A new way of eating old traditions

HILIT MILNER

While these two foods are found on every Rosh Hashanah table, there are so many other traditional foods, as ancient as the Talmud, that have been passed down from grandmothers to grandchildren.

Growing up, my mom always told stories of my savta (grandmother) and her culinary skills, describing all the dishes that came out of her tiny kitchen in Haderah, Israel. Often, while we prepared traditional dishes for the chag, my mom told me tales of how, when walking home from school on the morning before Rosh Hashanah, she would reach the corner on her street and catch wafts of boiling fish heads for gefilte fish, at which point she would turn around and run away. Needless to say, the gefilte fish recipe was not passed down to me.

Although we didn’t have gefilte fish, our table was always filled with an abundance of traditional foods like grilled fish, pomegranates, spinach, leeks, carrots, beets, fennel, dates and, of course, apples and honey. Little did I know that these tradition-rich foods are equally nutrition-rich, and how fascinating it is that these symbolic foods are paralleled with such wonderful health properties.

Apples, a fruit from the garden of Eden, represents the vulnerability yet hardiness of the Jewish people. Apples are a low GI fruit due to their high fibre content, which also promotes gut health. They contain the bioactive ingredient quercetin that helps to “switch on” antioxidant pathways in the body, and helps reduce the risk of chronic diseases and cancers while also promoting longevity. The apple skin also contains triterpenoid which has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardio-protective properties.

With the sweetness of a little drizzle of honey, we wish each other a sweet new year. Whether dipping apples into honey, using it as a sweetening agent for dressings, or making traditional spiced honey cakes, known as lekach, this flavour lingers on our palates throughout the festive season. Honey contains the bioactive ingredients flavonoids and polyphenols which help with antioxidation, and has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. One only needs a small amount – a drop of this golden liquid goes a long way.

I love cooking with pomegranates, the rimon. Pomegranates are one of the seven species of Israel, and are often used as the “new fruit” for shehechiyanu, the prayer of gratitude for being alive and celebrating new experiences. Their ruby kernels, symbolising the 613 mitzvot, are delicious when mixed into salads, sprinkled over grilled vegetables with a drizzle of tahina, or scattered over fish or meat. These crunchy pockets of juicy explosion contain two very nourishing compounds, namely punicalagin, a potent antioxidant, and punicic acid, a healthy fat extracted from the seed oil. With research showing the benefits of pomegranates in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions, it seems that they not only finish your meal off with tangy sweet pearls of colour, they also give you that added vitality boost.

A traditional Rosh Hashanah meal includes a variety of colourful wholesome vegetables. Carrots, from the Hebrew word gezer, meaning decree, symbolise our hope for good decrees for the new year. These root vegetables provide a good source of beta carotene, fibre, vitamin K, and potassium. Whether fresh in salads, blended into carrot turmeric soup, or roasted with pomegranate extract and sumac, carrots promote good vision, immune health, and help build new tissue in our bones, hair, and skin.

Another vegetable with an abundance of nutritional power is beetroot. With the Hebrew word selek, meaning remove, beetroots are included in the meal to remove all our enemies. Beetroots are a wonderous vegetable full of fibre, minerals, and antioxidant promoting compounds such as betalains. They help support the innate detoxification pathways in our liver, reducing inflammation. They also support our vascular and cardiac system as they are rich in nitric oxide, a natural substance which dilates our blood vessels increasing the oxygen flow around our body.

Although the traditional gefilte fish was not found on our Yom Tov table, we always still had some form of fish. Fish, which spawns in plenty, represents fertility, while the heads of the fish give us the strength to swim headfirst into the new year. Fish is a great source of lean protein, nourishing our bodies with B vitamins, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids (if using fatty fish such as salmon or trout). Omega-3s are potent anti-inflammatory agents, promoting vascular health, healthy cholesterol, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, and improving brain health.

This Rosh Hashanah, I encourage you to combine symbolism with creativity. Understand the bright new colours of nutritional power that shines through the deep colours of tradition. Move into your new year remembering and respecting the old that has been passed down while adding new flair and flavour for the future. Enjoy all the foods that nourish you and stand you in good stead for a healthy, happy new year.

Fresh apple, carrot, and fennel salad

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 green apple
• 3 medium carrots
• 2 fennel bulbs
• ¼ cup crushed roasted walnuts
• 1 bag watercress (40g)
• 2 tablespoons fennel fronds
• ½ lemon
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
• 1 handful fresh mint

Dressing

• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Salad

1.    De-core the apples, cut them in half, and slice them very thinly.

2.    Peel the carrots, and using a peeler or mandolin (on the thinnest setting) slice them thinly, lengthways.

3.    Using a mandolin, slice the fennel bulbs.

4.    Place all the slices into a large mixing bowl, and loosely mix the ingredients.

5.    On a serving dish, spread the watercress, placing the remaining sliced ingredients from the mixing bowl on top.

6.    Roughly chop the fennel fronds and mint, and scatter them, as well as the crushed roasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds over the salad.

7.    Just before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad, and add an extra squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top.

Dressing

1.    In a dressing jar, add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and Dijon mustard.

2.    Shake until the dressing is mixed well together.

3.    Pour over the salad just before serving.

Beetroot and mint crusted salmon

Ingredients

(Serves 8 to 9)

Fish

• 1kg fillet salmon/trout
• 8 medium beetroots
• 1 cup pistachios
• 1½ cloves of garlic
• 1½ lemons – juiced
• 1 lemon zest
• 1 medium box fresh mint (80g) (¾ for beetroot crust, ¼ for serving)
• Salt and pepper

Vegetable base

• 1 packet snap peas (200g)
• 3 small packets asparagus tips (300g)
• 1 packet tender stem broccoli (400g)
• 1 lemon – juiced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Fish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Halve and peel the beetroots, and parboil for 20 minutes (they will still be slightly hard).
3. In a food processor place the parboiled beetroot, pistachios, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, ¾ of the fresh mint, salt, and pepper. Blend the ingredients together until they roughly combine, leaving a slight texture to the beetroot-crust mixture.
4. On a roasting tray, place the salmon/trout, and cover it with the beetroot and mint crust mixture so that the fish is coated evenly and sealed.
5. Place the fish in the oven and roast for about 40 to 45 minutes. Turn the oven onto grill, and leave it for five minutes until the crust slightly crisps up.
6. Place the cooked fish on top of the vegetable base. Chop the remaining fresh mint and sprinkle over the fish just before serving.

Vegetable base:

1.    Place a wok on a medium heated stove top.

2.    Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil, snap peas, asparagus tips, and broccoli into the wok. Sauté for five minutes, squeeze the lemon juice over the vegetables, and sprinkle some salt.

3.    Once cooked, place the vegetables onto a serving dish to use as the base on which to place the fish.

Ricotta honey cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 2¼ cups almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup ricotta cheese (125g)
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons orange juice (¼ orange)
• 1 tablespoon orange zest (¼ orange)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping

• ¾ cup ricotta cheese (170g)
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon honey

Method

Cake

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2.    In a large mixing bowl, place all the dry ingredients, and mix them together.

3.    Add all the remaining ingredients into the bowl, and whisk them together with a spatula until they combine smoothly.

4.    Pour the cake batter into a lightly greased, rectangular cake tin, smoothing out the top using the back of a spatula.

5.    Place the cake into the oven to bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Use the “toothpick” test to see whether it’s cooked through.

6.    Once the cake has cooled a bit, top it off with ricotta cheese icing.

Topping

1.    In a small mixing bowl, place all the topping ingredients, and whisk them together until smooth and creamy.