CLOSE-UP
thinking kosher was the
best." He opened Quality
Kosher Catering in 1978
and also serves as caterer
for the Days Hotel and the
Yeshivah Gedolah.
Alan Linker has been in
the business for three
years. He works with his
father-in-law at Sperber
Kosher Catering, with of-
fices at Congregations
Beth Achim and Beth Ab-
raham Hillel Moses.
"The last few years have
seen dramatic, dramatic
changes in our menus,"
Mr. Linker says. He en-
courages his chef to spend
"half his time experimen-
ting"and works to please
everyone from the kishke
lover to the vegetarian.
"Redskin potatoes are
`in' now," he says. So is a
chocolate mousse roll-up.
"If they don't see that at
Beth Abraham for a Friday
night dinner, they go
crazy."
better, he says. Just different.
"There was a time when
everything (kosher cuisine)
was basically chicken fat,"
he says.
When Jews were poor,
they created kishke — for
years a veritable fixture at
kosher dinners — from the
simplest and cheapest of
ingredients: a little fat, a
little flour, some spices.
"Fifty years ago, the
typical meal might hate
included gefilte fish,
chicken soup, tzimmes,
brisket, kishke, farfel and
fruit compote," he says.
"And we served a lot of
chicken fricassee, which
used the neck, feet and
heart."
"We had to," he says of
the feet. "Nothing was
wasted. We were poor."
Today, Mr. Rosenberg
doesn't talk chicken feet.
He talks beef soup.
"Made some just the
other day," he says. "And
Alan Linker: "In this business, you can't stay complacent."
"I never knew kosher food could
For Pesach, Mr. Linker is
producing his first Sephar-
dic seder. He's ready for
the challenge.
"In this business," he
says, "you can't stay com-
placent."
K
osher and treife are
like chocolate and
vanilla, according to Albert
Rosenberg who, with his son,
Jeff, heads Farmington
Meadows Kosher Catering.
It's not a matter of one being
26
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1992
if I have to say so myself, it
is the best beef soup you
could possibly buy."
One key to the success of
kosher food lies in the chef,
the caterers agree.
Paul Kohn requires that
his chefs have formal train-
ing. His executive chef has
been with him for six
years, "and the one before
him only left because he
died — a very good reason
for not continuing to
work."
All great chefs — and
don't call them cooks, Mr.
Kohn cautions — "must
have a good palate and
stamina."
Most of the chefs working
in area kosher kitchens are
not Jewish. They have
trained in American
culinary schools and
abroad. Their staffs usual-
ly include a pastry chef and
sometimes a chef whose
specialty is simply salads,
fruits and relishes.
Phillip Tewel met his
chef in New York. A native
of Denmark, he spent years
in training before even be-
ing allowed to try his hand
in restaurants at home. -
Mr. Kohn just returned
with his staff from a trip to
the great restaurants of
Paris. Mr. Kohn insists he
was not at a disadvantage
just because he keeps
kosher and thus couldn't
sample any beef Well-
ington or fresh shrimp.
Like other kosher caterers,
he is content to study
menus and look at other
food.
ow that you have a
chef, add fresh ingre-
dients and all you need are
the recipes.
As if it weren't difficult
enough trying to come up
with tasty treats with no
pork. No shrimp. No aph-
rodisiac clams. No meat
mixed with milk. Those