Theme of Jewish holiday meal is sweetness

GALVESTON — It’s often said that “you are what you eat,” and when observers gather tonight to begin celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, sweet flavors turn up throughout the meal as a symbol of life’s sweetness.

Many local cooks have time-tested recipes for their holiday meals, including Galvestonian Arlene Levine, who makes many of the Rosh Hashana favorites just the way she learned them from her mother, while growing up in Chicago.

“The only thing I use recipes for at the holidays is baking,” Levine said. “I’ve been cooking these meals for 46 years, so even though I’ve collected a lot of cookbooks, I don’t need them for the holidays.”

The dishes she has prepared bring back good memories for Levine and her husband, Dr. Michael Levine.

“Arlene’s mother was a terrific cook, and when we were dating, I’d go over to their house on Friday nights for dinner,” Michael Levine said. “I remember a lot of this food from then, so the recipes have definitely been around for quite a while.”

Rosh Hashana begins at sundown tonight and marks the beginning of the year 5771 on the Jewish calendar.

“The theme of the food at Rosh Hashana is sweetness,” Michael Levine said. “Eating the sweet foods is meant to bring a sweet year.” One of the traditions of the holiday stemming from that is to eat apple slices dipped in honey.

Other traditional Rosh Hashana foods have symbolism as well.

“During the rest of the year, challah bread is made in a straight, braided loaf, but for the New Year, it’s circular, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life,” Arlene Levine said. “For Rosh Hashana, it also has raisins in it for sweetness.”

Arlene Levine perfected the art of making challah with the guidance of another Galveston cook from Temple B’Nai Israel, Betty Shapiro, who now lives in Dickinson.

“She was the most fabulous cook, and she taught a lot of the women in the Jewish community some of the traditional specialties,” she said.

Fortunately, busy cooks are able to get a little help in putting together a Rosh Hashana dinner. Sunflower Bakery makes both the special round Rosh Hashana loaves of raisin-studded challah bread and several varieties every Friday.

“When we opened in 1999, we worked with Rabbi Jimmy Kessler to make sure we did challah the right way,” Sunflower Bakery owner Harry Blair said. “He gave us a few pointers, and we have a pretty steady following for it every Friday, either plain or with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, and I’ve taken quite a few special orders for the holiday.”

The Levine family’s Rosh Hashana dinner will include several other sweet dishes, including tzimmes, a mixture of carrots, sweet potatoes, dried fruit and honey.

“You can also add beef brisket or stew meat to tzimmes,” Arlene Levine said. “The longer you bake it, the meatier it tastes.”

The Levines will finish their holiday meal with honey cake made with applesauce and spices. After a meal laced with honey and sweet fruits, elaborate desserts aren’t really necessary. Instead, the focus after the meal is on the year ahead, with its challenges, times for reflection, and like the holiday dinner, sweet surprises throughout.

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Betty Shapiro’s Challah Recipe

3 tablespoons active yeast

3 cups tepid water

3 eggs, plus 1 to 2 eggs for painting the bread before baking

10 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup (or more) flour for shaping braids

Mix yeast and water. Set aside.

Beat three eggs in large bowl. Add sugar, oil and salt. Mix well.

Add yeast and water mixture after stirring until no lumps remain.

In three stages, add the bread flour. Mix dough well. Shape into large ball.

Cover dough with soft cloth. Let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It should double in size.

Divide dough into four parts. Divide each part into thirds.

Roll each piece to a rope, braid three pieces together and place on cookie sheets, two loaves per cookie sheet. Let rise again about 10 to 20 minutes.

With pastry brush, paint beaten egg on challah, covering every inch of the challah surface with egg.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake on middle shelf for 11 minutes.

Rotate sheet with bread 180 degrees as quickly as possible. Bake 11 minutes more.

Challah should be light golden on top.

Makes four large loaves.

— Recipe courtesy of Betty Shapiro

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Honey Cake

2 tablespoons instant coffee dissolved into 3/4 cup hot water

3 eggs

3 tablespoons oil

3/4 cup apple sauce

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces sliced almonds (optional)

Dissolve coffee into water. Cool.

Spray a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix eggs, oil, apple sauce, honey and brown sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt).

Alternating, add flour mixture and coffee to the egg mixture in the bowl. Mix lightly until just smooth.

Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

If adding almonds, sprinkle over cake after 15 minutes of baking.

— Recipe courtesy of Gloria Shimoni

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Tzimmes

9 medium carrots, (about 1 pound), peeled

4 sweet potatoes, (about 2 pounds)

1 cup bite-size pitted prunes, (about 6 ounces)

1 cup dried apricots, (about 5 ounces)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest, (from one orange)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut carrots into 2-inch pieces.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, and lower heat to medium; add sweet potatoes in their skins, and cook for 20 minutes, adding the carrots after 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Peel sweet potatoes, and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a large bowl along with carrots and remaining ingredients. Mix well, and transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.

Cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes, basting with pan juices after 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately.

Serves 10.

— Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart