Matzo major forms of matzo. In many western countries the most common form is the hard form of matzo which is cracker-like in appearance and taste and is used in all Ashkenazic and most Sephardic communities. Yemenites, and Iraqi Jews traditionally made a form of soft matzo which looks like Greek pita or like a tortilla. Soft matzo is made only by hand, and generally with "shmurah" flour. Flavored varieties of matzo are produced commercially, such as poppy seed- or onion-flavored. Oat and spelt matzo with kosher certification are produced. Oat matzo is generally suitable for those who cannot eat gluten.
Jewish cuisine that is either baked, grilled, or deep fried. A popular dish among Ashkenazim, as amongst most Eastern-Europeans, is pierogi (which are related to but distinct from kreplach), often filled with minced beef. Kishka is a popular Ashkenazi dish traditionally made from beef intestine (casing) stuffed with flour or matzo meal, schmaltz and spices. The rendered fat of geese and chickens, known as schmaltz, is kept in readiness for cooking use when needed. Geribenes or "scraps," also called "griven," the cracklings left from the rendering process were one of the favorite foods in Eastern Europe. "Geribenes" is eaten spread on bread.