Table Of ContentForeword by Nancy Ratzan, president, National Council of Jewish Women
A real-life approach to Jewish cooking
for today’s generation
j
Straight from the kitchen of a fun, fabulous Jewish mom and her daughter, E
Jewish Cooking Boot Camp is a guide to whipping up traditional favorites for a new generation.
W
Handed down over the decades, these recipes and tips will take even the most kitchen-challenged gal
(or guy) confi dently through the Jewish holidays and other important occasions (such as inviting a I
S
signifi cant other’s mother for dinner!). Setting out from basic training, it goes on to cover Shabbat,
Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and other holidays, and includes special chapters h
on take-along foods and comfort foods.
c
In addition to more than fi fty traditional (and nontraditional) recipes, Roz and Andrea provide expert
O
tips from Jewish bartenders, DJs, nutritionists, and party planners; interviews with rabbis about
O
creating modern family traditions; inspirational traditions from Jewish families around the globe;
and kosher wine pairings. Jewish Cooking Boot Camp takes every last ounce of intimidation k
out of Jewish cooking while serving up a hearty helping of family, culture,
I
Andrea Marks Carneiro is a and other fl avors to savor. N
freelance writer who has
g
contributed to Daily Candy, Among the 50+ easy-to-make recipes:
Modern Bride, and other
Onion Noodle Kugel | Edith’s Red Wine Brisket | Spinach Cheese Squares
national and regional media. b
Blintz Souffl é | Honey Cake | The Best Flourless Latkes You Have Ever Had
Roz Marks, a former school- O
Aunt Frieda’s Passover Nut Cake
teacher and real-estate
professional, studied Old O
ThreeForks®
World cooking and baking
Guilford, Connecticut t
under the tutelage of her www.GlobePequot.com
®
mother and grandmother, ThreeForks® is an imprint of
c
who both emigrated from The Globe Pequot Press
Russia. Roz and Andrea Printed in the United States of America A
both live in Miami,
Florida. Cover design and art M
by Georgiana Goodwin
US $19.95 / CAN $24.95
p
Andrea Marks Carneiro & Roz Marks
®
Guilford, Connecticut
Helena, montana
An imprint of
The Globe Pequot Press
Andrea Marks Carneiro & Roz Marks
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 1 6/9/09 10:00:31 AM
For our two edies
®
Copyright © 2009 by Andrea Marks Carneiro
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may
be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Globe Pequot
Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
Three Forks® is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.
Illustrations: © Georgiana Goodwin
Text design: Georgiana Goodwin
Project editors: Julie Marsh, Jennifer Taber
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN 978-0-7627-5088-7
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 2 6/16/09 1:40:50 PM
Contents
Foreword v
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction viii
The Basics 1
Shabbat 15
Rosh Hashanah 29
Yom Kippur 45
Break the Fast 57
Chanukah 69
Passover 95
A Few More Jewish Holidays 127
Take-Along Foods 135
Comfort Foods 153
Metric Conversion Tables 180
Index 181
About the Authors 190
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 3 6/9/09 10:00:34 AM
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 4 6/9/09 10:00:38 AM
foreword
L’or v d’or
One of the most vivid and cherished childhood memories I hold centers around our visits
with Grandma Rose in Rockaway Beach, New York. Several times a year my dad, mom, sis-
ter, and I would drive from our home in Bethesda, Maryland, to Grandma Rose and Grandpa
Lou’s place on Long Island. Their walkup was small and cluttered, but the central room for
me was the tiny kitchen. I will always remember the distinct smells, familiar tastes, gregari-
ous chatter, and simple joy of sitting, for hours it seemed, at their crowded kitchen table while
Grandma Rose showered us with an overabundance of delicious, homemade Jewish foods.
From her perspective, she could never make enough for us nor could we consume enough of
what she made. From my perspective, I felt her steady love and adoration for my dad, extended
now to his family, expressed through her caring preparation and presentation of Jewish foods
for us. As I look back, I think the consistency, generosity, and pleasure of her creating family
memories through food has deeply shaped me.
Today, I spend less and less time in my own kitchen as I work on issues of social justice
and gender equity that often take me far from home. Yet, I regularly return to my kitchen for
grounding. For it is at our kitchen and dining tables, often imbued with food prepared with my
Grandma Rose’s recipes (captured by the diligent measuring and surveillance of my Aunt Bea
who shadowed my grandma years ago), that I too seek to transmit the message of my relent-
less love for our growing family and my deep craving to nurture and gather my family to cre-
ate memories that will sustain us now and inspire the next generations.
Grandma Rose taught me how to actualize the fundamental Jewish value of l’or v d’or—
passing values, traditions, and dreams from generation to generation. I try to do it in many
ways, perhaps the most delicious of which is through food.
—nancy ratzan
Nancy is a lawyer and a social justice activist. She is currently the national president of the National Council
of Jewish Women and a national leader who works to ensure powerful grassroots engagement in progressive
social issues. Her husband, Kenneth, and their blended family of three daughters, three sons, two daughters-
in-law, and four grandchildren enjoy the gathering of family, always marked by wonderful food.
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 5 6/9/09 10:00:41 AM
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 6 6/9/09 10:00:45 AM
aCknowledgments
Thank you to all the friends and family who gave us support and encouragement as we
worked to make Jewish Cooking Boot Camp a reality.
To Ellen Cohen and Jill Kaplan, the original Boot Campers and unofficial Marks family
members. Their love of latkes sparked 200 pages.
To Adina Kahn for believing in our concept and to Jane Dystel for being our advocate
and adviser.
To our wonderful editor Heather Carriero for bringing our vision to life and to Julie
Marsh and the rest of the team at GPP for their hard work.
To everyone who donated their family recipes and traditions to make this book so
complete.
And most of all to David, Sarah, Jacob, Gil, Edie, and Allan for their love, their ideas,
and most of all . . . their appetites.
vii
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 7 6/9/09 10:00:45 AM
IntroductIon
The idea for Jewish Cooking Boot Camp started a long, long, long time ago. You see, when
you live in New York but your parents live in Miami . . . well, they end up with a lot of house-
guests. In my case those guests were a small group of my friends who spent every winter
holiday (and some others) flying down to bask in the sun and fun of Miami. We would take
over my parents’ house with our suitcases and winter coats, spend all night running around
South Beach, and finally end up gathered in the kitchen the next morning to share our sto-
ries from New York City with my parents as we picked over the seemingly unlimited food
my mom, Roz, would have waiting.
As the years passed I eventually left New York, but my friends kept up their commute
to Miami. We got new jobs and new apartments and new boyfriends, but our jet-set visits
never changed. The annual Marks family Chanukah party raged on, and Roz’s latkes con-
tinued their steady climb to legend status. One holiday, as we sat around the kitchen, my
friend Ellen suddenly had a realization. “What happens,” she asked, “when we all have our
own families and we have to start cooking for ourselves?” We were silent. And an idea was
born.
At first it was a joke. We envisioned a long weekend, a syllabus, a holiday-by-holiday
game plan designed to teach us everything from brisket to kasha and varnishkas, cabbage
soup to nut cake. We laughed and moved on. But soon I realized that a Jewish Cooking Boot
Camp was, in fact, an amazing idea. I thought of the millions of young people out there who
were looking for guidance but were too intimidated to pick up a traditional cookbook, or who
had grandmothers and mothers (like mine) who cooked without recipes, or who simply didn’t
have the time to learn in a traditional setting. I thought of my mom and how she defied the
stereotype of a traditional Jewish cook. She was young and cool and had a career. She could
just as easily navigate her way around a good Neiman’s sale as she could a noodle kugel. She
made Jewish cooking less intimidating.
The truth is this: It’s incredibly difficult to become a great chef, but it’s very simple to
cook dinner for your family. My mom always says that if you have good recipes, you’re two-
thirds of the way there. And that’s what we’re giving you.
viii
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 8 6/9/09 10:00:45 AM
introduction
What we have put together is a compilation of recipes gathered over centuries. From the
cardboard box stowed on top of my mom’s fridge, we have sifted through scraps of paper,
scribbled notes, and old e-mails and letters. Some of the recipes come from my aunt, grand-
mother, and great-grandmother; some come from great-aunts, cousins, and distant relatives;
some come from friends or friends-of-friends; and some . . . well, some we have no idea where
they came from. But they’re good.
This book isn’t about keeping kosher or following rules. The recipes we’ve included are
good old traditional holiday favorites that always seem to please. Each chapter provides a lit-
tle background (and a little fun) for those interested, as well as some inspiration in the form
of real-world traditions from families around the globe. We have also provided you (courtesy
of the wonderful Michael Bittel, owner of Sunset Corners Fine Wines & Spirits in Miami,
Florida) with wine suggestions for each holiday menu—a moderately priced red and white
(under $12) and a special-occasion red and white (up to $20). All of the wines are nationally
distributed and easily available at most liquor stores, wine shops, and in some cases, gro-
cery stores.
We hope the recipes inspire you to host your own family holidays . . . to pull out (or go buy)
a beautiful tablecloth and wine glasses and good china, and to light candles and sing songs
and serve up ridiculous amounts of food that no one could possibly ever finish. Because once
you do, we’re sure that those feelings of pride and love and excitement will fill you with so
much joy that your holidays will never be the same again.
—andrea marks carneiro
ix
JC_BOOTCAMP_fnl.indd 9 6/9/09 10:00:45 AM
