Whisk_112

Food Currents: We’ve been taught how to pair food with wine. But what about food with...food?

Issue 112 march 20, 2013 9 nissan 5773

leah sChapira’s

Dream Pesach Recipes

victoria goes to

Cookbook Heaven

on the upper east side

es Simplif y your menu wit h easy dish and like Roasted Butternut Squash Pearl Onions, page 8

In these pages, you will hardly find a week on the Jewish calendar where we don’t find an excuse to cook something special. In the secular press, though, culinary coverage of Jewish holidays is usually limited to three times per year: Pesach, Rosh Hashanah, and Chanukah.

And that is how it happened that I found myself on the other side of the microphone, with a reporter for a New Jersey newspaper in my kitchen, watching me demonstrate a Pesach recipe.

And although I got along with the reporter very well, I had imagined the day very differently.

From the moment the interview was scheduled, I knew I wanted to show off my Syrian-Jewish hospitality. I was planning to demonstrate the Banana French Toast recipe from Passover Made Easy, but I’d be embarrassed if a reporter came to my house and all I offered her to eat was kosher-for-Passover French toast (as delicious as it is)! The interview was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. I figured that I should serve a proper lunch. A salad and a quiche would be perfect: light and not fussy. And, I was planning to prepare a dish of macaroons on the table for dessert.

I was going to set my dinette table as if it were for a magazine spread: placemats, dinner plate, salad plate, and a complete set of flatware, using my turquoise placemats and the blue-stemmed glasses I usually save for Shabbat.

In the middle of the table, I was also going to place a pretty pitcher with a refreshing fruit shake. The food would be served on white platters that match the dishes.

The morning of the interview, after I dropped my children off at school, I went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients I needed. When I got home, it was after 11 a.m. I had not yet cleaned my kitchen from breakfast.

My 3-year-old had conveniently dropped his cereal bowl on the table and floor and there was scrubbing to do.

Oops.... I hadn't run the dishwasher the night before.

The breakfast dishes would have to go into the second run. I stacked them in the sink.

When the kitchen was finally clean, I began to cook.

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I made the macaroon batter, piped the cookies, and left the trays on the stovetop until they were ready for baking. I began chopping vegetables for the salad and got my French toast ingredients ready.

At 12:45 p.m., there was a lady at my door. The reporter had arrived. Early!At the same time, my 22-month-old came downstairs, needing a diaper change and...clothing! Raizel and I ran upstairs to get dressed.

The kitchen was clean. But the table was not set. There were only raw macaroons. There was no salad. There was no quiche. And there definitely was no fruit shake.

And, so, we enjoyed kosher for Passover Banana French Toast for lunch. And it was perfect.

B In the past, whenever I made my menu, whether for Shabbat, a Yom Tov meal, or a simchah, I had to stick to it. It didn’t matter how much pressure I felt or how late I stayed up the night before. Then I taught myself to “edit.” “Editing,” in this context means taking something off the menu. If I feel stressed when I'm cooking in the kitchen, instead of feeling like I'm having fun, something is wrong.

I usually tell you to try one more dish.

Now, I’m telling you to try one less dish.

When you feel pressured, “edit” your menu. There may be one less dessert or one less side dish. No one will know except you.

And, I promise, no one will go hungry.

And if it’s not the way you imagined the meal to be? It will still be wonderful.

Chag Kasher Vesameach, Victoria Dwek

Issue 111

Issue 111

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On the Menu

Mains

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for Pesach

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Issue 109

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Soups & Salads Pg 11

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Desserts Issue 111

email phone conversation in person

reader's kitchen I know I can speak for all the Whisk columnists when I say that we love corresponding with you, whether it’s by email, by phone, or when we bump into each other in person. Let's carry on the conversation. — V.

A Strawberry Keeper

Like No Other Chestnuts

Miriam Pascal’s Strawberry Bundt Cake, "Overtime Cook," Issue 77

Renee Muller’s Art of Roasting Chestnuts, "A Tavola," Issue 100

Dear Victoria, Firstly, I would like to thank you and all the many people who work so hard in putting together the Whisk each week.

You do a fabulous job! I am writing in reference to Miriam Pascal’s Strawberry Bundt Cake, which is absolutely sensational. I have made it several times, yet the last time I tried it I used Prima’s strawberry extract. The taste was better than ever and the coloring was so strong from the extract that I didn’t have to use food coloring. Just thought this info was worth sharing since it made a real difference in taste.

Keep those recipes coming!!

—Shaindy Weiss

It is late, but I wanted to take the few seconds to tell you that roasted chestnuts enhanced our Shabbos table this week. I always look at the chestnuts when they are in season, but don’t buy any because as many times as I've received instructions on preparing them, they just weren’t special. This week our chestnuts were a wonderful, special, healthful way to enhance Friday night family time. Our son-in-law at first declined partaking, saying that his mother made chestnuts every week during the winter and always begged him to have some, but he just didn’t care for them. I told him that these weren’t cooked in water; these are special. And he agreed.

Thank you so much! And a gutte vuch.

—Chaya Gross

Zucchini-Potato Swap Zehava Krohn’s Sides with Spice, "Just Real Food," Issue 101

Hi, Victoria, Whisk is great!

I recently tried the Tricolor Sesame Crusted Squash Sticks from Zehava Krohn’s “Just Real Food” column in Issue 101. Since squash isn’t a favorite in my home, I tried it with potatoes. They were just scrumptious! Not one piece was left over. I also prepared them a night in advance so they would be ready to throw into the oven when I got home from work. It surely will be a once-a-week side dish from now on.

—Chavy Hi Chavy, How long did you bake the potato versions? —Victoria

Dear Chaya, You have Renee Muller to thank! I also enjoyed chestnuts throughout the winter, only because of Renee. I had never had them before.

Convenient Substitutes I’m writing regarding the reader who asked for a substitute for heavy cream. I once read a “recipe” in a cookbook for heavy cream and have been doing it that way ever since. Combine 1/3 cup butter and 2/3 cup milk to substitute for 1 cup heavy cream. I’ve been using this for all of my cream recipes. It’s really convenient because milk and butter are basic ingredients that I always have on hand, which is good for last minute cooks like me :).

—Whisk fan, Sury Engel

I baked them for 45 minutes. —Chavy FOR THE KITCHEN 'N MORE

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When you are published in Reader’s Kitchen, you can win! This week, reader Sury Engel wins a Bamix Stainless Steel Immersion Blender, valued at $179. Keep sending in letters!

Prizes sponsored by The Kitchen Clique, 3011 Avenue L, Brooklyn november 21, 2012

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7 k i s l e v, 5 7 7 3

When only the best will do – Stick with SHIBOLIM!

www.adlibunlimited.com

Maintain that extra level of care and attention to what goes into the products you buy throughout the year – to ensure they meet your scrupulous standards of nutrition. The ShiboliM brand assures you delicious wholesome flavor with the uncompromised health benefits of whole grain.

The night that Passover Made Easy went to print, I couldn’t sleep at all. An idea for a chewy, cappuccino-flavored drop cookie popped into my head and I kept on asking myself, Leah, why didn’t you think of this earlier? I thought of the ingredients I would use, and envisioned myself folding the batter and pulling the big, soft cookies out of the oven.

Why, Oh Why?

Then, a new thought invaded my head: Chicken cutlets! There are not enough recipes with chicken cutlets in the book! I imagined a chicken cutlet with a smooth and savory sauce, like we enjoy with scalloped potatoes. I was frantic. I got up, reached for my phone, and began typing up my ideas so I would remember them when I woke up in the morning.

When morning came, I called up Whisk editor Victoria Dwek, who was also my Passover Made Easy coauthor. “I am so upset,” I told her. I told her about my new ideas, and how frustrated I was that I didn’t think of them a few weeks earlier.

She laughed.

“Why aren’t you upset too?” I asked her.

Good ideas for Pesach recipes come at the right time

“Because you need to save some of the good ideas for Whisk!” she answered.

So, here you have it: the Pesach recipes that were destined for Whisk readers all along. Maybe I can sleep easier now, knowing that all of you will enjoy them.

Here's to peaceful nights, and an easy and enjoyable Pesach!

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Recipes by Leah Schapira Photos by Dan Engongoro

The Drop Cookie

Onion Jam Chicken 2 medium onions ¼ cup oil 3 tablespoons potato starch ¾ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon paprika ⅛ teaspoon black pepper 5 tablespoons mayonnaise 2 cups chicken stock 2 pounds boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced

Roasted Butternut Squash Balls with Pearl Onions If you miss using spices or herbs on Pesach (that’s if you don’t use them), the trick is to use mayonnaise as an ingredient in your dishes: the homemade version, of course!

Homemade mayonnaise is so full of flavor. You won’t miss your bottled spices.

Prefer to use regular onions instead of the cute little pearls? As an alternative preparation method, you can cube the raw butternut squash, toss with 2 chopped onions, add the remaining ingredients, and roast for 45 to 60 minutes.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prick a whole butternut squash with a fork.

Place in a baking pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until soft. Let cool.

2. Slice squash in half and remove seeds. Using a melon baller or small spoon, spoon out small balls of squash. You can roll them slightly with your hands to round them out into even balls. Alternatively, you can cube the squash.

3. Parboil the pearl onions (let them sit in boiling water for 10 minutes).

Cut off stem and remove peel.

4. Toss butternut squash with onions, oil, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

Raise oven heat to 425ºF. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes.

Yield: serves 4 to 6 |

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Yield: serves 6

The Drop Cookie

1 butternut squash 10 ounces pearl onions 1 tablespoon oil 2 tablespoons mayonnaise ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper

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1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. 2. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until very soft and golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Add potato starch to the pan and mix well until smooth.

Add salt, paprika, black pepper, and mayonnaise. Slowly pour in chicken stock and stir to combine.

4. Place chicken in a baking pan or on a lined baking sheet. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake for 25 minutes.

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This is the only cookie you need this Pesach. I love chunky giant, soft cookies with crunchy bits of stuff mixed in. On Pesach, I miss oatmeal cookies which satiate that craving. So, I set out to create a version that was good enough to make me happy all year round.

And since I am really upset that I didn’t think of this one in time to make it into Passover Made Easy, I’d be really happy if you cut it out and tape it into the dessert section in your own copy of the book.

2 eggs, separated ½ cup sugar 1 teaspoon coffee granules 1 ¼ cup ground almonds ½ cup sugar, divided 2 tablespoons cocoa ½ cup chopped almonds ½ cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

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1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until they begin to foam. Add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff.

2. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks and coffee granules. Fold into egg whites. Add ground almonds, remaining ¼ cup sugar, and cocoa to the mixture. Fold in chopped almonds and chocolate.

3. Using an ice cream scooper, drop balls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a tablespoon for smaller cookies.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes for large cookies, or 10 to 12 minutes for smaller cookies.

Yield: 10 large cookies

Fresh mayonnaise is my secret ingredient in this chicken, too. It helps create a very flavorful sauce that’s perfect over chicken. Originally, I thought I would quickly panfry the chicken and bake with the sauce on top. I believe that this gives the chicken a better texture. If you do have the time, you should do that. When I mentioned my idea to my mother, she said, “Didn’t you tell me you wanted to make a super easy chicken?”

I was creating an extra step by panfrying the chicken first. So, listening to mom, I poured the sauce over the raw chicken and stuck it in the oven. The result was delicious! This must be served fresh out of the oven, or the sauce will congeal a bit.

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Pesach Picks

from the year in

Leah Schapira

Spicy Light Chicken Lo Mein Issue 89

This recipe was first featured in the Whisk Diet issue which appeared after Sukkos. It’s perfect for Pesach because it uses julienned zucchini as a mock pasta. (You’ll need a julienne peeler.)

Although I don’t use honey or imitation soy sauce on Pesach, those ingredients are easily replaceable. Simply swap them out for your favorite homemade sweet sauce. I use a homemade duck sauce or plum sauce in my Pesach stir-fries.

Don’t have so many spices in your Pesach pantry? You can also add some chicken soup to the mix to give the vegetables flavor sans spice.

4 ounces chicken breast, cut into very thin strips 1 teaspoon honey (see introduction) 1 medium onion, thinly sliced ½ cup bell peppers sliced (or more if you love peppers) 2 cups julienned zucchini and yellow squash 2 tablespoons imitation soy sauce (see introduction) Salt and pepper

V ict oria Dwek

Passion Fruit Sorbet Issue 104

If you can’t find fresh passion fruit, any fruit pulp will work nicely with this recipe.

Cube mangoes, strawberries, peaches, guava, or kiwis and whirl them in the food processor to produce 1 cup pulp.

4 eggs, divided 1 cup sugar, divided 1 cup fresh passion fruit pulp (see introduction)

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for spice mix. Rub onto damp chicken.

1. Add oil or nonstick cooking spray to a sauté pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add honey just before chicken is done (about 30 seconds before removing from pan), and toss well. Set aside.

1. Wipe out the pan and heat additional oil or nonstick cooking spray.

Add onion and sauté over low heat until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add peppers and saute additional 2 minutes. Add squash and cook until just softened. Add imitation soy sauce and season generously with salt and pepper. Add chicken strips and adjust seasoning to taste.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites and ½ cup sugar, until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water (double boiler). Place egg yolks and ½ cup sugar in the bowl and whisk vigorously by hand until mixture is silky smooth and no sugar granules are visible, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Color should be a pale butter yellow.

3. Transfer mixture to mixer bowl (you can use the same bowl that was used for the whites) and beat until light and fluffy. Add the passion fruit pulp in a slow stream and mix. Using a spatula, fold in the whites. The mixture will become very runny but don’t worry. You can use a whisk to combine the mixture until uniform. Pour into a 9- x 13-inch aluminum pan and freeze overnight.

Yield: serves 1 to 2

Yield: one 9- x 13-inch pan of sorbet

Spice mix: ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon paprika Dash of black pepper ¼ teaspoon chili powder (optional) ¼ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon parsley flakes

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Renee Muller

Whisk columnists pick the all-year round recipes that they’ll be adapting for Pesach

Salmon with Lemon “Mustard” Cream Issue 73

The first time I tried this salmon was actually last Pesach! It came out perfectly even using the imitation mustard, so I knew it would be a keeper post-Pesach too. ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup imitation mustard 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 ½ teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon pepper 4 salmon fillets (about 1 pound) 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, mustard, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

3. Place salmon fillets in a baking pan.

Spoon marinade on top of each fillet. Let marinate at least 15 minutes or up to overnight.

4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Can be served hot or at room temperature.

Yield: serves 4

Zehava Kr ohn

Elky Friedman

Mustard Vinaigrette Chicken Salad Issue 99

While this makes an awesome meal all year long, a flavorful chicken salad is also a perfect appetizer for a Yom Tov meal (or serve it as a onedish dinner on Chol Hamoed).

1 ½ pounds chicken cutlets Marinade: 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons vinegar ¼ cup brown sugar ¼ cup wine 2 teaspoons potato starch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water 3 teaspoons imitation mustard 4 garlic cloves, minced ½ teaspoons salt Salad: 2 heads romaine lettuce (or 1 8-ounce bag) 1 red pepper, thinly sliced 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved 3 scallions, chopped 1 cup honey roasted slivered almonds Dressing: ⅓ cup oil ¼ cup water ¼ cup vinegar ¼ cup honey 3 tablespoons sugar

Honey Roasted Red-Skinned Potatoes Issue 85 Rosh Hashanah time, this recipe went viral. What better time to bring it back than at Pesach, when everyone is looking for a fresh way to prepare potatoes?

5 pounds red potatoes 2 ½ tablespoons onion soup mix ¾ cup honey ½ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 tablespoons imitation mustard 1 teaspoons salt 3 garlic cloves 1. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, brown sugar, wine, dissolved potato starch, imitation mustard, garlic, and salt. Add cutlets and marinate for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight.

2. Preheat oven to broil. Remove chicken cutlets from marinade and place on a broiler pan or foil-lined baking sheet. Broil for 6 minutes on each side. You can also grill the cutlets if you prefer. Let cool and cut into strips.

3. In a large bowl, combine lettuce, tomato, pepper, and scallions. Top with chicken strips.

4. In a small bowl using an immersion blender, or in a mini food processor, blend together dressing ingredients (this will give the dressing a creamy consistency). Toss salad with dressing. Add almonds and serve.

Yield: serves 4

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice potatoes into wedges and spread on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine onion soup mix, honey, and olive oil. Toss with potatoes until well-coated.

2. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered, until potatoes are soft and golden brown. Before serving, toss potatoes to recoat with the sauce. Serve hot.

Yield: serves 10 to 12

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Cookbooks on

Lexington

By Victoria Dwek

Come with me to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, to a verifiable cookbook heaven.

It’s not fair that I have to go home

N

achum Waxman, the founder and owner of Kitchen Arts and Letters, began preparing for Pesach the day after Purim. That’s when he peeled and cut a few pounds of beets into wedges and loaded them into the five-gallon ceramic crock that used to belong to his mother—the crock that was always used exclusively for fermenting beets. After washing off the red stain from his palms, he covered the beets with a couple of gallons of water and set the crock in the corner of his Manhattan kitchen. This was the first step in preparing his russel, the dish he makes every single year, just like his mother did for as long as he can remember.

Russel is a fermented beet borscht, Nachum tells me, when I visit his store on a Tuesday in the first week of March. I’ve come all the way to this spot, on Lexington Avenue between E. 93rd and E. 94th Street, to what I knew would be a candyland for me: a bookstore specializing in...cookbooks.

“After a week, the beets produce a fair amount of mold that rises to the surface of the water,” Nachum continues. “I just skim it off the top. After skimming the mold, I ferment the beets for another four weeks. There’s much less mold after the first week, and I check on it every few days and skim whatever is there and wipe down the sides. It doesn’t affect the flavor.”

While the beets are fermenting, the sugar in the beets and in the liquid turns into alcohol. The ruddy, cloudy red liquid becomes a crystal clear red and acquires a wine-like flavor.

“After the sedarim, I’ll take out the beets. You can use them in a lot of different dishes. I’ll add them to the brisket. They give it a wonderful taste. You can drink the liquid as-is, but I’ll make it into borscht. I’ll whip an egg, sometimes an egg white but usually a whole egg, into the borscht. Then I’ll blend it with a little bit of onion, a little salt, and some sour cream or labne. It has the most

On the top shelf are three copies of Edda Servi Machlin’s The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews. I’ve tried to reach Edda a few times to be able to tell her story in Whisk, but sadly, at the age of 86, she is no longer able to do interviews.

incredible flavor. It’s nothing like regular sweet borscht.”

Nachum tells me that in Poland and Russia, fermented beet borscht was made by adding rye bread to the mixture during the rest of the year. The caraway and rye gave the borscht another level of flavor, but of course, the ingredient has to be left out come Pesach.

We are standing in the section of the store where the Jewish books are located, and he pulls one down from the shelf to show me. The book is titled, The Jews of Poland: Recollections and Recipes. He flips through the pages and points to the recipe for the same russel that he has just described.

“There were a lot of Poles who moved to France and became part of the Parisian ‘food mafia,’” Nachum tells me. Members of the so-called food mafia included food writers and restaurant critics. “One of them was Edouard de Pomiane. His real name was Edward Pozerski, and though he was not Jewish, he was fascinated by the Jews. During the 1920s, he decided to return to Poland to study the food and life of the Jews. His book was published in 1929 and its French title was Cuisine Juive Ghettos Modernes.”

Pozerski was actually first a scientist and gastroenterologist

Being able to leaf through the books for a few minutes is such a tease. I could stay down here for hours.

a

b

d

e

c

f

h g

a) Nachum Waxman, proprietor of Kitchen Arts and Letters b) Customers are not allowed down these steps, which lead to a cave full of out-of-print and hard-tofind food- and cookbooks. c) On the main level, Nachum shows me interesting books on different Jewish cuisines, spanning ancient times to modern day.

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d) The book isn’t in stock?

Customers fill out request cards. Perhaps it will turn up during one of Nachum’s hunts. e) We pass by some French titles on our way to the spot where the kosher cookbooks are stored. f) Manischewitz's cookbook, published in 1930.

g) The kosher cookbooks, on the right wall, are stored in what used to be a butcher’s refrigerator.

Though the door has been removed, the interior of the closet is still metal, even though there hasn’t been anything in need of refrigeration for almost 30 years.

H) More out-of-print kosher cookbooks, including Love and Knishes, by Sarah Kasdan. Many brides would receive the book as a gift four decades ago.

Today, adventurous kosher cooks will find, translated into English, a book on Indian cooking or French Sephardic Algerian cooking.

who became interested in food when he was looking to discover the source of stomachaches. So, he learned to cook and launched a second career as a food writer. Of his 22 books, The Jews of Poland: Recollections and Recipes is one of three that were translated into English, and is no longer in print. It is not available online. (His classic French Cooking in Ten Minutes is still in print.) There are, however, a number of copies in Nachum’s shop.

Today, there are 12,000 to 13,000 titles inside this Lexington Avenue storefront. Thirty years ago, when Kitchen Arts and Letters first opened in 1983, the shelves held only 300 to 400 titles.

They are not all cookbooks. But they are all about food.

Nachum Waxman elaborates, “Do you want to start a tea plantation and need to learn how to plant tea? We have a book on that. Do you want to read ancient Roman food poetry? Or are you in manufacturing and distribution and need to learn how to adapt a recipe for commercial equipment? There are books on that.”

Chefs and many food professionals visit often to find their food secrets, but Nachum didn’t come to open the store from the world of food. He had been a general nonfiction editor at Harper & Row, which is now HarperCollins.

“I wanted to work for myself, but stay in the world of books.

When I thought about what kind of specialized bookstore I might open, this was the only choice. It’s good I didn’t open a general bookstore, or I’d be out in the street holding a tin can right now.”

“Did you like to cook at the time?” I asked him.

“I've cooked since I was in college, and I knew how to because my mother was generous. She’d take the time to show me how things were done.”

Nachum’s mother’s family was Polish-Russian. His father’s family was Romanian. “Real Black Sea Romanians,” he says.

Nachum’s mother learned a lot of recipes from her Romanian mother-in-law.

“We had ptcha. Oh yeah, and mamaliga. That’s polenta, cornmeal. It’s the basic food in Romania.”

I nodded, remembering when Renee Muller told us a few weeks ago about polenta being a staple she enjoyed while growing up in Switzerland.

Nachum’s mother and mother-in-law would argue over the correct way to make gefilte fish.

“They were both active gefilte fish-makers. My mother would make the balls and then stuff them back into the body of the fish. Other times, she would wrap the skin around the balls.

When you cover the balls, it keeps the moisture in and adds flavor. She would peel off the skin before serving. My wife’s mother didn’t make them that way, though. She simply made the balls and cooked them in a fish stock. They’d also argue about the ingredients that go in, like whether almonds belonged in the mixture...just little crunchy bits. My mother-in-law made hers with almonds. My wife doesn’t do it that way now, though.

And my wife is a serious gefilte fish-maker...serious. The fish stores have her recipe written down. She just calls in her gefilte fish order and they know how many of each type of fish she will need to make the 20 pounds of fish she will serve over Pesach.”

The chrain-making is up to Nachum. So is the table decor.

“I’ll usually buy my horseradish two weeks before the seder. I’ll cut off the top part, where the horseradish branches off, and place them in water. I use a shallow dish, and replace the water as it evaporates. They grow beautiful green sprouts, and that goes on the seder table; it’s a little horseradish tree. It’s like a chia pet. The lower part is what I’ll actually use for the chrain.”

On the main level, I look through books on French Sephardic Algerian cooking and Indian-Jewish cooking. There are also kosher cookbooks in Spanish and French.

It seems a little funny that we’re talking about traditional dishes. After all, if you spent all day in a store with thousands of cookbooks, wouldn’t you want to come home and try new dishes every day? But, like his customers, Nachum loves tradition. And, also like his customers, he’s obsessed with unearthing history.

“When Passover comes, my customers want to learn how to make mina. It’s a Sephardic layered matzah and spinach dish.

You can make it dairy with cheese too.”

“Really? I never heard of it.”

“They come in asking if we have any books with Bulgarian Jewish recipes. They’re beating our doors down for Turkish Jewish recipes. Unfortunately, the Turkish Jewish cookbook is out of print. It was bilingual.”

Today, adventurous kosher cooks will find, translated into English, a book on Indian cooking or French Sephardic Algerian cooking.

And though most of the foreign language books in Kitchen Arts and Letters are in French (and a good number in Spanish), there are some in Hebrew, like the book on Yemenite-Jewish cooking or the one on Iraqi-Jewish cooking.

A couple weeks ago, Nachum tells me, a 94-year-old woman who belongs to his shul in Manhattan gave him her cookbook collection. She had grown up in Germany, and in 1935 her family went to Shanghai, where she lived throughout the war.

She brought her cookbooks along with her.

“They are written in the old German type, so they are difficult to read. But they are German kosher general cookbooks.”

“How much are these one-of-a-kind books worth?”

Nachum explains that the value of an old book depends: Some books could have been very common and very widely distributed.

“They’ll range from 20 to 25 dollars to 300 to 400. But I don’t even know if I want to sell them.”

“Are there many books that you won’t part with?”

“If it’s a book of any value that has gone out of print, we’ll hold onto the last copy. This way, it’s available as a reference for anyone who wants to see it. We’ll simply place a slip of paper in the book that notes that it is not for sale.”

Those titles, though, are not on the store shelves.

They are in the basement.

Dum-da-dum-dum.

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Customers are not allowed in the basement, where the out-ofprint books are kept. Nachum says it’s not safe. The steps are too steep. There are books stacked everywhere, in ceiling-high piles. But I want to go down there. So he agrees to show me the way.

It’s a good thing I wore flats today.

When Kitchen Arts and Letters first opened, it was in a smaller space a few doors down from the current store, which housed a butcher shop. Only a couple of years later the butcher shop closed down, and Nachum and his books hopped over to occupy the larger space.

Once past the staircase, Nachum leads me through a maze of bookcases to where the out-of-print Jewish cookbooks are located.

They’re actually kept in a small walk-in closet.

“This used to be the butcher’s refrigerator,” Nachum says. I look closer. The walls of the closet are metal.

One entire shelf, spanning the width of the refrigerator, is occupied by books that are bound by plastic spirals. They’re fundraising books, and they’re anywhere from 40 to 80 years old. On the top shelf, Nachum pulls out a cookbook that was published by Manischewitz in 1930.

“I have another cookbook like this, published by Crisco in 1912, at home. They were trying to get the Jewish market to use the first pareve shortening. Before Crisco, there was only butter or shmaltz.

The book is bilingual, written in Yiddish and English.”

There is a Viennese Jewish cookbook from the 1890s; it has a second clear bag around it for protection. I don’t dare touch it. I pull down a Syrian kosher cookbook that was written by Grace Sassoon and skim through to find some familiar dishes. I stop flipping when I arrive at a page with a recipe for Veal-Stuffed Artichokes. I like you, Grace. This book has a slip of paper in it. It is Nachum’s last copy and is not for sale.

Being able to leaf through the books for a few minutes is such a tease. I could stay down here for hours.

Where do all those old and hard-to-find books come from?

Kitchen Arts and Letters has been an institution for 30 years, so

Pozerski was actually first a scientist and gastroenterologist who became interested in food when he was looking to discover the source of stomachaches. So, he learned to cook and launched a second career as a food writer. people know whom to call when the old cookbooks of a family member have turned up.

“Sometimes, the books just walk in. Often, we’ll get a call from a lawyer who is taking care of an estate and wants us to look at the books. Other times, we’ll arrive in the morning and there’ll be foundlings at our door.”

Nachum also actively searches for books. Want an out-of-print book that’s nowhere to be found? (Even on Amazon?) Fill out a card at Kitchen Arts and Letters or online at their website, www. kitchenartsandletters.com, and the book may turn up when Nachum is meeting another book dealer in Boston or London or anywhere.

Nachum shows me the cards that customers have recently filled out. Flavors of Babylon, by Linda Dagoor; David’s Cookie, Cookie Cookbook, by David and Susan Liederman; The Encyclopedia of Practical Gastronomy, by Ali-Bab. “That one was published in the 1920s but wasn’t translated into English until 1974,” Nachum says. “Ali-Bab’s real name was Henri Babinski.” He was also Polish.

These cards will come with Nachum when he travels. If these books are not in his basement, perhaps they are in another book seller’s.

“How do customers know what’s downstairs if they can’t go down?”

“We’ll be speaking and they’ll either say, ‘I want this book,’ or ‘I’m interested in Eastern Mediterranean Jewish Cookbooks,’ and I’ll remember having something on the subject. It’s like a computer search of my brain...only much less efficient.”

The interview is over; Nachum has customers who need attention.

I stay for a bit longer, exploring the main level, before I walk back out onto the sunny city sidewalk. It’s a beautiful day to be out of the house. I wish I could stay all day and walk the streets. Or shop.

Or sit in Central Park and write a poem. You can tell I don’t get out much. But there are babies waiting for me at home. And articles to write. And recipes to develop, which will soon find their way out of my kitchen and onto a printed page, and then land their own place on a distinguished shelf in this inspiring Lexington Avenue shop. 

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Food Currents

By Racheli Sofer

”A TAVOLA” columnist Renee Muller answers: Planning the menu is always the hardest part! Start by figuring out the main dishes.

Take into consideration oven settings, shul times, and number of guests.... It’s the same for appetizers and mains. Then comes the hard part: the sides. Make a list of all the side dishes that you enjoy cooking and that your family likes eating, and work with your serving schedule. Pair them up to the main (fish, meat) taking into consideration textures and what plates you’ll be serving on. A roast with a nice sauce will pair well with couscous, rice, or farfel—not roasted potatoes. Those you’ll want next to chicken.

A tongue with a tomato-based sauce pairs well with sweet kugel (the heavy kugel versus the relatively light meat).

A pretty and elaborate main (a steak, a capon, or sea bass) doesn’t need much next to it. Maybe some grilled vegetables, or some lightly dressed greens. Sometimes

The Sous Chef Whisk responds to your cooking queries

Rachel Starr asks: I read about pairing wine with dishes, but what about pairing foods? Do you have any guidelines or tips of which sides go well with mains, or which appetizers with which soups?

Sometimes I feel like my seudos are like a patchwork quilt. Each dish is nice on its own, but they don’t really come together cohesively.

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less is more, especially when we don’t want to take away from that important main. I like to make sure that my plates are colorful; at least one item should be vibrant and fresh.

Each course is really an entity of its own, but you do want to keep a balance: if you have a heavy meat as a main, plate a simple, light salad as an appetizer. An important appetizer (like a tuna steak or a lamb chop) can be followed by a grilled chicken main.

You could have the most elaborate main dish, but if it comes after a heavy and large appetizer, it is redundant.

When talking dessert, a rich mousse won’t need more than a small and bright berry salad to go along with it. You want to balance the amount of food and heaviness.

Remember the kids. Make sure there’s something for them to look forward to!

HOLD ONTO THOSE MENUS! After Yom Tov, jot down which meal worked well, what didn’t, and save it.

A gut Yom Tov!

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10,000($2,700)

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Bibi Netanyahu’s statefunded ice cream budget

A Good Egg

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hat’s considered “a good egg” here in the US would be considered illegal in England—and vice versa! European supermarkets keep their eggs on shelves in the baking aisle, while on this side of the pond eggs are refrigerated. That’s because commercially graded eggs in the US are federally required to be washed and sanitized to prevent the spread of salmonella through the porous shells. On the other side of the Atlantic, it’s feared that careless washing procedures will produce more harm than good, so eggs are specifically unwashed to leave the natural cuticle intact (it’s supposed to prevent transmission of salmonella). Eggs with unbroken cuticles don’t need to be refrigerated—on the contrary, a drastic change in temperature would cause the eggs to have condensation, and bacteria could infiltrate the egg. Our washed eggs need to be kept cold as the cuticle was removed by washing. In addition, US hens aren’t vaccinated against salmonella that can be contracted before the shell is even formed—but they are in Britain. Just some food for thought as you crack yet another egg this Pesach.…

One Man’s Trash.…

Your garbage might be overflowing with fruit and veggie peels on Pesach, but did you know that in China, an orange peel is worth more than the actual orange? In Xinhui City, dubbed “Orange Town,” oranges are grown for the peels that are harvested, dried, and preserved for use in traditional medicine.

Xinhui City’s orange peels are considered the world’s best. What happens to the thousands of tons of orange segments? They are dumped into the trash!

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Foods That Aid Digestion Go nuts

A great source of fiber, eat nuts to keep your digestive system happy.

Fruits and veggies Load up!

Potatoes

You will probably be eating more potatoes than you can count, but if you can eat some with the skin, your stomach will thank you for the added fiber.

Water

Stay super-hydrated.

Go Whole

Choose whole wheat matzah when you can, also for an added boost of fiber.

Kitchen Lab What’s the difference between kosher salt and table salt? Kosher salt received its name because this larger grained version is used to kasher meat by removing surface blood. Smaller grained salts, like table salt, would absorb into the meat. After absorbing blood, larger grained salt can be more thoroughly washed off, preventing overly salty meat.

Most chefs prefer to use kosher salt since the coarser grains are easier to measure by touch. It’s also great for creating salt crusts on meat.

Iodine-free, kosher salt is great for pickling, because iodine can affect molecules in foods and has a bitter taste.

Salt amplifies flavor by moving water from one part of

a cell membrane to another.

With larger, stronger crystals, you need fewer molecules of salt to accomplish the same task, even if they take up more space in your teaspoon.

So remember: 1 tablespoon of kosher salt does not equal 1 tablespoon of table salt! If your recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of table salt, you’ll want to use about 1.25 to 1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt to obtain the right amount of saltiness.

Steer clear of sugar Forgo those extra Yom Tov desserts!

WIN!

Congratulations to Elisheva Fishleder, the winner of Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek’s PASSOVER MADE EASY!

l Keep sending in your “Sous Chef” questions and “Breaking Bread” recipes to racheli@amimagazine.org to be eligible for our next cookbook drawing!

Passover Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek!

QUICK TIP Peeling pistachios for Pesach? Stop breaking your nails!

Instead, use this simple method of cracking open those pesky pistachio nuts: All you need is half of an empty pistachio shell to leverage your way in. Stick the pistachio shell into the opening of the closed pistachio.

With a firm grip, twist the shell either to the right or left as you would a screwdriver.

It’s super simple, and the clammed pistachio shell opens right up.

Breaking Bread Coconut Chicken 1 coconut 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts or bottoms 2 eggs ½ cup sweet wine ½ teaspoon kosher salt Olive oil for frying 1. Break open coconut and pull out coconut meat. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the shredder blade, shred coconut. Lay out shredded coconut on a baking sheet and allow to air dry for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake coconut for 8 minutes. Stir and bake for another few minutes, watching carefully, until coconut is a light golden color.

3. In a shallow dish, beat eggs, wine, and salt.

Place coconut in a second shallow dish. Dip pieces of chicken into egg, and then press into coconut, coating both sides evenly.

4. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Fry cutlets on both sides, then lower heat, cover pan, and cook for a few extra minutes until cooked through.

Thank you, Chani Vogel, for this fantastic Pesach recipe.

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THE CONTEST

Basya and Devoiry each want to lose 50 pounds. The first one to reach her goal wins a trip to Florida or $500. Follow them weekly as they share their diet journeys with us.

Basya

Are you a dietician or nutritionist who can help Basya plan menus and BASYA make the right food choices? If you’d like to work with her over the phone S NEED and help her meet her goals, email whisk@amimagazine.org. It’s a great YOUR opportunity to show your expertise in front of the Whisk audience.

E ADVIC

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Basya’s menu

Sunday: Breakfast: Coffee with skim milk; banana. Lunch: Barley with mushrooms; chicken. Snack: Grapes.

Dinner: Chicken soup from Shabbos.

Dessert: Low-calorie chocolate flavored almonds.

Monday: Breakfast: Coffee; whole wheat toast with peanut butter. Lunch: Grilled broccoli; egg salad with carrot, celery, and red pepper sticks. Snack: One homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich (Shayna made them). Dinner: Lamb chop; brown rice; grilled zucchini; salad. Dessert: 1 cup melon.

Tuesday: Breakfast: Coffee; fruit smoothie. Snack: Pear. Lunch: Salad with tuna and hard-boiled egg whites.

Dinner: Whole-wheat pasta with tomato sauce; Greek salad. Snack: Pear, grapes.

Wednesday: Breakfast: Coffee with eggs; toast with butter and jam.

Snack: Grapes. Lunch: Yogurt muesli.

Snack: Carrots. Dinner: Grilled chicken; couscous; grilled red peppers; salad.

Snack: Almonds.

Thursday: Breakfast: Coffee; apple.

Snack: Sesame seed bar. Lunch: Salad with tuna; crackers with Brie cheese.

Snack: Almonds. Dinner: Chicken.

Friday: Coffee and rugelach. Lunch: Fruit salad. Snack before Shabbos: small piece of potato kugel. Dinner: Piece of challah, gefilte fish, techina with eggplant, grilled vegetable salad, chicken soup, chicken, roasted vegetables; grapes.

Shabbos Day: Lunch: Challah, techina, gefilte fish, guacamole, cholent, endive salad, fruit plate.

Shalosh Seudos: Piece of challah with tuna salad.

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the elevator I stand there anxiously, twiddling my thumbs. The other passengers were eyeing me, suspiciously.

“It’s not me. It can’t be; I’m the girl on a diet and I’ve already lost four pounds,” I think to myself.

“Miss,” an older gentleman approaches me.

“We seem to have a problem and we were wondering if you might have something to do with it. Would you mind stepping on this scale? Sorry to trouble you, it’s just a matter of safety.”

Everyone clears the left corner of the elevator where a little scale sits, waiting for me. I look around at the scene; it is so utterly embarrassing. I have left my body and am mentally checked out. Mechanically, I step on the scale. Sirens start going off; bells and lights ring and flash.

“I knew it,” one man grumbles, shaking his head.

“Well, it had to be her,” a woman bemoans, rolling her eyes.

“Terribly sorry, ma’am, but would you mind stepping off? You have tipped our elevator to overweight,” the elevator attendant announces as he gestures for me to leave.

“I, I can’t believe this. This is absurd,” I say, half to myself, as I step off the elevator.

Suddenly, a giant talking cotton candy waves me over.

“Bas, it’s me, Shayna. This is my Purim costume,” says the giant cotton candy. “How’s your diet going?” the cotton candy continues as the wind whisks her off like a cloud into the sky.

And then I wake up. What a nightmare!

After that terrible dream, I kicked off my week with an iron will to lose weight, especially since Pesach is around the corner and we are headed for my in-laws’ house. I attended water aerobics and yoga and ate very healthfully. Although the scale hasn’t jumped dramatically, I personally feel lighter and my clothes feel looser. I know this is just the beginning and I’ll need to be strong and not

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Chal le

Basya

starting weight

200

current weight

194

goal weight

150

pounds lost this week

2

TOTAL POUNDS LOST SO FAR

6

falter. Even though I don’t lose a pound a day, I know that in less than a month from now, if I keep this up, I will notice a difference. It’s about looking to the future. If I eat chocolate cake today, I may not notice it on the scale tomorrow, but time will tell. And I want it to tell me, “Good for you, you did it!”

I want Moishy to be proud of me too! He has been very supportive. He used to buy me a Shabbos treat every Friday, which consisted of the best looking, freshest dessert the bakery had on display. I told him the Shabbos treats had to stop because I am on a serious diet. So, as of late, he has been bringing me beautiful platters of cut-up fruit and dates stuffed with walnuts instead. I find the gesture so sweet, because it means he is there for me.

I am very sensitive, which leaves Moishy walking the tightrope between encouraging and

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offending me.

It’s hard for him to relate to my dieting and weight loss. Moishy is a walking metabolism.

He eats anything and everything and his weight never fluctuates.

Me, on the other hand.... I’m more like a walking elevator: My weight goes up, it goes down, I eat more, I eat less….

But, I think I’m ready to get off this “elevator.” I’m tired of fluctuating, and of being overweight. But most of all, I’m tired of trying to lose it. I am hoping this diet is my last. This time I’m making changes that will be permanent. I’m not committing to a diet like fluffy cotton candy. I need more resolve. Well, here’s my stop. I’d better get off.

Until next week, Basya

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WEEK SIX

Devoiry No Matter What Grey Sheet, the diet program I follow, mandates a monthly weigh-in, no more.

The reason behind this policy is that determining my value as a human being by the number on a scale is wrong. Weighing in every week can become discouraging and distracts from my main goal, which is conquering my compulsive overeating. So, from this week forward, Shloimy will be weighing me, and I will try not to look at the numbers. I hope it works. He will email my weight loss to Ami. In the interim, while you watch me lose weight, I will be busy healing myself from 42 years of emotional overeating.

I was really worried about this. I spoke to a few senior Grey Sheet members, and when one of them came up with this compromise, I realized that there is always a way to figure things out. I only need to have the desire to make it work.

A friend of mine called one night.

“Devoiry, I feel nauseous. I cheated on my diet, and I just feel like garbage.”

I commiserated with her. Then she asked, “What do you cheat on, when you feel the urge?”

It took me a few minutes. What do I cheat on? I don’t cheat. Period. End of sentence. When I finish my food, I am done for the day. During the conversation I realized she must have thought I

was getting all high and mighty on her. I wasn’t. It is just so ingrained in me that I eat three meals a day, which are planned and written down, and then called into my sponsor. I do not eat in between, no matter what. Some may call it brainwashing; that’s great! Please, Hashem, take the urges to compulsively overeat, and wash my brain completely clean from them!

I had incredible insight into the workings of my mind. I went to a chazanus concert. I came armed with sugarless gum and a water bottle. It was dark in the hall, and Chazzan Helfgot started to sing the song “Ah, Dudeleh,” about Hashem’s presence everywhere. It hit me hard. Hashem is not just on my shoulder guiding me, Hashem really is everywhere, in the food I eat, in the meal plans I write down, in my thoughts, in my speech. It was particularly touching, and I started to cry. And then it happened. I reached for the first thing I could put into my mouth. I grabbed four pieces of gum and shoveled them in. As I was chewing, I had an epiphany. This was an open case of emotional overeating. I never saw it so clearly before. It felt empowering to realize that I am getting to know my psyche.

The morning after the concert, I realized that Shloimy would not be home on Sunday morning when I needed to go to

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my weekly meeting. I tried to tell him that I had a problem, expecting him to be a man, take his toolbox out, and fix it. What he heard instead was, “Blah Blah Blah, I want you to feel bad that you have to work on Sunday. Blah blah blah.”

The words exchanged were not pretty.

I was really upset. It took me six hours to calm down. When I was talking to Shloimy later, we realized that in the past, when I was upset I would run to the closest bakery in search of my fix. Now I had a whole host of emotions to deal with, and I had to figure out how to work through my pain, not eat through it.

After I got my boys onto their school bus the next morning, I sat down for breakfast. As I said my brachos, I davened and told Hashem that if He thought I belonged at the meeting, He would figure it out for me. A few minutes later a thought popped into my head. My nephew, Yanky!

The kids love him, and he is on his own schedule. I called him, and sure enough he said, “No problem.” On Sunday morning he was in my house at 6:30 a.m.! I went to the meeting, and I am fired up for the next incredible week ahead! Thank You, Hashem!

Eat MorE WEIGH LEss!

Meet the Winemaker

By Victoria Dwek

Pierre Miodownick of Domaine Netofa, Galilee, Israel

 Latour Netofa

W

hat kind of grapes do you grow in your vineyards?

Syrah, Mourvèdre, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional, Grenache, Roussanne and Chenin.

Is the experience of making wine in Israel different than in Europe?

There is no difference. It doesn’t matter what cellar I am in.

That’s a big variety. I’ve never even heard of some of those grapes. Does your winery have a specific type of soil that’s suited to those grapes?

Our vines are growing in a terroir in the Lower Galilee. The soil there is typical to that in Mediterranean climates.

Do you taste the wine often?

I’ll taste whenever it’s needed, but the best moment of the day for tasting is late in the morning.

What’s the hardest part in the winemaking process?

The greatest challenge is picking the right moment when the grapes should be picked.

Have you made wines in other countries?

Of course, I’m French. I began my career as a teenager in 1982 when I produced my first vintage. Since then, I’ve vinified [converted grapes into wine] in some of the greatest cellars in Europe and learned from the greatest winemakers.

When I am not in Israel working as chief winemaker for Domaine Netofa, I supervise European production for Royal Wines in France, Spain, and Portugal.

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Does your family get involved?

My children grew up between the bottles. My whole family enjoys wines; they taste and comment.

What’s your idea of the perfect meal you like to enjoy with a glass of wine?

When I’m having grilled fish, I like to open the white wine, Latour Netofa. The Domaine Netofa Rose is perfect with all the Mediteranean food that we enjoy. I also love a red with a good cut of lamb. |

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Pair it wit h lamb shanks  Domaine Netofa Red

Pair it wit h grilled meat , dar k meat chicken, and cheeses  Domaine Netofa Rose

Pair it wit h lads, appetizers, sa grilled t una, salmon, and veal

THE AFIKOMICS

OF 2013

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