Whether you’re hosting a meal this year, attending services, or kibitzing with loved ones over how best to keep those apple slices looking fresh for guests, we hope you’re ushering in the new year with sweetness and perseverance. As JBCers, we always bring reading suggestions (asked or unasked for) to the High Holiday festivities we attend. So this year we’re putting together a Rosh Hashanah tasting menu that we hope can add flavor, spice, and something for everyone to chew on this holiday season.
And if you’re looking for recipes, we invite you to sample our reading list on cookbooks!
We’d love to hear about your own Rosh Hashanah meal in books! Send us a note at: info@jewishbooks.org
We sourced some of the recipes from JIMENA, you can learn more about the incredible work they do here.
Amuse-bouche
First things first: Your Presence Is Mandatory by Sasha Vasilyuk, because how will you enjoy the meal if you don’t show up?
Now, let’s lay some ground rules before we even sit down to eat! Explore S. Bear Bergman and Saul Freedman-Lawson’s graphic narrative on “How to Have a Disagreement Without Having a Fight,” excerpted from the sixth issue of Paper Brigade.
Appetizers
Apples and Honey
Apples, Apples, All Year Round: A Celebration of Jewish Holidays by Barbara Bietz and June Sobel, illustrated by Ruth Waters
Pomegranate
Pomegranate Seeds: Latin American Jewish Tales by Nadia Grosser Nagarajan
Yemenite Soup (Beef and White Bean Stew)
Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari
Pickles
How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish by Ilan Stavans and Josh Lambert
Sampler Tray
Paper Brigade, Volume Eight
Main Courses
Brisket
Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance by Jeremy Eichler
Moroccan-style Lamb Shanks
Mazaltob by Blanche Bendahan, translated by Yaëlle Azagury and Frances Malino
Sephardic Fish in Tomato Sauce
Kantika by Elizabeth Graver
Noodle Kugel
The Little Liar by Mitch Albom
Desserts
Honey Cake
Sadie on a Plate by Amanda Elliot
Apple Tarts with Goat Cheese and Honey
The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World by Sharon Brous
Malida
On a Chariot of Fire: The Story of India’s Bene Israel by Erica Lyons, illustrated by Siona Benjamin
Halva
On Her Own by Lihi Lipid