By Joan Nathan, The New York Times
In 1980, my husband Allan and I hosted our first Passover Seder at our home.
There were about eight of us: my husband’s Uncle Henik, who had numbers from Auschwitz on his arm; my Polish in-laws who’d had to flee to the Soviet Union; a few friends; and my daughter, still a toddler, racing around making us all laugh.
We sipped wine from the silver bar mitzvah cup my father had brought from Bavaria, but the rest of the tradition came mostly from my husband’s family. In my more assimilated German family, we would have started the Seder with Manischewitz gefilte fish cut into small pieces with toothpicks and herring in cream sauce. But at this first Seder, where I learned how traditions are adapted, how each family creates their own, and the compromises of marriage, it was my husband’s Polish Jewish traditions: a platter of gefilte fish with carrots in the eyes, sweet Manischewitz.
At Passover, the Seder table becomes an altar. Each family’s voyage personalizes the holiday, bringing with it customs and culinary adaptations of recipes. As our world gets more fluid, tradition differentiates each of us, in a good way, from everyone else. And yet, sometimes traditions need freshening up.
Once a spring festival of rebirth in the desert, Passover goes back thousands of years and has always been a ganze production, a big deal, as my mother used to say. The original menu, as outlined in the Book of Exodus, consisted of maror, which we know as arugula and later came to represent the bitterness of enslavement; unleavened bread (matzo), round and baked in an open fire; and a whole lamb roasted before dawn. That’s it. No haroseth, no gefilte fish, no chicken soup, no matzo brittle.
These days, in addition to the bitter herbs, parsley or karpas, symbolizing the fruit of the earth that awakens in spring, are now dipped in saltwater to remind us of the tears of enslavement. A hard-boiled egg, burned in the oven or with a match, represents birth and rebirth. A roasted lamb or beef shank bone, chicken leg or broiled beet (for vegetarians) illustrates the festival sacrifice.
And, of course, also at the table there’s often that traditional gefilte fish, though the approach has changed over the decades. Still, I feel there is something even mystical about making it.
Take my mother-in-law’s method. She taught me to mold ground pieces of pike, carp and whitefish into oval gefilte fish just as she had in Poland before World War II. She insisted on cooking the fish dumplings for 2 1/2 hours. Early on, I reduced the time to just 20 minutes. After all, cooked is cooked.
I still make my version each Passover with friends during what we call a “gefilte fish in,” lugging pots, ground fish, ingredients and recipes to make the fish balls. But today, this Eastern European favorite has fewer and fewer takers, so I sometimes replace it with a salmon or halibut terrine, or a simple yet tasty smoked whitefish salad — served with matzo, rather than bagels — for one of the appetizing courses.
For years, our Seder ended with my father’s favorite chremslach, a matzo fritter with which he had grown up in Germany; as well as a kiss, also called a Schaum torte, essentially a large meringue with strawberries, an emblem of spring piled on top. Recipes for the torte, carefully handwritten in German, go back generations in my father’s family. My mother learned to make it from the German-Jewish-inspired “Settlement Cookbook.”
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Tradition though it was, I always found the torte too sweet, so while visiting my son’s new in-laws in Denmark, I was so pleased when Eva, David’s future mother-in-law, served a similar meringue. Hers, called Eva’s cake, was filled with bitter chocolate and roasted hazelnuts to cut the sweetness. Now that torte, in a Danish family for generations, is part of our family’s Seder.
In my decades as a food writer, I have been fortunate to host many different and special Seders. At one particularly memorable Seder, about 10 years ago, more than 40 people gathered and, after dessert, we watched the children in the annual Passover play, a family tradition started decades ago. When it was over, there was a stunning silence, and I sensed that no one wanted this evening to end. It wasn’t just a dinner party. It was a sacred space.
Recipe: Brisket
Brisket. Wine, onion, carrots and herbs infuse this brisket with flavor. Food styled by Samantha Seneviratne. (Kelly Marshall, The New York Times)
By Joan Nathan
For Jewish holidays, especially Passover, when there is a big crowd for dinner, I always make brisket. This recipe was carried down in my mother’s family, but updated a bit by me in my new cookbook “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). The secrets to a good brisket are simple: Slowly braise it in ample liquid, and add lots of onions for flavor. The brisket can be eaten straight from the oven, as soon as it’s cooked, but is best prepared in advance to let the flavors blend together. Refrigerating overnight makes it easy to skim and discard the fat that accumulates on the surface of the gravy. You can strain the sauce if you like, but do keep the onions and carrots. Serve this with matzo farfel, egg noodles, potato latkes or kasha varnishkes.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Total time: 12 1/4 hours
Ingredients
5 pounds beef brisket
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 medium yellow onions, cut into chunks
1 (15-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes
2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1 fresh thyme sprig
1 fresh rosemary sprig
2 cups dry red wine
6 to 8 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Preparation
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a 9-by-13-inch Pyrex baking dish, rub the brisket with the garlic (you can leave the garlic in the dish), then sprinkle it all over with 2 teaspoons salt and about 1 teaspoon pepper. Lay the brisket fat side up. Top this with even layers of the onions, tomatoes, celery, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Pour the red wine on top, then cover with aluminum foil and seal tightly.
3. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes or so with the pan juices.
4. Add the carrots and half the parsley, and bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes more, or until the carrots are cooked and the beef is tender. To test for doneness: Stick a fork in the flat (thinner or leaner) end of the brisket. When there is a light pull on the fork as it is removed from the meat, it is fork-tender.
5. Bring the meat to room temperature in the sauce, then remove it to a cutting board and trim all visible fat from the brisket. Look for the grain — the muscle lines of the brisket — and, with a sharp knife, cut slices across the grain about 1/4-inch thick.
6. Return the sliced brisket to the baking dish with the sauce, nestling the meat into the liquid, and refrigerate overnight or freeze. When you’re ready to serve, reheat it, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.
7. If the gravy needs reducing, put the meat on a serving platter, strain the liquid into a saucepan and reduce the gravy over medium heat until it has the desired consistency; season to taste. Pour some over the meat, and put the rest in a gravy boat. Cover the meat with the carrots (and onions, if desired) and the remaining parsley, and serve.
Recipe: Whitefish Salad
Whitefish salad. Joan Nathan, a doyenne of Jewish American cuisine, has long treasured Passover and witnessed its evolution through food. Food styled by Samantha Seneviratne. (Kelly Marshall, The New York Times)
By Joan Nathan
Whitefish salads are most often drenched in mayonnaise, masking the distinctive smoky, salty flavor of the fish and covering up the crispy celery and onion. In this lighter, fresher salad, included in my new cookbook, “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024), the celery adds a tiny bit of texture while the herbs complement without overpowering. A minimal amount of mayonnaise adds silkiness as freshly squeezed lemon juice brightens, letting the fish dominate. The only tricky part is to make sure you remove all the bones. Serve this whitefish salad as a dip; a spread for matzo, bread or bagels; or as a topping on leafy greens, cucumber rounds or endive spears.
Yield: About 2 1/4 cups
Total time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 (packed) cups flaked smoked whitefish (about 12 ounces)
1/2 small white onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
2 fresh dill sprigs, minced
1 lemon, juiced, or more to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
1. Put 1 1/2 cups of the whitefish into a medium bowl. Finely mince the remaining 1/2 cup, then gently stir it into the flaked fish.
2. Add the onion, celery, dill, lemon juice and mayonnaise and stir to combine. Taste it, and adjust as you like, with more lemon or mayonnaise. (The lemon really makes this whitefish salad shine.) Season to taste with pepper. Whitefish salad keeps, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.
Recipe: Chocolate-Hazelnut Schaum Torte
Chocolate-hazelnut Schaum torte. This torte is run through with bitter chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. Food styled by Samantha Seneviratne. (Kelly Marshall, The New York Times)
By Joan Nathan
Ever since I can remember, my mother made a meringue topped with strawberries for Passover dessert, though it always seemed too sweet to me. When visiting my son’s in-laws in Copenhagen, I was so pleased to be served nearly the same meringue as my childhood, but this time studded with roasted hazelnuts and chunks of bittersweet chocolate, cutting its sweetness. Now my family’s Passover tradition continues in this updated recipe adapted from my new cookbook, “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). It works well throughout the year, especially for gluten-free guests (see Tip if you will be cooking it in a humid environment). You can even make this dish dairy-free by using coconut cream in place of the heavy cream. Excellent for any celebration, this dessert feels quite fancy but involves little effort.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Total time: About 2 3/4 hours
Ingredients
1 cup/135 grams hazelnuts
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup/100 grams granulated sugar
6 ounces dark 70% chocolate, cut into bite-size pieces (about 1 heaping cup)
1 cup/240 milliliters heavy cream or coconut cream
1 to 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced, for garnish
Cocoa powder (optional), for dusting
Preparation
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment.
2. Set the hazelnuts on a large baking sheet and bake, shaking the pan every 5 minutes, until nuts are toasted and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Once the hazelnuts have toasted, immediately transfer them to a kitchen towel and wrap them up tightly. Let sit, 2 minutes, then rub the hazelnuts in the towel between your palms to release their skins. Pluck out the toasted hazelnuts, transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop them. Let cool.
3. Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer at medium speed just until soft, satiny peaks start to form, about 2 minutes. Next, slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is shiny, with stiff peaks, another 2 to 3 minutes. (It is ready when you can turn the bowl upside down without having the egg whites fall.) Carefully fold the cooled nuts and chocolate into the meringue using a flexible spatula, then spoon it onto the lined sheet pan in a large, rustic circle that is about 9 inches wide.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, then lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 50 more minutes. Avoiding the urge to open the oven, turn the oven off and let the meringue cool in the oven, at least 1 hour.
5. Carefully move the meringue onto a serving plate. Just before serving, whip the cream and spoon it over the meringue. Top with sliced strawberries, dust with cocoa powder (if using) and serve.
Tip
If you live in a humid environment, your meringue is more likely to weep. To avoid this, stir 1 teaspoon potato starch or cornstarch into the sugar before slowly adding it to the egg whites.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.