Apples, Honey, Fishheads, & Rosh Hashan Traditions

[Pam R]

I'm working on a Rosh Hashana article and my attempt to think up some new and interesting apple or honey recipes got me thinking - what do other people do?

In my family, it was always challah and apples dipped in honey before dinner - then honey cakes and cookies for dessert. That's it.

I know that different people have different traditions - what are they? I'm talking about the stuff your babba (bubbie) served every year.

Do you serve up fish heads (or lamb heads?)? Do you shun nuts? How about spinach, leeks and rice?

Please share.

[Rebecca263]

Sweet potatoes. I supposed as a kid that it was the proximity to US Thanksgiving, which was my dad's favorite holiday, but now I think it was the sweet nature of them! Also, my mother would serve this mountain shaped dessert of a kind of hard cake balls soaked in honey. I don't think it was common, because I haven't seen it anywhere else during the holidays. I recall it would sometimes have candied cherries interspersed, and I was the only one who ate those! Of course, pumpkin items, carrots 'coin cut' and sweetened and pomegranates... and pancakes with honey for breakfast! UUrrggh, I've been down with the flu all week, spending too much time on eGullet........ I also remember that we would have prickly pears... because you're supposed to have a fruit that's new for the year.... and Dad loved those, yum! Also, m'jeddrah... lentils and rice... especially with the onions crisped and oh so sweet! Well, nothing exotic there, I'm sorry not to be a better help, but if you know what that funny mountain multi-cake is (and as a professional I'm sure you do!) please let me know! I haven't seen it in a long time. I think it was tag ah or something. Well, it's been *mumble* years! It wasn't Sephardic, I know that.

[Pam R]

Well, nothing exotic there, I'm sorry not to be a better help, but if you know what that funny mountain multi-cake is (and as a professional I'm sure you do!) please let me know! I haven't seen it in a long time. I think it was tag ah or something. Well, it's been *mumble* years! It wasn't Sephardic, I know that.

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Teiglach . I'm including those in my column... maybe my theme should be 'retro rosh hashana"!

I haven't seen or had them since I was really young myself... but I believe some people just make them with soup nuts for ease.

Could you tell me more about the m'jeddrah?

Are you Sephardic? the rice and lentils is new to me...

Thanks!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Could you tell me more about the m'jeddrah?

Pam, the m'jeddrah is believed to be the actual "mess of pottage" for which Esau sold his birthright .. makes sense to me anyway ..

[Gifted Gourmet]

verrrry interesting website .. scroll down to the Foodstuffs section for detailed explanations which are not particularly intricate to comprehend .. I enjoyed reading this!

[Pam R]

Could you tell me more about the m'jeddrah?

Pam, the m'jeddrah is believed to be the actual "mess of pottage" for which Esau sold his birthright .. makes sense to me anyway ..

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Thanks Melissa. I was curious though, about how one makes it. Umm ... is this a recipe my mother should have taught me?

I've been to that website - it is interesting - and discusses some foods we never went over in my halachah classes

[Rebecca263]

Oh, my, you guys come to my house in NJ ANYTIME for m'jeddrah...it's a dairy thing, because you serve it with sour cream or yogurt or (triple yum) buttermilk. It's like eating tiny coins and the rice is always around for Rosh Hashanah. It has so many meanings to me, that you will always have meals with family and friends during the year, that you'll have bounty. You simply make lentils and rice with a little salt and separately you fry some onions to serve atop it or mixed in. There's always the contingent who wants their onions 'soft' as opposed to 'crisped', too. When you eat it, you put the dairy on top. Add some salt if you really want to be naughty. It's delicious. I usually serve it with salad and pita, carb overload!

OT WARNING>>>>>>>>

I'll tell you a little story about my love for m'jeddrah. It's not considered 'company' food, it's something you eat on Shabbat or during the week for lunch. Well, my stepmother Rachel is the world's best Syrian home cook, and I LOVE her m'jeddrah! She never made it for me though, in the 20+ years that we've known each other. I've always been a bit 'company'. She's wonderful to me, but it feels kind of sad not to be 'family', you know? Well, a few months ago she made m'jeddrah for me when I visited for lunch! I'm family! And to cement it, a few weeks ago she had us for an early Shabbat meal (so we could get home to light our own candles in NJ before Shabbat, she's observant), and she brought out a ladle and said, " It's OK that I'm using this kitchen ladle because you're family, I'd never do this around 'company'." That is one of the happiest moments in my life.

Edited because believe it or not, I SHORTENED this post!

Edited August 15, 2005 by Rebecca263 (log)

[Swisskaese]

SuesseApfel (Sweet Apples) and Noodle Schalet with Lemon Sauce

My grandmother and great-grandmother made both of these dishes. Sweet Apples are carmelized apples, sweetened with a little honey. It is served as a side dish. BTW - This isn't a sickeningly sweet dish. It isn't drowning in syrup.

Noodle Schalet is not noodle kugel as most people know it. The noodles are pre-cooked, mixed with raisins, eggs, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. My grandmother baked this in an oval enameled or glass dish, put oil in the bottom and heat the oil in the oven until it was slightly smoking. Then she would put the noodle mixture in, turn down the heat and bake the schalet until is was golden brown and crunchy on the outside. It was cut into squares and served warm with a lemon sauce. It is crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. Yum....... and it is good cold.

Edited August 15, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[Pam R]

Well, a few months ago she made m'jeddrah for me when I visited for lunch! I'm family! And to cement it, a few weeks ago she had us for an early Shabbat meal (so we could get home to light our own candles in NJ before Shabbat, she's observant), and she brought out a ladle and said, " It's OK that I'm using this kitchen ladle because you're family, I'd never do this around 'company'." That is one of the happiest moments in my life.

Edited because believe it or not, I SHORTENED this post!

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This is such a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing. The m'jeddrah sounds interesting ... I have to try it. What makes hers better than yours?

Michelle- the noodle schalet sounds wonderful. It seems to me that it might achieve the best part of the kugle (in my opinion) - golden brown crispyness?

I have to get into a kitchen and start cooking!

[daniellewiley]

Thanks Melissa.  I was curious though, about how one makes it.  Umm ... is this a recipe my mother should have taught me? 

I have a great mujadderah recipe from David Rosengarten - he made it on his Taste show in 1996, and I saved the printout. PM me if you'd like it - I probably can't post it due to copyright issues?? Or can I if I change the directions?

It's super easy and delicious - I think the secret is in the allspice.

[Swisskaese]

I have never had mujaddara with a lot of spices. Here is a recipe that I use:

Mujadarrah (Esau's dish of lentils)

[Pam R]

I don't know why, but I'm really facinated by this. Although I had heard of it, I really never knew anyody who made it. Thanks

[Rebecca263]

That's it, no allspice, yuck! Allspice is fervently used in many a recipe in my house, but NEVER in m'jeddrah! Also, I measure by hand (it's a Syrian thing!) but I think that I use more like a 1/2 cup of rice. Hmmm, maybe a I'll bring a pot of m'jeddrah to the New Jeresy get together next month. Nah, it's too homey!

[rooftop1000]

Well, nothing exotic there, I'm sorry not to be a better help, but if you know what that funny mountain multi-cake is (and as a professional I'm sure you do!) please let me know! I haven't seen it in a long time. I think it was tag ah or something. Well, it's been *mumble* years! It wasn't Sephardic, I know that.

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Teiglach . I'm including those in my column... maybe my theme should be 'retro rosh hashana"!

I haven't seen or had them since I was really young myself... but I believe some people just make them with soup nuts for ease.

Could you tell me more about the m'jeddrah?

Are you Sephardic? the rice and lentils is new to me...

Thanks!

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The "mountain of little dough balls" is called Strufoli....its an Italian christmas dessert.....I dunno but it certainly has lots of honey on it and sprinkles the round hard ones...thats what grandma used

tracey

[Rebecca263]

Strufoli? Hmm, you know, that COULD be, because my maternal grandfather was from Sicily. There's no one to ask, alas. I'll just have to do some *ahem* research. Where's my fork?

[Pam R]

The "mountain of little dough balls" is called Strufoli....its an Italian christmas dessert.....I dunno but it certainly has lots of honey on it and sprinkles the round hard ones...thats what grandma used

or...teiglach

There were lots of Jews in Italy at one time ... it may be the next pasta debate...

[silverbrow]

Growing up at home, there was a lot of salt beef, tongue, red cabbage, honey cake and strudel (esp. for breaking the fast). Very ashkenazi and delicious, not very exciting.

I'm slowly but surely updating the salt beef/tongue tradition by serving up a bollito misto, which is perfect for big crowds, can be left to cook for a long period of time and you can chuck in pretty much whatever you want. This year, I may have to add mujadderah to the menu as well - I know it's supposed to be milky but i've a good feeling this will work with the boiled meats and their sour salsas.

Thank goodness there were no fishheads. My mum is a great cook but traditionally fish was not her forte. The prospect of fish heads, with gelatinous eyes, eugh.

[Swisskaese]

Well, nothing exotic there, I'm sorry not to be a better help, but if you know what that funny mountain multi-cake is (and as a professional I'm sure you do!) please let me know! I haven't seen it in a long time. I think it was tag ah or something. Well, it's been *mumble* years! It wasn't Sephardic, I know that.

←

Teiglach . I'm including those in my column... maybe my theme should be 'retro rosh hashana"!

I haven't seen or had them since I was really young myself... but I believe some people just make them with soup nuts for ease.

Could you tell me more about the m'jeddrah?

Are you Sephardic? the rice and lentils is new to me...

Thanks!

←

The "mountain of little dough balls" is called Strufoli....its an Italian christmas dessert.....I dunno but it certainly has lots of honey on it and sprinkles the round hard ones...thats what grandma used

tracey

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It is called both, but Ashkenazi Jews call it Taiglach.

[bloviatrix]

Oh, my, you guys come to my house in NJ ANYTIME for m'jeddrah...it's a dairy thing, because you serve it with sour cream or yogurt or (triple yum) buttermilk.

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It's never even occurred to me that mejadra would be eaten at a dairy meal. I've always eaten it with meat (obviously there's no dairy added in that case). I love it. It's total comfort food.

[cakewalk]

Interesting, the "Strufoli-Tayglach Connection." The main difference between them seems to be that with strufoli, the pieces of dough are first deep-fried in oil and then added to a honey mixture. With Tayglach, the pieces of dough are cooked directly in the honey mixture. Since it's just pastry dough and honey, I guess it shows up in a lot of different cultures. But it's interesting that both tayglach and strufoli are particularly holiday treats, they're not "regular" desserts. (Personally, I've always hated tayglach. My teeth squirm just thinking about all that honey.)

[Rebecca263]

It's never even occurred to me that mejadra would be eaten at a dairy meal. I've always eaten it with meat (obviously there's no dairy added in that case). I love it. It's total comfort food.

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[scubadoo97]

In my family we never had m'jeddrah on Shabbat or holidays. My Grandmother always said it was bad to eat it on Shabbat. Don't know if it was because it was peasant type food or what. It's also a dairy food in our house.

For Rosh Hashanah Seder we had our traditional Syrian Jewish line up of rice, spinach, black eye peas, dates, pomegranates, squash, and fish dusted in flour and cumin. All foods had a prayer that was said prior to eating it.

[Pan]

Hmm...I couldn't say about recipes, but I'm going to a dinner on the 2nd night of Rosh Hashanah at my godmother's again, and a tradition has developed of my walking down to Chinatown to get the most unusual fruits I can find for a shehechianu (blessing of celebration) over the first fruits. (Further explanation: The 2nd night of Rosh Hashanah is actually after the real holiday is over but is celebrated in the Diaspora [outside of Israel] as a tradition. Since the shehechianu can no longer be said over the holiday, which started the previous night and ended at sundown, before the dinner on the 2nd night, it has to be said with the thought in mind of celebrating a different special occasion, and the eating of a type of fruit you haven't had for the previous year is such an occasion, under Jewish law. If I've gotten anything wrong here, I know someone more knowledgeable than I will correct me.) I've gotten the huge Chinese pears (crunchy but kind of bland and watery) little striped melons (taste like either cantaloupe or honeydew, I can't remember, but I wasn't too impressed), and longan (which I've never liked). I wish Rosh Hashanah fell around lychee season, but I'll try to get something good, even if I have to buy some mangos at my local Bangladeshi store in addition to whatever I get in Chinatown. But maybe I can find some good kumquats down there...

I just realized this is off the topic of what my bubbe might have served. Frankly, I don't know. My father's father [edit: mother, too] was an atheist, and I don't remember seeing my maternal grandmother except for during the summer. The thing I really remember from my childhood is the apples dipped in honey. My godmother serves gefilte fish, but my mother has always hated fish, so never in my parents' house. I'm trying to remember if we used to make tzimmes for Rosh Hashanah as well as Pesach. I think I'll ask my mother what she used to make.

Edited September 9, 2005 by Pan (log)

[silverbrow]

Pan, my understanding is slightly different. Usually with Jewish high holy days an extra day is celebrated in the diaspora because of uncertainties over when the holiday is exactly. Therefore in Israel there is only one seder night, and one night of Yom Tov at the end of the festival, whereas in the diaspora there are two of each.

The exception to this rule is RH where two days are celebrated in Israel and in the diaspora. (Yom Kippur is also an exception where one day is observed in both Israel and the Diaspora). There are some religious movements that only celebrate one day RH - the reform and liberal in the UK for example. I shall not enter the minefield here whether they are right or wrong to do so.

I also thought that the reason one ate new season fruits was to reflect the start of the new year and the wiping clean of the slate with the end of the old one.

Edited September 9, 2005 by silverbrow (log)

[Pam R]

walking down to Chinatown to get the most unusual fruits I can find for a shehechianu (blessing of celebration) over the first fruits.

I just realized this is off the topic of what my bubbe might have served.

Pan, my understanding is slightly different.  Usually with Jewish high holy days an extra day is celebrated in the diaspora because of uncertainties over when the holiday is exactly. 

Pan, you're not off topic at all - I love the your new fruit tradition - I only wish I lived in an area where I'd be able to find something different.

I've heard both theories about the shehechianu and about the extra day being there because we don't know what the correct day is. I think they work together at this point - in this day and age there is no issue of which date is correct, but we still celebrate an extra day, so using the new fruit for the shehechianu works.

In the end, my columns were full of some of my fravorite childhood holiday foods - nothing all that exciting, but my versions of baba's recipes - turkey with fresh fruit compote (vs. the dried fruit one that I love, but turns out the fresh fruit is amazing), honey cake, honey cookies, easy apple strudel, a honey scented pear and cheese tart, a compote square, and two things that we've honestly never really made in my family but I know many families do enjoy: tzimmes and apple kugel.

I did, by the way ,work out a recipe for teiglach - which taste similar to what I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately I realized that I don't really like balls of dough cooked in honey - so they didn't make the cut

Now... shoud we start a new Yom Kippur - break-the-fast thread?