Have you ever tasted challah? Or kugel? What about falafel, or blintzes? You’ll have a chance to try them all at one tasting extravaganza this weekend. 

The Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El will host the fourth annual Jewish Food Festival this Sunday, April 2 at the the Bloom Hillel Student Center at Temple Emanu-El. 

The festival will feature lunch boxes and home-made sampler foods that showcase Jewish cuisine and delis. Lunch boxes are $10 and $12, and sampler tickets are $5 for four. Visitors can pay at the door with cash, checks and any major credit cards. 

“The festival is all about community outreach and fundraising for the Temple,” said Amy Ahmen, co-president of the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood. “We love being able to open up to the community and invite people into our homes.”

Several meals will be featured at the Jewish Food Festival, including a number of dishes at the sampler bar. However, the supplies are limited so the festival will operate based on a first come-first served policy. 

One lunch box is the brisket platter, which is a Jewish-style roasted and sliced beef brisket with a potato kugel, vinegar-based coleslaw and a pickle. The deli sandwich box will have corned beef on rye bread, slaw, chips and a pickle. There will also be a Mediterranean sandwich box that contains a fresh falafel with pita, hummus and tabbouleh. 

“The brisket and the falafel have always sold out in past years, it’s very interesting,” Ahmed said. “We have gone from 50 plates of falafel, to 90 this year.” 

The sampler bar will include other Jewish dishes such as matzo ball soup, bagels and schmear, hemantoschen, baklava, stuffed grape leaves and noodle kugel. Festival returners will see familiar dishes from previous years. 

“We primarily stay consistent with the plates we offer,” Ahmed said. “People come back year to year for favorite dishes, so around 70% is still the same.” 

The Sisterhood represents the women’s group of the Temple Emanu-El, which hosts many community outreach and fundraising programs, including the Jewish Food Festival. It is meant to cultivate both the Jewish community and the larger Tuscaloosa community by sharing a part of the religion and inviting people to try a number of Jewish dishes. 

“It’s lots of work, but it’s very gratifying,” Ahmed said. “We get a nice response every year and it’s a good feeling when people come out and want to show their support.”

The event is sponsored by Full Moon Bar-B-Que, Publix, Summersell Center for the Study of the South, Bloom Hillel Student Center and Big Daddy’s.

The festival will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the Temple Emanu-El, located at 809 4th Ave., one block south of University Blvd. near Bryant Museum. Free parking will be provided in the Temple/Hillel lot and seating will be available in the Bloom Hillel Student Center.