FOOD
Basic Beef Brisket
Celebrate with Sides These dishes will add Sephardic flare to your seder table.
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or Passover, I prefer the gastronomic “middle ground” which means you make your usual entrees — simple and delicious — and elaborate on the side dishes. But in truth, foods do not have to be “traditional” to any holiday for inclusion. Salad for example, is an American addition that has nothing to do with, well, anything. Still, we like to serve greens in one form or another. They make us feel lightAnnabel er and healthier. And Cohen there’s no reason it can’t Contributing writer be included as part of the main meal, along with a vegetable or served as a bed for gefilte fish. Some foods are almost always reserved for the week of Pesach and special holidays. Matzah brie is one that quickly comes to mind. While some of us may eat matzah from time to time
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during the year (even buying it when it’s not “the season”), most people just don’t think of it as a year-round food. For that reason, we tend not to prepare matzah brie many other times of the year. The most adventurous will risk it all by serving new foods at the first seder. Most American-style Jewish foods are Ashkenazi, or of Eastern European origin. Sephardim, the other major classification of Jews, have their roots in Southern Europe and the Middle East. Most Israeli Jews, no matter where they came from, enjoy mostly Sephardic foods, with Middle Eastern influences. Why, then, do Americans choose to prepare the more Ashkenazi-inspired holiday foods? Perhaps because serving Israeli or Sephardic foods during Passover just doesn’t feel right or special to some who wait all year for gefilte fish and matzah brie. The greatest Passover food disparity has
to do with kitniyot (legumes or grains). While Ashkenazim permit no kitniyot, other than those used in matzah during Passover, many Sephardim allow the use of fresh legumes and rice. The main reasoning is that “in the past” for Jews living in the countries of the Sephardic diaspora, legumes and rice were the major sources of nourishment. The following recipes are Sephardic in origin, using the flavors and ingredients inherent to the Sephardic diaspora, but contain no kitniyot for our American sensibilities. Try adding a few of these recipes for your seders or during the week of Passover. GOOD BASIC BEEF BRISKET Some people trim the fat from the brisket before they cook it, others do so afterwards. It’s a matter of preference but trimming first is easier and makes for a leaner sauce, right off the bat.
