As a child, Joan Nathan knew it was Rosh Hashanah when the blue plums were in. “My mother would have me put the plums delicately into her cake, and that meant it was Rosh Hashanah,” she told me by phone from her home in Washington, D.C. “Maybe that’s how I started thinking seasonally about food.”
Having grown up in Rhode Island in an Ashkenazi (Eastern European) home, Nathan quickly became intoxicated with the new flavors of Israel while working in the early ’70’s as a foreign press attaché for the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, “Rosh Hashana had always meant chicken and matzo balls and apples dipped in honey. Then I went to Israel, and it blew my mind. I remember going to a Yemenite home for Rosh Hashanah and thinking – where’s the apples and honey? They had pomegranate. In Israel there are all these different taste sensations. That’s what got me interested in writing about food.”
Eleven cookbooks later, Joan Nathan is the undisputed authority on Jewish cuisine and its diverse and tangled roots. Her latest and perhaps most ambitious book, “King Solomon’s Table” (Knopf, $35), with over 170 recipes traversing the globe, uncovers Jewish culinary history via her research trips to far-flung countries as well as visits with immigrant communities. “First-generation immigrants always have the best recipes,” she noted.
A tireless investigator and good listener, Nathan entered the kitchens of both ordinary families and popular restaurants, interweaving personal stories with historical background and fascinating commentary.
“I always thought Jewish food was rooted in Israel, but in fact it is rooted all over the world,” she said. It really started in Babylon where the oldest cookbook – 44 recipes written on cuneiform tablets – was found dating from 1700 B.C.E. What keeps it together are, first, the dietary laws. Also, Jews were always merchants, traveling the world, looking for new things to bring back. Then throughout history they were kicked out of so many countries and adjusted their food to the regions in which they were living. Learning the story about a recipe teaches you so much about the past, and about food.”
It is the holidays, of course, when a family’s most precious traditions are forged, and Rosh Hashana, “the anniversary of Creation,” a solemn yet joyous holiday with its universal message of hope for a sweet new year, offers ample opportunity to pass along treasured traditions and create new ones. Such is the stuff of which memories are made.
Jewish cooks are already planning menus for the holiday, which begins at sundown on Sept. 20, and Nathan’s Seven Species salad incorporates traditional elements in a new way. Deuteronomy 8:8 lists the Seven Species: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive (oil) and date (honey), and in biblical times these native foods of Israel were the only acceptable offerings in the Temple. The pomegranate has special significance for Rosh Hashana as one of the symbolic foods that serve as auspicious omens for the year to come. Supposedly it contains 613 seeds, representing the number of mitzvot (good deeds) Jews are commanded by the Torah to do. It also satisfies the stringency to eat a new fruit of the season for the holiday.
Plain roast chicken gets an exotic makeover with the addition of preserved lemons, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. Apples, another traditional symbol of the holiday, evoke the wish for a sweet new year. “This Apple Kuchen,” Nathan noted, “when it is made with vegetable oil, is similar to the Jewish Apple Cake found in many church cookbooks throughout America and was brought to this country by Polish immigrants, like my mother-in-law. I serve it for Rosh Hashana with the first apples of the season.”
Seven Sacred Species Salad with Wheat Berries, Barley, Olives, Figs, Dates, Grapes, and Pomegranate
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Dressing
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salad
3/4 cup wheat berries
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped
1/2 cup figs, chopped
1 cup white or red grapes, halved
1 small red onion, chopped fine
5 green onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 cup parsley, basil, or cilantro, chopped
1 cup olives, chopped
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
2 handfuls salad greens
1 cup feta or goat cheese, crumbled (optional, use for a dairy meal)
Procedure
1. Stir balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey, mustard powder, and salt and pepper together in mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil and let sit.
2. Fill medium sauce pan with water; add wheat berries and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Add barley; simmer uncovered 20 minutes more, until wheat berries and barley are almost al dente.
3. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop cooking, and transfer to a bowl and let cool completely. Stir in dates, figs, and grapes.
4. Add red and green onions, garlic, parsley, olives, and pomegranates. Put greens out on flat plate, cover with salad, sprinkle on feta or goat cheese, if using, and drizzle some dressing over all. Toss and serve immediately.
Double-Lemon Roast Chicken
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
1 whole 4-pound chicken
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons za’atar (optional)
1 teaspoon sumac
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 preserved lemon, divided(recipe below)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
Handful each fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs, divided
Handful sage leaves, divided
1 onion, cut into eighths
2 lemons, sliced crosswise into thin circles
3/4 cup white wine
1 celery stalk, 1 peeled carrot, 1 fennel bulb, and/or 1 zucchini, all chopped into 2-inch pieces; or handful Brussels sprouts, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes or fresh tomato, cut up
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper, za’atar, if using, and sumac. Rub outside with oil.
2. Put chicken in 9 x 13″ baking pan. Fill cavity with half the preserved lemon, 2 garlic clothes, and sprig each of thyme, rosemary, and sage. Cut up remaining preserved lemon and scatter it with remaining garlic cloves, onion, thyme, rosemary and sage, as well as regular lemon slices all around chicken. Add enough wine just to allow chicken to sit in liquid. You may do this the night before and refrigerate covered with foil.
3. When ready to cook, remove chicken from refrigerator about a half hour to return to room temperature. Here is where you can be creative. And cut-up celery, carrots, zucchini, and/ or fennel, Brussels sprouts, black olives, and sun-dried or fresh tomatoes, or leave as is.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Roast chicken until golden brown and crispy and internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
6. Cut chicken into eighths, place on platter, spoon vegetables and juices with preserved lemon and lemon slices over and around chicken, and serve.
Source: “King Solomon’s Table” by Joan Nathan
Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” (Workman) and may be found at www.cookingjewish.com.
Preserved lemons
Use smooth, then-skinned lemons, such as the Meyer variety. Throw a whole (deseeded) lemon into hummus, and add a little of its preserving juice for an extra punch. Dice the rind and add it to salads or salad dressings. Scatter pieces over fish and stuff chickens with a whole lemon. After the chicken is roasted, dice the lemon to use as a condiment.
Yield: 8 preserved lemons
Ingredients
About 16 lemons
About 1/2 cup coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 fresh bay leaves (optional)
1. Cut off the very ends of 8 of the lemons. Slice each one lengthwise into quarters, cutting to but not through the opposite end. Gently open half the lemon over a bowl and sprinkle a tablespoon of salt into it, then open the other half and add another tablespoon, using 2 tablespoons total per lemon.
2. Put the cut lemons in a large jar. It’s fine if you have to pack them in, as they will shrink. Extract the juice from the remaining lemons and completely cover the cut ones in the jar with the juice. Slip in the bay leaves, if using. Let sit for a day, lightly covered with a towel.
3. The next day, pour a thin film of olive oil over the lemons and their juice. This will help keep them sealed while they preserve. Cover the jar tightly and put in the refrigerator or store at room temperature, allowing it to cure for 3 to 4 weeks. They will keep, refrigerated, for at least a year.
Apple Kuchen
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
1 cup vegetable or melted coconut oil, more for greasing pan
1 1/3 cups plus1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 Gala or other flavorful apples, peeled, cored, and sliced, about 3 cups, divided
1 teaspoon Calvados or other apple brandy
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or anise seeds
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oil, 1 1/3 cups sugar, and salt until blended. Add eggs and mix until smooth. On lowest speed, mix in flour 1/3 at a time. Fold with rubber spatula until thoroughly mixed. Fold in about 1/3 of apple slices; spread batter evenly in pan.
3. In large bowl toss remaining apples with brandy, ginger, and cinnamon. Arrange apple slices in closely fitting concentric circles on top of dough. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over apples.
4. Bake until apples are golden and tender and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Source: “King Solomon’s Table” by Joan Nathan
Meet Joan Nathan
She will give a talk at the Irvine Jewish Community Center on Sept. 7 at noon as she speaks about her cookbook and the coming holiday. A delicious lunch prepared from her book will be served. Call 949-435-3400 for reservations.
