Kosher cookbooks have come a long way from your grandmother’s synagogue publication.
By AMY SPIROOpera Cake from ‘The New Passover Menu’(photo credit: MICHAEL BENNETT KRESS)
Kosher food has almost no boundaries anymore. (That is, if you discount the prohibition on pork products, shellfish and mixing meat and milk.) But aside from the basic laws of kashrut, the culinary world of kosher consumers is wider than ever. With more and more specialty ingredients available, kosher chefs, cooks and cookbooks are finding contemporary and creative ways to upgrade Jewish classics and also create new traditions.Think gefilte fish is boring? Paula Shoyer breaks it down and layers it with fresh salmon for an appealing – and kosher for Passover – loaf. Tired of the same old roast chicken? Jeff and Jodie Morgan will show you how to stuff it with apples and season it with rosemary.I’m not sure anyone doesn’t like rugelach, but the chefs from The Community Table update the classic with a festive pumpkin filling. And if you ever ate at Prime Bistro in Manhattan or at Red Heifer in Jerusalem – well then, Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek are happy to help you re-create that experience at home.While there are unlimited recipe websites and food blogs out there, the cookbook market is still strong, because nothing quite compares to holding a glossy, illustrated book in your hands; plus, it’s hard to get flour out of your laptop keyboard (I speak from experience).Whatever your culinary desire, the latest crop of cookbooks is here to help you achieve it.The New Passover MenuBy Paula Shoyer SterlingEpicure160 pages; $24.95 Paula Shoyer’s latest cookbook may come as a surprise to those following her career – after all, the French-trained pastry chef has written two cookbooks on kosher desserts. But now she turns to the rest of the menu, this time specifically for Passover: a holiday difficult to cook for, and even harder to be inspired by.Yet Shoyer has succeeded in that difficult task, with a slim volume filled with mostly innovative approaches to a tough culinary week, from coconut shnitzel with almond butter sauce to potato gnocchi with pink sauce and frittata with broccoli and leeks.Even on the traditional Seder dish of haroset, Shoyer has two unique variations: banana haroset and Middle Eastern haroset – featuring dates, figs and apricots.Last year, Shoyer told me, “Everywhere I go on my tour [for 2013’s The Kosher Holiday Baker], people will say, ‘We love your dessert recipes, do you cook, too?’” And since the mother of four has churned out many a Shabbat and holiday meal, she jumped at the chance to prove her cooking bona fides.I’m a firm believer that the best Passover dishes are those you’d make all year long, and clearly Shoyer agrees; to that end, many of the recipes are not that different from what you may find in a variety of kosher cookbooks, from Moroccan-spiced short ribs to chicken scallopini with mushrooms and garlic-marinated steak with onion jam. I did, however, particularly enjoy the creativity behind “Seder plate salad” – romaine lettuce topped with roasted lamb shoulder, celery, parsley, apples, walnuts and hard-boiled eggs.The dressing? It includes horseradish and wine, of course.Unsurprisingly, Shoyer shines in the most difficult category – desserts – with pear frangipane tart, orange tea-cake cupcakes and flourless chocolate cake with marshmallow icing, among others. Her detailed background on the holiday itself and the restrictions that come with it will be a big help to those new to Passover – or just to cooking for it.The Covenant KitchenBy Jeff and Jodie Morgan Schocken272 pages; $35The Covenant Kitchen is a book – and a life – born out of an off-the-wall dream that a completely secular Jew had to create “the greatest kosher wine in 5,000 years.” Along their journey, the Morgan family found a new connection to Judaism and religion, and a new appreciation for kosher cooking and the kosher lifestyle.The Northern California vintners are no strangers to cookbooks – together they’ve penned half a dozen already – but this is their first personal, and kosher, effort. Given their wine-making backgrounds, the book has a strong focus on wine pairings and the right wine for every occasion – but even a teetotaler can find much to appreciate in their fresh, simple approach to cooking.The pair note in the book’s introduction that their journey has also connected them with Israel; this is evident in their menus, from shakshuka to hummus and pita and chickpea salad. Their locale means they have fresh, seasonal produce readily available, and Israeli readers have a similar bounty. From lavender goat cheese tart to chicken stew with leeks, zucchini, root vegetables and Wehani rice; from spiced lamb tagine with currants and Israeli couscous to pistachio cardamom butter cookies, there is much to look forward to trying.The photos are attractive and inviting, though there are too many recipes that do not feature them. The book is laid out and organized logically, and the explanations of kashrut and the Jewish holidays are a welcome touch for a tome that will clearly appeal to non-kosher eaters more than most. While not every recipe is eye-opening, the bold and straightforward approach to flavors – from baked stuffed rainbow trout with garlic and tomato butter beans to eggplant, tomato and ricotta rigatoni – make this a must-have, particularly for those who enjoy a glass of wine with their meal.The Community TableFrom the JCC in Manhattan (Katja Goldman, Judy Berstein Bunzl and Lisa Rotmil)Grand Central Life & Style352 pages; $35For decades, kosher cooks prepared dishes from two sources: handwritten notes passed along from mothers, grandmothers and friends; and communal cookbooks – volumes produced by synagogues, women’s groups and Jewish community centers. In 2015, those black-and-white photocopies with no photos and a dozen untested recipes for kugel won’t cut it – but The Community Table is a new kind of local cookbook.Created by three cooks/chefs with links to the JCC in Manhattan – Katja Goldman, Judy Berstein Bunzl and Lisa Rotmil – it offers a wide variety of kosher and Jewish recipes with stories, anecdotes and photos from JCCs around the US, including spotlighting many of the good works the organizations take part in.Sure, there’s halla, whitefish salad, borscht and chicken soup, but there’s also updated classics like roasted tzimmes, pumpkin rugelach and salmon halibut gefilte fish with apple beet horseradish relish.Plus, you can’t miss fig and fennel bread; risotto with salmon, leeks and peas; farro with grilled onions and roasted tomatoes; and lime-olive oil cake with rhubarb compote.Most of the recipes have beautiful color photos, which makes it all the more unfortunate that a handful do not – and hard not to skip right over the unillustrated dishes.The book is a bit unwieldy; with close to 150 recipes and no clear voice, there are certainly dishes that are well-trodden ground. Does anyone need another recipe for chocolate cupcakes, mashed potatoes or roast chicken? If you can get through some of the chaff – including a three-ingredient recipe for roasted sweet potatoes with lime and cilantro – you’ll be rewarded with a rich array of farm-to-table dinner ideas.Secret Restaurant Recipes By Leah Schapira and Victoria DwekArtscroll288 pages; $29.99Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek, the foodie pair behind Artscroll’s “Made Easy” series of cookbooks, have teamed up again for their latest – and very different – offering. Secret Restaurant Recipes presents dishes from some of the world’s most famous kosher restaurants, alongside some well-kept secrets. The majority are (unsurprisingly) from the New York area, but also from across the US and even from Canada, the UK, Mexico, Panama, Italy and of course, Israel (though surprisingly, none are from France).Like their past publications, the book is wonderfully presented, with an easy-to-read layout, tons of tips and menu ideas sprinkled throughout, and stunning full-page photos of every dish. The execution is perfect, but it’s the concept that gives me pause.Years ago, I interviewed a professional chef turned restaurant critic and asked him: “Is there anything you can make in a restaurant that you can’t make at home?” His reply: “Yes, but why would you want to?” Eating at a restaurant is an exciting experience that doesn’t need to be replicated at home.Indeed, many of the recipes featured in the book are excessively time-consuming and feature dozens of ingredients; those that don’t are often uninteresting – a Caesar salad from a fancy restaurant is still a Caesar salad. And a 24-ingredient salad is not one I’m going to tackle.Still, a few of the simpler dishes caught my eye, like the eggplant chicken in garlic sauce from Segal’s in Arizona and the portobello mushroom soup from Java Cafe in Toronto – two among close to 70 recipes. What’s left? A beautiful gift for an obsessive foodie who likes to throw elaborate dinner parties that take days of preparation, or for a kosher world traveler looking for destination inspiration.After all, there are dozens of recipes in the book I’d like to try... to order off the menu.
