of Hungarian Jewish bakeries prior to World War II. Because it was easy to prepare, made from inexpensive ingredients and contained no dairy products, compote became a staple dessert in Jewish households throughout Europe and was considered part of Jewish cuisine. Side dishes Tzimmes consists generally of cooked vegetables or fruits, sometimes with meat added. The most popular vegetable is the carrot (mehren tzimmes), which is sliced. Turnips were also used for tzimmes, particularly in Lithuania. In southern Russia, Galicia and Romania tzimmes was made of pears, apples, figs, prunes or plums (floymn tzimmes). Kreplach, similar to Russian pelmeni, are ravioli-like dumplings made from flour and eggs mixed into a dough, rolled into sheets, cut into squares and then filled with finely chopped, seasoned meat or cheese. They are most often served in soup, but may be fried. Kreplech are eaten on various holidays, among them Purim and Hosha'na Rabbah. Sephardi, Mizrahi and Italian Jewish cuisine The exact distinction between traditional Sephardic and Mizrahi cuisines can be difficult to make, due to the intermingling of the Sephardi diaspora and the Mizrahi Jews who they came in contact with. As a general rule, however, both types reflect the food of the local non-Jewish population that each group lived amongst. The need to preserve kashrut does lead to a few significant changes (most notably, the use of olive oil instead of animal fat is often considered to be a legacy of Jewish residency in an area, due to the fact that olive oil may be eaten with milk, unlike animal fat). Despite this, Sephardic and Ashkenazic concepts of kosher differ; perhaps the most notable difference being that rice, a major staple of the Sephardic diet, is considered kosher for Passover among Sephardim but it is forbidden as kitniyot by most Ashkenazim. Sephardi cuisine emphasizes salads, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, olive oil, lentils, fresh and dried fruits, herbs and nuts, and chickpeas. Meat dishes often make use of lamb or ground beef. Fresh lemon juice is added to many soups and sauces. Many meat and rice dishes incorporate dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins. Pine nuts are used as a garnish. Mizrahi cuisine is based largely on fresh ingredients, as marketing was done in the local souq. Meat is ritually slaughtered in the shechita process, and is soaked and salted. Meat dishes are a prominent feature of Shabbat, festival, and