Kosher cooking can be gourmet, delicious and fun, according to Chef Jeffrey Kollinger, the driving force behind Spice of Life Catering in Dallas. A celebrated chef and CEO with more than three decades of experience, Kollinger is a renowned kosher caterer and an active part of his Jewish community.
“About 12 or 13 years ago, I took over my first synagogue contract and that was Shearith Israel,” Kollinger, who is third generation Dallas, told the Journal.
Kolinger explained that he was a bar mitzvah there in 1976, his wife had her bat mitzvah there in 1983 and their sons were bar mitzvahed in 2016 and 2019.
“We all stood in the same synagogue,” he said. “I came full circle.”
Kollinger loves cooking for life-cycle events, even though it is just part of his business.
“With life cycle events, you have an opportunity to meet so many people and you go through generations,” Kollinger said.
For instance, he’s catered several community members’ bris or bar mitzvah, then their wedding and their kids’ brises.
“I also like to create from the production side of food: different foods for all types of different people, creating menus … built around the client and their love of food,” he said. “I’m humbled and grateful that I always seem to find something to do or some party to throw.”
Both of Kolllinger’s parents were gourmet chefs; they hosted lavish dinner parties and incredible Shabbat meals.
“They had this huge Louis the XIV table in our dining room that sat 20, and they would have 8, 10, 12 course meals,” he said. “Out of all of that, I just found a love of food.”
After going to school for management marketing, Kollinger said he landed a great job with a wonderful company, and has since excelled in the food industry.
“I’m lucky that I love what I do,” he said. “I really enjoy the food business, the restaurant industry, the hospitality, the production, the design … it’s my passion.”
Whereas kosher Jewish food sometimes gets a bad rap–you can’t mix milk with meat, you need separate kitchens, you can only eat fish with scales–Kollinger believes kosher can be gourmet.
“We have turned kosher upside down [and] spun it around,” he said.
To uplevel your kosher cooking, Chef Kollinger said to stop thinking of it as kosher. It’s just regular food.
“There’s so many distinctive flavors now that you could use that probably weren’t available 10, 12 years ago,” he said “There’s truffle oils, there’s all kinds of different spices.”
All you have to do is change up the recipes a bit to make them work.
“An aioli, a demi [glace] or a sauce [made] from a rich stock can be done in the kosher world because you can [use] them in both dairy and meat,” he said. “Get a good kosher wine – a nice cabernet – reduce the cab, put in some wonderful shiitakes [and] caramelized onion and [you have] a wild mushroom caramelized onion demi.”
You can put a fancy sauce on pretty much anything. For instance, you can do fish with a beurre blanc and fancy vegetables. Chef Kollinger’s recipe for Chilean sea bass is below.
“I think a lot of people [let] the heckscher (kosher certification) throw them off,” he said. “What you need to do is seek out ingredients that match or come close to what you’re trying to [create] and play around with the dish.”
Learn more at TheSpiceofLifeCatering.com.
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
Macadamia Nut Crusted Chilean Sea Bass, Basmati “Confetti,” Cippolini Onions and Carrots and Lemon Beurre Blanc
For the Confetti Basmati:
3/4 cup (100 grams) carrot, small dice
3/4 cup (100 grams) yellow onion, small dice
3/4 cup (100 grams) celery, small dice
1/2 cup (100 grams) butter
4 2/3 cups (80 grams) basmati rice, cooked
Combine carrots, onion, celery and butter in a small sauté pan. Sweat over medium-low heat until tender and translucent, around 15 minutes.
Combine the vegetables and rice in a large bowl and mix until homogeneous. This can be done in advance and reheated, covered.
For the Cippolini Onions:
40 medium cippolini onions
Salt to taste
Olive oil to taste
Combine and mix to evenly coat. Roast at 350 F, high fan, until caramelized and cooked. Reserve.
For the Carrots:
20 peeled baby carrots, halved
Parsley, Julienne, to taste
Salt to taste
Olive oil to taste
Combine everything and mix to evenly coat. Roast at 350 F, high fan until caramelized and cooked. Reserve.
For the Chive Oil:
2 cups (100 grams) chives, roughly chopped
1 cup (50 grams) Italian parsley leaves
1 3/4 cup (400 ml) canola oil
Combine and blend on high speed for 1 minute. In an oversized chinoise or colander, lined with a coffee filter, add chive oil and allow to strain. This will take several hours. Once the solids are strained, decant off the oil, discarding the water that sinks to the bottom. Reserve.
For the Lemon Beurre Blanc:
3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) shallots, brunoise
2 garlic cloves, chopped
~ 3 tablespoons (40 grams) butter
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
Sauté in a small saucepan until lightly caramelized.
Add:
10 tarragon stem and leaves
2 lemons, zest only with a peeler (save the lemons)
Stir to combine and become fragrant.
Deglaze with:
1 cup (250 ml) white wine
2 lemons, juice only
Reduce by half over medium heat. Remove and add piece by piece:
1 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon (400 grams) cold butter, diced small
Continue whisking to emulsify. Adjust seasoning. Strain through a fine chinoise and reserve in a warm place until service.
For the Crispy Leeks:
2 leeks, bottoms only
Cut leek bottoms into 3” long pieces. Cut each in half and julienne, taking a few layers at a time to ensure they’re all consistent. Hold in an ice bath. Drain and dry before frying.
Fill a large pot halfway with neutral oil, and bring to 275F over medium heat. Add the leeks in several batches to prevent overflowing. Continually stir as they cook and become golden brown and crisp, around 5 minutes. Remove, drain excess oil, and season lightly. Reserve.
For the Sea Bass
10 Chilean Sea Bass, ~ 5 ounce (150-gram) portions
Garlic Aioli (recipe below)
Macadamia Nut Crust (recipe below)
Seared sea bass on one side; then cool.
Spread the aioli evenly on the seared portion of fish. Evenly coat the aioli with the macadamia nut crust, knocking off any excess.
Heat the sea bass in a 375°F oven until the crust is golden and the fish is heated through, about 5-7 minutes.
Garlic Aioli:
2 egg yolks
1 garlic clove, microplaned
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
Pinch of fine sea salt
~ 4/5 cup (200 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Add yolks, garlic, lemon juice and sea salt to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Continue whisking while slowly streaming in olive oil. If the emulsion becomes too thick you can add a few drops of boiling water while whisking.
Macadamia Crust:
7 ounces (200 grams) macadamia nuts, toasted and cooled
3/4 cup (150 grams) panko
1/4 cup (60 grams) butter, melted
1/2 tsp (2 grams) salt
Combine everything in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse gently until the mix looks like wet gravel.
To Serve:
Serve each portion of sea bass on a bed of Confetti Basmati, arranging the roasted carrots and Cipollini onions around the rice. Drizzle the chive oil and lemon beurre blanc over and around the dish for added flavor. Finish with a sprinkle of crispy leeks on top for crunch and garnish with a few fresh herbs.
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.