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oliday
Recipes

Good cooking is in the genes.

Pam Gordon and her mandelbread.

ANNABEL COHEN

Special to the Jewish News

A

s the Jewish new year approaches, it's logical
to think about our pasts. There are those
who are interested in knowing family history.
Then there are those who are passionate
about it. It's these few who actually take it to levels that
resemble scientific research. For them, genealogy is not
merely a mission, but a science.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan (JGS-
MI) was a separate part of the Michigan Jewish
Historical Society before becoming its own entity in the
early 1980s. Founding member and first president is
Betty Provizer Starkman of Bloomfield Hills.
The JGS uses the world, and especially the Jewish
Pale of Settlement (the territory for Jews that Czar
Elizabeth II established in 1791), as its hunting ground
for connecting to the past. "We're passionate about
finding out our own personal history," said Pam
Gordon, vice president of programming and a past pres-
ident of the society "We don't just look for names and
dates," she said, "We try to find personal stories."
Many of these personal stories relate to food.
"I grew up thinking that Jewish cooking was bagels
and Chinese food," Gordon said. "When I got into
genealogy, it suddenly became important to know about
Jewish traditions and Jewish food. It's really one very
accurate way to understand what your ancestors did,
what their lives were like."
Indeed, family recipes can track your ancestry geo-
graphically. The way holiday foods are prepared —
"sweet" gefilte fish versus not so sweet fish — or family
specialties made with phyllo dough and filled with dates
and raisins, place your family in different parts of
Europe and the Middle East.
"Recipes can lead you to what part of Poland and
Russia your family came from," Gordon said.
"Sometimes, it's your only clue."
We're a people who place considerable emphasis on
our food rituals and "food is so important to Jewish tra-
ditions," Gordon said. 'We're looking for traditions. It
makes us who we are."
The following recipes are family favorites from local
JGS members. They're traditional and perfect for the
approaching holidays.

HOFFMAN-JORDAN GEFILTE FISH
Leah Jordan Biseh recipe from her mother, Mary
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(Hoffman) Richman.
Bones from whitefish and pike (see amounts of fish
below)
1 celery heart or 4 celery ribs, plus celery leaves
6 medium onions, quartered (keep the skin)
Salt to taste
Ground white pepper, to taste
2 1/2 lb. whitefish fillets
1 1/2 lb. pickerel fillets
2 pieces pike (about 3 inch pieces), about 1/2 pound
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch circles
2 large eggs, plus 1 more egg if needed
1/4-1/2 cup matzah meal
Wash the bones and place in a large soup pot. Cover
bones with celery leaves andcelery. Add the onionskins.
Pour in about I' 112 inches of water — enough to cover
bones and celery. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat and
reduce heat immediately so that the water only sim-
mers.
Using a grinder or food processor with a metal blade,
grind or process the onion until finely chopped.
Transfer to a bowl.
Wash fish and drain on paper towels. Grind or
process the fish until finely chopped. Add the fish to the
onions. Grind or process the carrots-until finely
chopped. Add to the fish. Stir in the two eggs and 1/2
cup of matzah meal until the mixture has the consisten-
cy of raw meatloaf.
Add salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture feels dry,
add another egg. If it feels very wet, add more matzah .
meal. (At this point, you may want to microwave or
poach a small amount of the fish mixture, to taste, for
seasoning).
Wet hands with cold water and form about 1/2-cup
measures of the fish mixture into egg-shaped ovals.
Gently place the fish balls in the simmering pot of liq-
uid, on top of the celery leaves. Sprinkle carrots over
and gently shake the pot to settle the ingredients.
Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil again
over high heat, reduce the heat and simmer the fish for
1 1/2 hours.
Allow the fish to cool a bit in the liquid before
removing balls to a dish, topping with a little bit of liq-
uid and carrots and covering the dish with plastic wrap.
Chill until ready to serve, up to two days ahead.

Makes 12 or more servings.
Annabel's note: If you like your fish sweet, add a couple
of tablespoons of sugar to the water and a couple to the
fish mixture.

ROAST BRISKET OF BEEF WITH MUSHROOMS
Esther Allweiss Tschirhart, recipe from the Galilee
Chapter of 'Thai Brith Women's cookbook, "Galilee
Gourmet Book II."
3 1/2-4 pounds brisket of beef
1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper, or to taste
1/2 t. garlic powder, or to taste
2 flowers fresh dill (or 1/4 cup chopped fresh
dill)
1/3 cup dry red wine
Preheat oven to Broil. Line a large roasting pan
with heavy-duty aluminum foil, leaving about 4
inches of foil around the edges of the meat. Place
brisket on foil and broil about 5 minutes on each
side, until browned.
Remove from broiler (do not remove from foil)
and sprinkle with mushrooms, onions, salt and pep-
per. Add garlic powder and dill. Sprinkle wine over
all.
Reduce heat to 325F. Place another sheet of
heavy-duty aluminum foil, the same size as the one
used to line the pan, over the meat. Seal the package
with a double fold so that no cooking liquid or
steam can escape. Roast the meat at 325F. for 2 1/2
hours. Remove to a serving platter and serve the pan
gravy in a separate bowl.
Makes 6-8 servings.
Annabel note: To make this ahead of time, after
removing the pan from the oven, let cool slightly
before chilling until very cold. Remove meat from
the foil package and trim excess fat. Spoon off solid-
ified fat from the pan liquids, if desired.
Slice the meat to the thickness preferred and put
the brisket back into the foil package, or remove the
brisket to a clean baking dish, cover with liquids and
then cover the pan well with foil and chill.
To reheat, heat oven to 250F. and cook the meat
(covered) for 1 hour or more until very hot.

FOOD on page 104

8/23
2002

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