lynn wexler - david magazine april 2014 issue

Culture at the Heart of Cuisine

■ Lynn Wexler

The French lawyer, who published The Physiology of Taste in late 1825 – a couple of months before his death – might have added this coda to his dietary dictum: and where you’re from.

At its core, gastronomy represents the vibrant expe-rience of a country’s culture, sociology and traditions. Beginning with the ingredients, original cuisine can tell us about the wealth and climate of an indigenous people; the infl uence that an environ-ment imposed on them; and how they adapted to it. Cuisine tech-niques also may provide information about people.

How food is acquired, who prepares it, the manner in which it’s eaten, who’s present at the table and who initiates the meal refl ect our global ancestry when considered collectively. Beyond nourish-ment, the food we consume, the people we choose to share it with and the rituals we observe help strengthen the bond to our cul-tural past and pride.

America, long regarded as a cultural melting pot, offers its deni-zens a panoply of cuisines. But during the holidays, we tend to cel-ebrate our origins. Some of us invest arduous hours of labor, even strife, in attempting to venerate the past through our sumptuous culinary creations. Tables may be beautifully appointed, to draw loved ones ever closer or to highlight ethnic and religious identities via the senses.

For Jews, Passover is perhaps the most signifi cant holiday for such gatherings. It commemorates the biblical story of Exodus – the release of the Jews from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. Each year the Passover story of freedom is retold at the Seder table (He-brew for the order in which the story is recited).

The intricate meal that follows adheres to customary strictures, namely no chametz (leavened grain products) during the eight-day holiday. This recalls symbolically the haste in which the Jews fl ed Egypt, leaving no time for their bread to rise.Since being exiled from Israel by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, Jews have lived in all corners of the world, adapting to many cul-tures while maintaining religious beliefs and practices. From this diaspora emerged two ethnically different Jewish groups.

Ashkenazi Jews are descended from the medieval Jewish com-

munities of the Rhineland in the west of Germany. They eventu-ally migrated eastward, forming communities in Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Belarus.

Sephardic Jews, originally from the Iberian peninsula, settled in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Algeria, Persian-speaking Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa and the Far East.

The hearty cuisine of the Ashkenazi refl ects the colder regions they settled in. Think potatoes, noodles, meat, smoked fi sh and preserved and pickled foods. Sephardic Jews settled in the warmer areas of the Mediterranean, with access to fresh vegetables, fi sh, fruits, spices and olive oil.

The holiday highlights additional differences concerning the laws of Kosher for Passover food. Both groups prohibit chametz. But there is a separate category of foods called kitniyot (grains and legumes) that the Sephardim can eat and the Ashkenazim cannot. These dietary schisms derive from the rabbinic customs of the dif-ferent regions. Kitniyot foods include rice, corn, millet, dried beans and lentils, peas, green beans, soybeans, peanuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and mustard.

No relationship is more meaningful than kin to culture. And food, in all its culinary glory, provides a window into our attitudes, practices and beliefs about our world and ourselves.

No one is perhaps more aware of this than Drew Shervan, owner of Desert Kitchens Las Vegas (DKLV) - a state of the art kitchen, bar and dining facility designed and built by Shervan, and where DAVID’s Passover setting was shot. DKLV is the culmination of many years as a food service architect and design consultant specialist in the commercial restaurant industry. He grew up in the business in New York City alongside his father. “My ultimate design goals are always to offer the patron a fun and rewarding experience.” Intended for private party use only, DKLV features state of the art cooking, sound, and lighting equipment, and a lus-trous gray tone decor - and includes Enzo, an award winning full time chef. The space accommodates up to fi fty fi ne dining guests, though Drew shared that, “It’s main purpose is to host celebrity and celebrity-chef televised cooking shows.” As to why he built a place of his own Shervan replied, “I have such a passion for this industry, and my dream was to be a part of it!”

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

28 APRIL 2014 | www.davidlv.com

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Chocolate Dream Cake By Miriam Bar-On

This Las Vegas pediatrician and UNLV School of Medicine profes-sor does not look forward to most Pesach foods, let alone desserts. As an Ashkenazi Jew with Eastern European roots, she set out to improve upon the dessert component.

Ingredients for crust:• ½ cup margarine• 2 T matzo cake meal• ½ cup sugar• 2 cups ground walnuts

Preparation:Make crust and press into 10” spring form pan up, sides evenly distributed. Take care to ensure that corners are not too thick.

Ingredients for batter/filling:• 8 oz unsweetened chocolate• 1 cup of margarine (two sticks)• 2 ½ cups sugar• 6 eggs• 1 cup matzo cake meal

Preparation:Melt the chocolate (sauce pan, double boiler, microwave – deal-

er’s choice) n mi ing bowl, combine margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add

eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add cooled chocolate and meal, blending thoroughly.

pread filling into pan will be thick. ake at F about - minutes until set.

Drizzle melted chocolate over top in artistic design or use pow-ered sugar, or serve with raspberries and or mint.Very rich, but a chocoholic’s dream during the holiday of bad desserts.

www.davidlv.com | APRIL 2014 29



Light ’N Crispy Belgium ChemzlBy Sabina And Tony Callwood

Married almost 53 years, Sabina was born in Antwerp, Belgium; Tony in t. Thomas, irgin slands. n the ’ s they owned a fi ve-star restaurant in Miami. She credits her Belgium cuisine to her parents, Jetta and alomon agschal. er family survived orld War II and Nazis internment they were reunited in 1945.

Ingredients:• 1 1/2 lbs. russet potatoes• - large eggs• 1/2 tsp salt• 3/4 tsp pepper• cup osher for Passover organic saffron oil

Preparation:Clean and boil potatoes with the skin on to medium densityLet cool and then peel skin.Grate potatoes in large bowl and set asideIn two small bowls, separate the yellow egg yolk from the egg

white.Mix egg yolk with potatoes along with salt and pepperUsing electric beater, whip egg whites to thick consistency and

slowly fold into the potato mixture.In medium frying pan heat oil to frying temperature (there

should be enough oil in the pan allowing for the top of the chemzl to be exposed.)

Scoop a tablespoon of the potato mixture into the oil. Chemzls are done when both sides are lightly golden brown and crispy.

Place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.Makes - chemzls. A delicacy that will keep up to two days in

the refrigerator.




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Yemenite Beef Soup By Neomi Hon

Neomi’s parents lived in a small village in Yemen, with no running water or electricity and cooked on open pit fi res. rowing up on a moshave (settlement) in Israel, she watched her mother prepare

emenite recipes, soup being a main staple on the eder table.

Ingredients:• 3 qts water• 2 1/2 lbs cut beef for stew• 1 large onion peeled and cut in 1/4 pieces• 2 large zucchinis cut in ½-inch pieces• 3 large carrots peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 6 pieces each• 2 tbs chicken powder• . tsp salt• 1/2 tsp pepper• 2 T spice • 1 large and 1 medium bunch of cilantro

Preparation:Boil water in large potAdd beef, cover, and boil on high for 90 minutes or until tender

(Add water as it evaporates)Add all seasonings.Add onion, potatoes and carrots add zucchini a bit later. Add large bunch of cilantro To be removed when soup is done. nions can be removed as well if preferred.

oil covered, on medium fl ame, until vegetables are soft. cca-sionally remove foam from surface of the soup mi ture.

Serve with broken pieces of matzos and a full teaspoon of Hilbeh ip ecipe available at avidlv.com .

erves - . Middle astern spices can be bought at any wellstocked osher supermarket or on the nternet.




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Braised Garlic Chicken With Red Wine SauceBy Madelaine Peters Brody

Madelaine’s parents emigrated from Poland and her father’s from Romania to England. Her father’s cuisine had as its dominant theme a blend of bland nglish fl avors and robust omanian seasonings, if you can imagine that er father’s eder favorite was chicken braised with wine and garlic. “I make it each year to remember his laughter at the Seder table after drinking tradition-al Tuica – a potent plum brandy.”

Ingredients:• 3 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut in half (can cook with or

without the skin)• 1 cup red wine (not cooking wine)• 1 cup brown sugar• 1 T paprika• 2 T chopped garlic• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)• 1/2 tsp pepper• T osher for Passover olive oil

Preparation:eat oil in large frying pan on low fl ame. aute garlic until

golden light.Add chicken breasts and cook about 10 minutes on each side.Drain oil from pan and add salt, pepper, paprika and brown

sugar, making sure to sprinkle over all the pieces. over and cook for another minutes over medium fl ame.

Pour the wine evenly around and over the chicken and again cover and simmer on low fl ame for minutes, occasionally bast-ing the chicken with the wine sauce.

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Tanzia – Moroccan Lamb With Dried Fruit By Eilat Sulika Facher

Born in Israel, from Morocco,she recalls her mother’s small, but cozy kitchen. The most elaborate meal of the year was Passover, with lamb as the delicacy prepared with dried fruits, paprika, cumin, saf-fron, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. As owner of the Jerusalem Grill and Nina’s Café, her family legacy of food and gathering live on.

Ingredients:• 2 lbs. lamb chops (about 8

pieces)• 2 lbs. onions• 10 pieces pitted prunes• 10 dried apricots• 1/2 cup almond slivers• 1/2 tsp salt• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp cumin• 1 tsp nutmeg• 6 pieces whole cloves• 2 T sugar• 4 T Kosher for Passover

vegetable oil• 1 T silan (Kosher for

Passover date syrup)

Preparation:Heat large skillet (without oil) and brown lamb chops both sides

for 2 minutes each, then remove and set aside.In same skillet heat oil, add thinly sliced onions and cook until

golden brown on medium fl ame.Add the lamb back, along with the prunes and apricots, and stir

for 15 minutes.Mix in the cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, cloves, sugar and date

syrup and stir.Add water to but do not cover the lamb. Cover and boil on high

fl ame for minutes before adding salt to taste. over and cook again, over medium fl ame, for another half hour.Put the lamb mi ture from the pan into a baking dish. over fi rst

with oven-ready wax paper and then with aluminum foil. (The wax paper keeps the sugar from burning.) Make holes in the covering

with toothpicks. ake in oven at F for hours, checking oc-casionally and stirring if necessary.

Almond garnish:Using 1 tsp oil in medium pan sauté almond slivers until lightly

golden brown. Drain oil. Use as garnish over the lamb dish.




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efi lte is o sse a le abo it

Both of my parents’ families came from the classic shtetls (small town of Poland. efi lte Fish made from scratch stands out as a potent Seder memory. I even remember the carp swimming in my grandmother’s bath tub, waiting to become the eder appe-tizer he grabbed at the opportunity to be more creative with the traditional recipe when her son’s mother-in-law mentioned efi lte Fish Mousse. Through the years it’s become a big hit at my eder table, even though it’s not made from scratch. And do not have a carp in my bath tub

Ingredients: • oz can of okeach ld ienna efi lte Fish• medium peeled carrots fi nely chopped• small onion fi nely chopped• tsp sugar• T osher for Passover vegetable oil• 3 large eggs• 1/2 tsp salt• 1/2 tsp pepper

re aration:et oven to F

Mash fi sh pieces well without the li uid, though; keep the li uid in a separate bowl using a potato masher

Mi in onions, carrots and fi sh li uidsn a separate bowl combine and beat eggs, oil, salt, pepper and

sugar.Add to the fi sh and blend well.Pour into ungreased loaf pan.

ake for minutes.Refrigerate

lice, and garnish when ready to serve.


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lynn wexler - david magazine april 2014 issue

Documents

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