Jewish cuisine, from all points of the compass

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown Sept. 18, with a festive meal of traditional dishes.

One almost universally followed tradition dictates serving a round (not braided and oblong) challah made with raisins, and dipping a slice of apple in honey to symbolize hope that the coming year will be sweet.

But other traditional recipes and ingredients are largely dictated by the point of emigration for each family's ancestors.

Just as Jewish history is a story of expulsion and migration, Jewish cuisine incorporates ingredients, spices, and cooking styles from lands where Jewish communities once flourished.

In broad terms, Ashkenazim, who make up the bulk of Philadelphia's Jewish population, fled from France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and other parts of Eastern Europe; Sephardim from the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, South America, and North Africa; and Mizrachim the Middle East.

But those lines are blurry, especially between Sephardim and Mizrachim. And everywhere they lived, Jewish cooks adapted the local cuisines that abutted their own, creating delicious hybrids.

The biggest shift in American Jewish cuisine has occurred gradually in recent years as people with Ashkenazic roots began to appreciate the flavors and health benefits of Sephardic recipes.

Those dishes are lighter in fats and carbohydrates and richer in spices such as saffron, cumin, turmeric and coriander. The recipes use basmati rice or couscous instead of potatoes, more olive oil and less butter.

They emphasize citrus, especially preserved lemons. They put figs, pumpkin, olives, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, and chickpeas in the pantry of cooking staples. And they introduce elements such as harissa, a spicy paste made from hot red peppers, and haloumi, a mildly salty cheese that holds up well to grilling.

A number of notable cookbook authors bring this more global perspective to their recipes, giving us a rich trove of classic cookbooks from which to draw ideas for our holiday dishes.

"In a way, every meal is a religious ceremony that has helped preserve both faith and family," Clarissa Hyman wrote in The Jewish Kitchen.

Hyman, whose parents owned a Jewish deli in her home city of Manchester, England, jokes that she was brought up in a pickle barrel, with "schmaltz in my veins."

But like so many food writers, she has traveled extensively, and her recipes include Venetian pumpkin risotto, North African coconut and orange cake, and Siberian Tzimmes (a carrot-and-prune side dish enjoyed on Passover).

Joan Nathan's name is synonymous with Jewish American cooking, and her classic Jewish Cooking in America shows how each wave of Jewish immigrants contributed to the rich stew of recipes we now call our own.

Poopa Dweck, the author of Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews, incorporates spices such as saffron and cardamom popular in the Middle East and North Africa and likely introduced to the Iberian peninsula by the Moors. Her smoky eggplant salad with garlic and parsley (see recipe) gets its charred flavor from cooking each piece directly over a fire, although households with electric ranges can make do with oven-roasting.

Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen brings hazelnuts, olive oil, and anchovies into play. Her roast chicken with oranges, lemon, and ginger makes an easy and impressive main dish for the holidays (see recipe).

Egyptian native Claudia Roden, best known for her Middle Eastern approach to Jewish cooking, also writes knowledgeably about Italian, Greek, Uzbeki, Polish, and Lithuanian influences. Her orange and almond cake is a fresh alternative to honey cake, a traditional Rosh Hashanah dessert (see recipe).

Pomegranates usually also make their way to the table on the High Holy Days because the fruit is said to have 613 seeds, corresponding to the 613 laws in the torah.

Whatever dishes make it onto your holiday table, the meal will be remembered as a Jewish experience.

"The kitchen," Roden says, "is the soul of the Jewish home."

Makes 8 servings

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Butter and flour for pan

2 large oranges, plus one for zest

6 eggs

8 ounces ground almonds

8 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Candied orange peel (optional)

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1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Butter and flour a cake pan, using one with a removable base if possible. Boil the unpeeled oranges in a little water for nearly two hours (or 1/2 hour in a pressure cooker). Let them cool, then cut them open, discard the peel and pith.

3. Turn the oranges into a pulp by rubbing them through a sieve or using a blender.

4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the almonds, sugar, and baking powder. Combine with the orange pulp and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake for about one hour. This is a very moist cake but if it seems wet after one hour, add cooking time in 5 minute increments.

6. Cool the cake in the pan before turning out. Just before serving, dust with confectioner's sugar and sprinkle with orange zest or store-bought candied orange peel.

Per serving (without candied orange peel): 368 calories, 11 grams protein, 41 grams carbohydrates, 35 grams sugar, 20 grams fat, 162 milligrams cholesterol, 93 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber EndText

Makes 4 servings

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1 lemon, cut in quarters

1 roasting chicken, about 5 pounds

1 orange, cut in quarters

3 tablespoons fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

5 tablespoons margarine, melted, or olive oil

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoons honey

Orange sections for garnish

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Rub the outside of the chicken with one of the lemon quarters, then discard.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon and orange zests plus one tablespoon of the grated ginger. Rub this mixture evenly in the cavity of the chicken.

4. Put the lemon and orange quarters inside the bird. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Combine margarine or olive oil in a small bowl with lemon and oranges juices, honey and the remaining two tablespoons of ginger. Mix well.

6. Place the chicken in the oven and roast, basting with the citrus juice mixture you've just made at least four times during cooking. Cook about one hour or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a knife.

7. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Carve and garnish with additional orange sections.

Note: For a variation, substitute 4 tablespoons of pomegranate juice for the lemon juice.

Per serving: 599 calories, 39 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams sugar, 44 grams fat, 195 milligrams cholesterol, 159 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber EndText

Makes 4 to 6 servings

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2 medium eggplants

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped, about 1 1/2 teaspoons

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

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1. Pierce the skins of the eggplants in a few places with a fork. Place each eggplant directly in a medium-high flame and turn occasionally. The skins of the eggplants should eventually blister and shrivel. Remove the eggplants from the heat once they are thoroughly charred and you can sense that the flesh inside has become heavy with moisture. It may take about 30 minutes to arrive at this point. Let cool.

2. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, scoop out their flesh and put in a colander. Discard the peels. Press the eggplant flesh firmly against the colander to remove excess liquid. Mash the eggplants with a fork in a large bowl.

3. Combine the mashed eggplant flesh with the tomato, bell pepper, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin and salt and pepper. Stir and serve.

Note: The eggplant gets its charred flavor from cooking directly over a fire, although households with electric-only ranges can make do with oven-roasting.

Per serving (based on 6): 82 calories, 3 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams sugar, 3 grams fat, no cholesterol, 330 milligrams sodium, 7 grams dietary fiber EndText