Challah

A six-strand challah on a silver tray, its plaits rising in glossy, sesame-covered humps. Challah is the egg-enriched, usually braided bread of the Jewish Sabbath and holiday table, deep brown outside and soft and pull-apart within. Two loaves are customary at the table, recalling the double portion of manna given on Fridays after the Exodus, which is why challah usually arrives in pairs.