Recently my 3-year-old granddaughter played with a music box she had received from her parents at Chanukah.
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“What is Chanukah?” I asked her.
Arriving at the crowded restaurant Itzik Hagadol Grill in Encino is like entering the hustle and bustle of Israel. Large groups of happy, noisy people talk at once while consuming platters of wonderful salad dishes and grilled meats that overflow tables.
Some of Jewish Journal Writers’ Favorite Recipes
Food plays an important role during Passover — from the six symbolic items on the seder plate to those foods avoided during the eight-day holiday, like chametz (leavened grains) and kitniyot (legumes). But the dinner that follows the seder on the first two nights, when family and friends gather to retell the story of the Jews’ exodus from slavery to freedom, can leave a host slaving away in the kitchen.
As Alicia Silverstone stands at the counter of the vegan Cafe Flourish in Los Angeles, she’s not immediately recognizable as the vixen in Aerosmith music videos or the girl who played the iconic Beverly Hills princess, Cher, in the movie “Clueless” (1995). On this day, her blonde hair is in a makeshift bun; her scruffy black jacket and pants hiding her lean frame in a manner her “Clueless” character might have dubbed “ensemble-y challenged.”
What does the chef of Oxnard’s Tierra Sur cook for Rosh Hashanah? Since his kosher restaurant — located at Herzog Wine Cellars — is closed during the holiday, Todd Aarons has the opportunity to create a family meal at home.
Around Rosh Hashanah, when the weather is often still hot, many of us prefer our menu to be a bit lighter and easier than the traditional holiday fare. To make it lighter, I like to include plenty of produce, serve chicken as a main course and bake a cake with oil, not margarine. To simplify preparation and serving, I choose dishes that can be prepared in advance and reheated.
Among the many Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is probably second only to Passover as a time when Jews most embrace the cliché “you are what you eat.” The emphasis on the symbolism of specific foods on this holiday is well-known: honey represents our hopes for a sweet year ahead, a round challah for a perfect year, a fish head represents the rosh, or head, of the year, and a pomegranate celebrates the new harvest. I’ve recently begun thinking about extending this concept to the design of the whole Rosh Hashanah menu.
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