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.