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What’s the Rosh? Jewish New Year a time to slow down and reflect on what a crazy 5772 it was... by Pat Fu sco
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very shop was closed, every pushcart was covered, everyone wore his best clothes, down to the babies. Every synagogue and hall available for worship was filled to overflowing for the services. The hush over the busy east side will continue today and tomorrow.” This is a quote from The New York Times, September of 1908, describing Rosh Hashanah. Reading it brought back memories of my first experience of High Holy Days on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. For more than a week women crowded the butcher shop, the fishmongers, bakeries and delicatessens, stocking their homes for the special meals. The corner vegetable stand displayed pyramids of pomegranates, bunched leeks and carrots, frilly bouquets of fresh dill, apples in all sizes and shades. Shipments of kosher goods filled supermarket bins and aisles. I could only guess at what was going to be made from all these very specific ingredients. By late afternoon in our neighborhood on the eve of Rosh Hashanah many businesses were closed, their shutters drawn. As the sky darkened I was able look into windows of apartments in the tall building across the street and see people gathered around candlelit tables, like scenes from old photograph albums. It was the beginning of their new year and they were feasting. Rosh Hashanah is a time for comfort meals. They don’t have the drama of Passover seders; they are for connecting with family and one’s past. They include symbolic dishes: whole fish complete with the head (rosh); round challah rather than long loaves, representing life’s complete circle; and honey to guarantee a sweet year to come, eaten at the beginning of the meal with slices of crisp apples, first fruits of the season. At the end of the High Holy Days Yom Kippur arrives. The most solemn occasion in the year, it is the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. (The night before, people have filling but lightly seasoned foods—poached chicken or soup with stuffed dumplings.) Many contemplative hours are spent in the synagogue. Then families hurry home for break-fast, enjoying brunch style foods for dinner: blintzes, cheeses, smoked fish, coffeecakes and fruit. I think of New York when Rosh Hashanah returns. Local pomegranates remind me of those on the vegetable stands of upper Broadway, and dill that grows here year-round reminds me of the herb used 18 PACIFIC SUN SEPTEMBER 14 - SEPTEMBER 20, 2012
in rich chicken stock. I begin to long for smoked whitefish, honey cake from the bakery and authentic small, dense bagels to eat with lox and cream cheese, all once a part of my city life. Rosh Hashanah begins Sept. 16 at sundown; I wish everyone L’ShanahTovah! for the year 5773. O
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As my circle of friends in Manhattan grew, it came to include many who had been brought up in Jewish homes. Even when they didn’t practice the religion, they kept their traditions and I was a fascinated learner. Chuck Rapaport, a close friend from university days, married native New Yorker Mary and I gained a stronger connection to the culture through their family—my first Jewish wedding, their son’s bris (the first and only circumcision ceremony I’ve witnessed), huge holiday dinners. It was through Mary that I first tasted homemade chopped liver and gefilte fish and it was her Romanian grandmother who introduced me to ekra, a food resembling a mousse of carp roe just like taramasalata, a now-favorite Greek appetizer. Mary has since lived in France, in lush Connecticut, and now in Southern California and most of her cooking is definitely Mediterranean, but the holiday foods she produces are straight from her New York childhood. A Rosh Hashanah recipe that she has shared can be described with a fine Yiddish word, hamish, meaning familial, comforting. Every cook has a personal version of how to cook brisket. This is just right, pure Jewish-American style and delicious.
Sweet and Sour Pot Roast 6-8 servings 3-4 pounds brisket 2 large onions, sliced 1 large garlic clove, mashed 1 cup clear vegetable stock plus more for adding later as needed 1 bay leaf 2 tablespoons vinegar 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons catsup 1/3 cup raisins
Brown brisket on all sides, then add onion and garlic to brown. Add stock and bay leaf. Cover tightly and simmer 1 hour. Add hot stock as needed to keep from burning. Add vinegar and sugar, cover and simmer 1 more hour. Add catsup and raisins. Cook 1/2 hour more, or until meat is tender. Slice on bias and serve with juices from
the pot. Great the next day reheated, or cold as sandwiches with horseradish.—based on a recipe from Edna Beilenson’s Simple Jewish Cookery (Peter Pauper Press, 1962) O
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Carol Inkellis of Fairfax is copy editor of this newspaper. She is also an avid traveler and adventurous diner and a very good cook. (What more could I ask for in an editor?) I often end up talking food with her, whether we’re out for lunch or just catching up in emails. I’m likely to turn to her when I’m looking for references for Jewish cuisine, and this week is no exception. She was happy to share her family recipe for a kugel—a pudding that can be savory or sweet, a side dish or an entree, or even dessert. This one made with egg noodles has apples in it for Rosh Hashanah; it would be a fine way to break the Yom Kippur fast.
Lokshen Kugel 4-1/2 half tablespoons butter (margarine for kosher kitchens) 1-1/2 pounds medium-wide noodles Kosher salt 2 eggs 1/3 cup sugar 2 large tart apples 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/3 cup golden raisins 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-9-by-2-inch dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Cook noodles in slightly salted water for about 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain well. In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar until well combined. Peel apples, grate coarsely and immediately sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine apples, noodles, raisins, walnuts and remaining butter with egg mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour or until top is golden.
Rosh Hashanah imagery often includes a shofar—blown for ‘remembrance’—and apples dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet new year.
Notes on New Year Dining The world of kosher wine just gets bigger and better. Sentimentalists may wish to pour the heavy sweet styles of the past during Rosh Hashanah, but today there are hundreds of certified vintages from all over the world, with bottles ranging from 2007 Hagafen Brut Cuvee Sparkling Wine from Napa to crisp chardonnays, sophisticated reds and late-harvest dessert wines. Bring a locavore touch to the table with native honey from Marin and new season fruits from nearby orchards: figs, Italian prune plums (perfect in tarts and cakes), heirloom apples and early pears. Sources for special ingredients for holiday cooking as well as prepared foods include delis (Max’s in Corte Madera, Miller’s East Coast Delicatessen in San Rafael), Paradise Foods, Woodlands Market, Mollie Stone’s and farmers markets throughout the county. Bakery specials for the High Holy Days: SusieCakes in Greenbrae celebrates apples many ways—look for applesauce honey cake and frosted apple-shaped sugar cookies; Arizmendi in San Rafael will be baking plain and sweet crown challah and honey cake tea bread. < Contact Pat at patfusco@sonic.net.