Sukkot food

[Swisskaese]

I really dislike the way Sukkah's are decorated here in Israel. They seem very plastic to me. I really dislike the paper wrapping.

My great-grandfather built the family Sukkah. My father and Uncle are decorating it as I write this at my 93-year-old grandmother's house. The entire congregation are coming over for one night of Sukkah. She is really looking forward to hosting the entire congregation. It is a small group, about 50 people.

We always decorated the entire Sukkah (including the sides) with tree branches and potted plants. We hung fresh fruits and vegetables from the ceiling and on the sides. I have wonderful memories of that Sukkah.

Unfortunately, I do not have a balcony at my new apartment, but when I do, I intend to have a Sukkah just like the one I so fondly remember.

Edited October 16, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[bloviatrix]

The one problem with Manhattan living is that unless you live in a penthouse apartment with a terrace, own a brownstone, or the owner of your building is a frum jew, it's kind of hard to have sukkah.

My parents have a sukkah. They decorate using the same fake fruit that my grandparents used in their sukkah when my mom was a kid. This stuff is seriously antique - about 80 years old. When I was little I would string cranberries and popcorn. The problem is the squirrels really feasted on the stuff, so we eventually stopped with the edible decorations. We also would make paper chains - which wasn't a good idea either as October in NY tends to mean rain. We didn't put a lot of stuff on the walls of the sukkah as we have one of the cloth ones preprinted with kiddush, the ushpizin, etc. But in our original sukkah (which was destroyed in the aftermath of a hurricane) we hung posters of Israel that we wrapped in saran wrap to keep dry.

We're going to my brother in law's family for the first days of the holiday. No idea what they're serving, but I don't expect much.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Michelle, thanks for this post .. I have heard about the "commercial" trappings of the Israeli sukkahs .. come with the light strings sold for Xmas, etc.

We personally have a sukkah which is made of wooden panels and we have, over the years, added more panels if we were inviting more guests ... our sukkah is up now and we use Rosh Hashonah cards on strings which give it a more "personal" feeling .. indeed, as we look at those cards, we recall many of our friends, some of whom have moved or passed away, and so forth ... very personal ... and anything made of paper is laminated to protect it from rain ...one year we had a hurricane during Sukkot here ...

We don't attach fresh fruit to the top of the sukkah because one should, ideally, not attach anything to the schach ... (actually referred to below as sekhakh)

A little of the background about the holiday of Sukkot:

In honor of the holiday's historical significance, we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters, as our ancestors did in the wilderness. The commandment to "dwell" in a sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there; however, if the weather, climate, and one's health permit, one should live in the sukkah as much as possible, including sleeping in it.

A sukkah must have at least three walls covered with a material that will not blow away in the wind. Canvas covering tied or nailed down is acceptable and quite common in the United States. A sukkah may be any size, so long as it is large enough for you to fulfill the commandment of dwelling in it. The roof of the sukkah must be made of material referred to as sekhakh (literally, covering). To fulfill the commandment, sekhakh must be something that grew from the ground and was cut off, such as tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, sticks, or two-by-fours. Sekhakh must be left loose, not tied together or tied down.

It is common practice, and highly commendable, to decorate the sukkah. In the northeastern United States, Jews commonly hang dried squash and corn in the sukkah to decorate it, because these vegetables are readily available at that time

from Jewish Virtual Library.org

I will be posting pictures of what I make to serve for my guests this week and you will see them served in our own sukkah ... no rain expected here in Atlanta this week I have found ...

[Swisskaese]

I think you can tie things from the top as long as they do not tie down the greenery (i.e. palm fronds, tree branches, etc.). People here tie bags of flour, etc. from the top of the Sukkah.

I forgot about the dried corn. We also hung dried corn (i.e. Thanksgiving decorations) and dried gourds.

My neighbors across the hall are a family of 15 and they are trying to put their Sukkah up tonight in our outside parking garage/lot. Unfortunately, it is very windy here tonight and we had a downpour earlier this evening. I think they are going to have to try tomorrow morning at the last minute.

Edited October 16, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

So tonight is the first evening of Sukkot and, to get back to the food aspect, my dinner is going to be:

Lentil soup with kosher sausage

Field greens with a garlicky vinaigrette

Gefilte fish loaf with horseradish/cocktail sauce mixture

Roast lamb shoulder

Roasted root vegetables

Potato kugel

Cranberry-port-applesauce

Apple pie

Challahs and wine

(hope to get some pictures in my succah as the sun sets tonight before the holiday begins)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Pictures from our dinner tonight in the sukkah built on our patio:

Getting ready to set the table for dinner:

The sukkah is intended to be an unstable shelter to remind us of the Israelites huts as they wandered in the desert for 40 years .. also as a reminder of the fragile nature of life:

Preparing to cut the challahs and saying the blessings... each challah slice is served with a few drops of honey to remind us of the sweetness of the New Jewish Year:

The meal we ate tonight is described in the post above this:

Made an open-face apple pie which turned out well indeed by poaching apples in cinnamon and lemon rind before placing in the pieshell:

[Jason Perlow]

Very, very nice Melissa.

Rachel and I don't celebrate Sukkot, nor do our respective families. But I always jump at a chance to attend a Sukkah dinner when invited. I guess you can say I have Sukkot Angst.

Is it just me, or do Sukkah's absolutely scream for Tiki Bars?

[Megan Blocker]

Wow, Melissa - that looks like quite a feast! Hope you had a lovely evening.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Thank you so much Jason and Megan! We always enjoy the first two days of this holiday .. remembering that it goes on for some eight days .. by the final few days, we get crazy and hope for rain so that we can eat indoors once again!

[Pam R]

Melissa, I have sukkah envy!

What a beautiful holiday table - Chag Sameach.

[Pam R]

So - who'll be eating under the stars this year? And what will you be eating?

[Gifted Gourmet]

So - who'll be eating under the stars this year?  And what will you be eating?

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We eat in our sukkah, which is up already on the patio, every night of the holiday .. unless it is raining .. then I head for the kitchen to eat and remain warm and dry ... I will take pictures of what I make and will post them as I have before ... at this point, probably a lamb roast for the first 2 nights and then some dairy with salmon and yummy desserts.

[Pam R]

Melissa - I was hoping you'd say that! I like to live vicariously through you.

I don't have a sukkah - but I've been invited out, so we'll see. It can get a little chilly here at night though... we also have the extra issue of Thanksgiving on Monday... oy!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Our etrog:

The etrog is a medium-sized citrus fruit, with a color, scent and taste similar to a lemon. It is also known in English as the citron, though there is apparently more than one variety of citron. This variety is identified in scientific literature as the etrog citron. The etrog is used in the waving rituals of the festival of Sukkot, where the etrog is said to represent the heart (because of its shape), and also said to represent the ideal kind of Jews, who have both knowledge of Torah and good deeds (because it has both a pleasant scent and a pleasant taste). One midrash suggests that the etrog, not the apple, was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

source for this quote

interesting thread on esrogs ...

Edited October 6, 2006 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[bloviatrix]

I am so unprepared for this holiday - I've done NOTHING. We've been invited out for one meal. And I still have several pounds of rib roast left from Rosh Hashannah to defrost. It's supposed to rain tomorrow night which means we'll probably just say kiddush and hamotzi in the sukkah. I guess I'll throw some things together tomorrow.

[Miriam Kresh]

My married daughter's family is a little too large now to be comfortable in our succah. So we are spending the first Yom Tov with Daughter and Family. We'll have spicy Moroccan fish and chicken couscous for the evening meal, and I'm bringing the second meal. The pot-roasted beef with lamb I made for Rosh HaShannah came out very well, so I'm repeating that, with rice and some salads. Probably peperonata and corn salad, carrot salad. Have to provide the kind of food small children will like.

My Tunisian/Moroccan son-in-law, whom I love, has one great character flaw: he won't eat gefulte fish. I try to excuse him on the grounds that he's Sephardic and sweet fish goes against his grain. His grandmother, a little old Tunisian lady with a headscarf and a long, hennaed braid coming down her back, bravely tried to eat gefulte fish, just to see what the big fuss was about, and couldn't finish her first bite. What can you do, I guess love of sweet chopped fish must be genetic in Ashkenazim.

I should master the technique of uploadng photos, already - no excuse. I'll take some pics of the succah and one of the meals after Yom Tov.

We eat every meal in the succah, and the men sleep there too - weather permitting. Succot is the time friends visit with each other, so I'll be baking honey cake and spice cookies to have around. The big hot-water pot is always kept on the boil for tea and coffee, and there's always wine around here. I keep lots of easy-meal groceries around in case of unexpected lunch or dinner guests. I don't like to be upstairs cooking while everyone else is hanging out in the succah, so I plan for quick, simple, satisfying things based on pasta, cheeses, or pates and breads - always a couple of salads, sometimes soup, sometimes a chicken roasted with vegetables.

Time presses - hope to have some photos to show you Sunday. Chag sameach, everyone!

Miriam

Edited October 6, 2006 by Miriam Kresh (log)

[scubadoo97]

I have not made a sukkah the last couple of years. In years past I made some very beautiful ones with the walls made of palm fronds and the top covered in fronds and vines. Nice natural and green. Over the last few years I found my self alone in the sukkah. Kids and wife said it was too hot, too buggy and often we had rain this time of year and hurricanes the last couple of years. I just couldn't get in the spirit this year with that kind of attitude from the fam. As for foods in the sukkah, I like to lean toward the vegetables in season and things that are easy to carry outside. Stuffed squash is a favorite and when I last had a sukkah party I made kibbeh ades which is a vegetarian kibbeh made with red lentils and bulgur made in the same fashion as the raw kibbeh. These are often formed into a torpedo shape for finger food.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I certainly do know about hot and buggy .. I live in Atlanta and my daughter fled our sukkah upon seeing the first daddy longlegs .. and, since she grew up and went to California, it is just my husband and I who eat in our sukkah now ... but, by evening, it gets cool and we enjoy our meals outside ...

Your stuffed squash is also my favorite: made it this morning and the reds and golds of the poached-in-port cranberries look sublime next to the gold of the acorn squash skin ... pictures shortly ...

[Gifted Gourmet]

Pictures, as promised, for this joyous holiday of Sukkot:

[Swisskaese]

Your Sukka looks lovely Melissa.

Chag Sameach everyone.

We do not have a Sukka because we don't have a place to put it. We live in an apartment without a balcony.

I really miss sitting in the Sukka my great-grandfather built.

[Daniel Rogov]

Melissa, Hi....

Lovely photographs and lovely sentiments but as I saw the bottle Kedem New York State Port on the table, I could not help but grimace. With all due respect to the Herzog family (that actually produces some superb wines under their Herzog Special Reserve series and some very good ones under the Baron Herzog label), why in the world do some of us continue to drink things like Kedem"Port", Manischewitz and Mogen David? Nowhere in the wisdom of our forefathers or foremothers is it written that one has to drink bad wine to celebrate either holidays or kiddush. All that is required for the observant is that the wine be kosher and there are some truly excellent kosher wines out there these days.

Ah well.....with regard to myself, once a curmudgeon, always a curmudgeon I suppose.

[Gifted Gourmet]

but as I saw the bottle Kedem New York State Port on the table, I could not help but grimace.

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I don't drink this stuff .. I poach fruit in it for its flavor .. hard to find a kosher port in this city .. this was ordered from NYC on the Net ...

I know there are good drinking wines which are kosher ... some guests like the sweet, sticky ones for nostalgic reasons ...

And, of course, we do buy other kosher drinking wines for our meals though .. Yarden among them ... many are merlots which my husband enjoys and I buy chards and other whites for myself ...

Living in Atlanta, we have a propensity for sweet things like Coca Cola, the home of that beverage ... but our tastes in wine are somewhat more developed ...

[Daniel Rogov]

Melissa, Hi.....

As to kosher Port, keeping in mind that the only true Port wines come from Portugal and the others, although they may be called "Port" or "Port-Style" are merely imitations and almost always inferior invitations.

Until six months ago there were no true kosher Port wines made. Finally, after hundreds of years of the Port industry, a kosher Port and, much to my happy surprise one far better than I might have hoped for. For those just getting into Port wine, wines such as this one are best when served lightly chilled (half an hour in a regular refrigerator will do nicely), should be served in relatively small glasses (ideal is a standard INAO tasting glass).

The most traditional accompaniment to Port is Stilton or other blue cheeses. Don't hesitate though to serve aged Cheddar with your Port (not the kind you buy in most supermarkets but true aged New York State, English or Wisconsin Cheddar) Other traditional accompaniments are walnuts or during the winter hot chestnuts. If you want to serve your Port with a dessert, go for desserts based on berries or cherries (strawberry shortcake is a marvel with Port).

As to storing, best as with all other wines (about 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit and 65% or higher humidity), on their sides until opened. Port bottles are easy to reseal and after that should be stored standing up and with a wine such as this one you can count on 2 – 3 weeks of comfortable sipping so long as you re-seal the bottle carefully and store it at a cool temperature.

For a bit more information on Port wines in general see my little piece at http://www.stratsplace.com/rog....html

After all of that, to the tasting note. By the way, very few Ruby Ports receive scores as high as 88! Oh yes, and a bit of good news…..a second kosher Port is soon to be released. News on that after the announcement has been officially made. Those in the USA may want to know that the wine is being made especially for Royal Wines and should soon be available in better wine shops throughout the country. For those in Israel, the wine is scheduled to appear in December.

Porto Cordovero, Fine Ruby Port, n.v. (Kosher): To the best of my knowledge, the first kosher Port wine produced and this one a joint effort between Royal Wines in New York and the highly respected Port lodge of Taylor Fladgate. Darker garnet in color than most Ruby Ports and on the palate and nose one might think this a higher-level Tawny. Ripe and spicy, with well integrated tannin and good balancing acidity, showing generous prune, black cherry, caramel and vanilla along with a firm structure and a generous finish on which you will find a hint of cinnamon. A very well-made Ruby! Drink now or in the next year or two. Score 88. K (Tasted 2 Sep 2006)

[Gifted Gourmet]

I ordered Porto Cordovero, Fine Ruby Port, this very day .. along with other wines ... thank you for offering the name and your skilled, professional advice yet again!

[Swisskaese]

Miriam Kresh invited us to their sukkah for dinner the other night and we had a lovely time and all of the food was delicious.

Miriam makes some outstanding fruit wines. The apricot and raspberry wines were not sweet and you could really taste the fruit. I can't wait to try more.

We had:

Apricot wine as an aperitive

Bulgarian cheese

Pepper salad

White bean pate

Baked fish with tomatoes, onions and herbs

Rice

Coconut milk and lemon juice drink (forgot how to spell the correct name for this)

Raspberry wine

Profiteroles

Banana bread (I brought this)