations = | calories = | other = }} '''Helzel'''{{efn|Also spelled ''heldzl'' or ''helzele''}} (from {{langx|yi|העלזעל}}) or '''gefilte helzel''' is an Ashkenazi Jewish dish. It is a sort of sausage made from poultry neck skin stuffed with flour, semolina, bread crumbs or matzo meal (when cooked on Passover), schmaltz, and fried onions and sewn up with a thread.

Chicken or goose necks are commonly used but duck or turkey necks can be substituted. The stuffing can also include internal meats, such as chopped heart, gizzard, liver. Sometimes the stuffing is flavored with garlic and black pepper. Helzel may be cooked in chicken soup or used as an ingredient in cholent. Because of its sausage shape and the flour-based stuffing, helzel is sometimes called "false kishke".<ref name="Marks">{{cite book | title = Encyclopedia of Jewish Food | author = Gil Marks | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year = 2010 | isbn = 9780544186316 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&q=helzel&pg=PT821}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = My Mother's Cookbook | author = Bob Silverstein | publisher = SP Books | year = 1991 | page = 70 | isbn = 9781561710737 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=smxS2TLyE4wC&q=helzel&pg=PA70 }}</ref><ref name="Sabbath">{{cite book | title = The Taste of Shabbos: The Complete Sabbath Cookbook | editor1 = Dvorah Eisenbach | editor2 = Zelda Goldfield | editor3 = Shifra Slater | author = Aish HaTorah Women's Organization | publisher = Feldheim Publishers | year = 1987 | isbn = 9780873064262 | page = 47 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FU95wXi_L78C&q=helzel&pg=PA47 }}</ref>

The name derives from Yiddish {{Transliteration|yi|heldzl}} ({{lang|yi|העלדזל}} 'neck') which in turn stems from German {{lang|de|Hals}}.<ref name="Marks" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=helzel |encyclopedia=Jewish English Lexicon |publisher=Jewish Language Project |location=Los Angeles |url=https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/1711 |editor=Sarah Bunin Benor}}</ref>

Until well into the 20th century, the dish was a comfort food of Ashkenazim typically served on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.<ref name="Marks" /><ref name="Sabbath" /> In the 20th and into the 21st centuries, its popularity has declined.<ref name="Marks" />

== Similar dishes == The Ashkenazi helzel bears a similarity to ''tebit'', an Iraqi Jewish variant of ''hamin'', which includes a whole chicken skin filled with a mixture of rice, chopped chicken meat, and herbs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kessler |first1=Dana |title=Best Cholent Ever? An Iraqi Stew |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/food/articles/best-cholent-ever-an-iraqi-stew |website=Tablet Magazine |date=13 February 2013 |publisher=Nextbook Inc. |access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>

==See also== {{portal|Food}} * List of chicken dishes * List of sausage dishes * List of stuffed dishes

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web | url = http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/CHOLENT/Helzel_Bubbes_Stuffed_Falsa_Kishka_-_meat.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000110230505/http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/CHOLENT/Helzel_Bubbes_Stuffed_Falsa_Kishka_-_meat.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 10, 2000 | title = Helzel (false kishka) recipe | author = Elaine Radis }}

{{Shabbat|state=collapsed}} {{Jewish cuisine|state=collapsed}} {{Chicken dishes|state=collapsed}}

Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Category:Sausages Category:Stuffed dishes Category:Chicken dishes Category:Semolina dishes Category:Shabbat food Category:Historical foods Category:Giblet dishes