books

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

ROBERT REICHENFELD

amona Koval presents a smorgasbord of recipes and
personal anecdotes in the cookbook Jewish Cooking
Jewish Cooks (New Holland distributed by Sterling,
$19.95). Koval, an Australian broadcaster and colum-
nist, reminisces about her family's cooking traditions in Poland,
even though she was a 13-year-old when she last dined at her
OWIl mother's table because of the Holocaust.
From lakes to lox, borscht to blintzes and kugels to knishes,
the recipes are attributed to many cooks, accompanied by a story
capturing a slice of Jewish life. Mena Solomon's borscht recipe
warmed all her family homes
from Russia to China to Australia.
Dr. Norman Swan's cholent
recipe from his mother was a
childhood favorite in Glasgow.
He even describes how schmaltz
(chicken fat) was made in his
family. Many of the recipes
unlock the rich heritage of
Jewish life. Koval's book illus-
rEWISH COOKING
trates her maxim — "Food is
JEWISH COOK.S
important to Jews as a way of
expressing our ritual traditions."

,

R

Mirka N'Iora's Walnut Cake

Pastry
11 oz. plain flour
6 oz. white sugar
3 eggs

3 oz. butter
1/2 oz. vanilla
walnut oil

Mix the ingredients in a blender to form a pastry. You can add
extra flour if the mixture is too sticky. Roll it out into a rectangu-
lar shape on a pastry board until the pastry is 1 inch thick.

Walnut Filling
3 oz. butter
3 oz. brown sugar
1. lb. 2 oz. walnuts

1 small liqueur glass of rum
Additional
1 egg yolk
1 T. walnut oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F Melt the butter and the sugar
together in a saucepan until the mixture has the consistency of
caramel. When the mixture bubbles, add the walnuts, then the
rum and stir.
When thoroughly mixed, heap the walnut mixture in a row
down the center of the pastry and join the outer edges of the pas-
try together over the mixture making cigar shape. Brush the top
of the cake with a wash made from an egg yolk mixed with a
tablespoon of walnut oil. Lift the cake onto a flat baking sheet,
basted with walnut oil, and bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.

14 • JANUARY 2002 • STYLE :\TTHE iN

Winter Borscht

2 pints 14 oz. water
2 lbs. 4 oz. chuck steak diced
2 lamb shanks
2 lbs. 4 oz. beetroot peeled and
sliced
one-half small cabbage shredded
2 carrots
1 large onion

2 celery stalks
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper
1 potato
2-3 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper to taste.
juice of 1 lemon
1 t. sugar
oregano to taste

Bring water to boil, then add meat and shanks. Cook over a medi-
um heat and skim soup. Parboil sliced beetroot to soften. Grate all veg-
etables including the beetroot. Add garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice,
sugar and oregano. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours. Serve hot.