JANUARY 5 • 2023 | 37
notice that very day, in 1971
or 1972.”
Until very recently, the only
trace of the business was a
barely recognizable painted
Kaplan Brothers sign above
the old building.
The Kaplan brothers, now
deceased, are survived by
their sister, Eileen Letvin of
West Bloomfield.
WEEKLY ADS IN THE JN
Richard was aware that his
father had advertised the
butcher shop by placing
a series of “Kaplan Bros.
Recipe of the Week” ads
in the Detroit Jewish News.
Recipes contained ingredi-
ents sold in the store.
Last year, while research-
ing online, Richard found
a link to the ads among
the newspaper holdings at
Bentley Historical Library
in Ann Arbor. Additionally,
back copies of the Jewish
News may be searched online
for free in the William
Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History, main-
tained by the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation, at www.
djnfoundation.org.
Intrigued by the recipes,
Richard posted a few on tar-
geted Facebook pages, such
as “Jewish Detroit.” Readers
wrote positive comments: “I
used to make these recipes
but lost them.” And, “My
mother made these, and
I’m glad to see them again.”
Other people told Kaplan
they remembered his dad.
Richard was sufficiently
encouraged to compile a
cookbook of the ads from
1959 and early 1960, along-
side the recipes printed for
greater readability.
Seymour’s recipes list-
ed some products seldom
used today, such as oleo.
“Someone 30 years old would
not remember it,” Richard
continued on page XX
A recipe for Sukiyaki
said, also noting that his
parents referred to margarine
as “Mar-Parv” — the brand
name of a kosher margarine
used at one time that had no
dairy. “Beef suet, a type of
shortening, is another ingre-
dient that is not well known
or used anymore,” he said.
Retyping the recipes,
Richard added commentary
about ingredients that might
not be recognized and help-
fully offered substitutions.
For example, he suggested
olive oil, regular margarine
or butter (not kosher) could
be used instead of Mar-
Parv in Seymour’s Stuffed
Cabbage Leaves and Chicken
Cacciatore and Noodles.
“They’re all interesting,
old-style cooking recipes,
like Chop Suey,” Kaplan said.
“My mom made some and
said they were very good.”
He enjoyed finding the
recipe for a warm borscht,
less familiar to him than the
cold variety.
“Another recipe I’ve been
dying to try is the Barbecue
Spareribs, using lamb ribs.
I recently found a butcher
in Vermont that can cut the
meat that way,” he said.
“I figured there would be
an audience to buy the book,
and I’ve sold more copies [50
and counting] than I thought
I would.”
Getting to Know
Richard Kaplan
• Graduate of University of Michigan (BGS —
Bachelor of General Studies), Cleveland State
University (JD) and University of Miami (LLM-
Tax).
• Moved to Hallandale, Florida,
after finishing law school in 1980.
• Married 33 years to the for-
mer Lynn Kressman with a son
Andrew, 31, of Denver.
• Mayor of Lauderhill, Fla., for 21 years, and
commissioner for the prior 10 years.
• Helped build the first officially accredited
cricket stadium in North America.
• Member of the Cricket Hall of Fame in
Hartfield, Connecticut.
• Author of a political memoir (In Politics There
are No Friends); a historical fiction book
based on Joseph Ross, his maternal grand-
father (The Russian Escape); and a history of
cricket in the U.S. (Cricket, Lovely Cricket).
The Kaplan Bros. Kosher
Meat Market Cookbook
by Seymour Kaplan
($7.99 in paperback, also
on Kindle) is available at
Amazon.com.