Now that the one-two punch of Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur has come and gone, I finally have enough peace and quiet to sit down and write a little.
I field a lot of questions during the High Holidays from friends, co-workers, and strangers. What is Rosh Hashanah? Why is the Hebrew calendar up to the year 5766? etc. etc. etc. I am not a particularly observant Jew, so the questions that are most likely to make me talk a little are the ones about food and family. What do you do on these holidays?
What do you eat?
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year holiday and many of the traditional foods are foods that have a symbolic connection to the new year. Jews of different heritage will eat different foods to adhere to this symbolism. Apples dipped in honey, and tzimmes (a sweet carrot dish) are both very common to most American Jews as a symbol of the sweetness of the new year. Also, a circular challah is common as a symbol of the cycle of the year or the "circle of life". These symbolic foods are sometimes present at my family's table but they take a back seat to our traditional, yet less symbolic foods. Even so, this is one of the most highly anticipated meals of the year in my family. Here's a rundown of the typical Rosh Hashanah dinner that I've eaten every year for my entire life:
First Course: Gefilte Fish I adore this dense fish meatball. When I was younger, my grandmother made it from scratch using mostly whitefish and whatever other fleshy, white fish was available. It was served warm with a slice of carrot stewed in the same liquid and a large spoonful of red horseradish. Today, my grandmother has acquiesced to the fact that the jarred/canned varieties are "good enough". We now eat a piece served cold in the jelled broth that it is packed in. I am most partial to the Rokeach brand in the can. It is "good enough" but I don't ask for seconds anymore. I have to save room for:
Second Course: Kreplach Soup This is, by far, the most important course at our table. My grandmother has been making these dumplings by hand for decades and they are the defining food of my childhood, my sibling's childhoods, and my father and uncle's childhood. This year, my soon-to-be-bride spent a day at my grandmother's side, learning the craft.
The meat is generally a mixture of beef (chuck roast ground in a metal hand grinder), a bit of liver, and a bit of whatever else is on hand (usually chicken or turkey). The dough is simple and produced by sight and feel. There are no measurements, no recipes. For a normal Rosh Hashanah, she will make about 200 kreplach, each about two inches across.
My grandmother prepares the filling
The finished product
The beginning of this course is always identified by the question "How many?". Normally, when you order kreplach in a restaurant, you get one or two large doughy dumplings (Manny's comes to mind immediately as a typical bowl). These are smaller, a little stiffer, and if you ask for less than 10 you will get a strange look from grandma. When I was much younger, my father, grandfather, and uncle always got a bowl of 12 (barely any room for broth) and I would get six. Today I generally ask for ten (to avoid the scorn), although six would be more than enough.
Third course: Brisket and the other stuff This is the point in the meal when everything else is brought out to the table. A braised brisket, chicken or turkey, boiled potatoes, kugel, challah, kishke, tzimmes, and maybe a green vegetable to go with all that starch. In my experience, these are the staples of Eastern-European Jewish holiday cooking. I don't really yearn for much of it, but it is my soul food and it makes me feel at home. petit pois made the brisket this year, and it was excellent. (My uncle secretly admitted to her that it was better than grandma's).
Dessert: My grandmother is not much of a baker. Her claim to fame in the baked dessert world is an apple strudel that is dry as a bone and my family inexplicably goes nuts over. I do not. Instead, I go for her fruit compote which is nothing more than prunes, raisins, and apples, slightly boiled and then put in a jar with some water to develop a syrup. I am the only one in my family who loves this simple dessert, and I've been eating it since I was in diapers. As you can see from the picture below, my grandma is an easy audience, who's always pleased when I'm enjoying her cooking.
Enjoying fruit compote with grandma
This is the meal that signifies the Jewish new year for me, year-in, year-out. It is not far from the same meal that my great-grandparents ate as children in 19th century Poland. It is one of those special meals that tastes just a little better because of history, family, and timing.
Best. Kreplach. Ever.
Best,
Michael