DEL.ICIO.USPassover filled with family, comfort food
Transplanted Israeli adapts to holiday in the United States
For the Journal-Constitution
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Snait Ben-Herut misses her native Tel Aviv, Israel, most at Passover, which is marked by family gatherings and vibrant festivals.
For this busy mom, Passover in America is very different. Here, she says, it takes her more days to shop and prep lamb, salads and matzo ball soup often served throughout the Jewish holiday.
RIANNE BUIS/Special
‘I have wonderful memories of Passover,’ says Snait Ben-Herut, an Atlantan since 2007.
“In Israel, everybody has a week off from work or school at Passover,” she says with a laugh, “so women spend days in the kitchen to make all those dishes.”
Passover, which celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, begins at sundown Wednesday.
Snait (pronounced SNA-eet) Ben-Herut moved to Atlanta with her family in 2007 when her husband took a research position at Emory University.
The actress and preschool teacher stays connected to her roots by serving the dishes her mother and aunt make, such as labane with za’atar, a tangy Middle Eastern strained yogurt with olive oil combined with the pungent spice mix of thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and sumac, eaten with a piece of pita.
In Israel, Ben-Herut says, Jewish cooking is a melting pot with influences from all over the world. Many people recognize hummus and falafel as quintessentially Israeli dishes, borrowed from their Arab neighbors. “My mom is from Bulgaria, my aunt from Romania, so there are considerable differences in their background and culture,” she says.
Ben-Herut’s mother cooks dishes that are close to Greek and Turkish cuisine. Her aunt, however, makes sturdy, often starchy Eastern European plates such as mamaliga, a polenta-like corn dish.
“They are both great cooks, so we enjoyed a great variety of holiday dishes from both Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions,” she says.
Sephardic cuisine often reflects the sunny climates of the Mediterranean. Salads and vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, fresh herbs, spices, olive oil and dried fruits and nuts prevail. Ashkenazi cooking is rooted in Central and Eastern Europe where gefilte fish, latkes, challah, kneidlach (dumplings) and kugel (sweet or savory noodle pudding) are more common.
“I have wonderful memories of Passover,” Ben-Herut says. “The preparation of the food, the fun of having all your relatives close and then eating all our beloved family dishes. Of course, no wheat or leavened foods are permitted, so we choose other filling ingredients, such as potatoes and meat.
“I still use my mom’s recipes. My aunt makes tzimmes, a wonderful sweet dish of carrot and stewed prunes or apples. It is served with meat. And every year my mom makes oven-roasted lamb, very fragrant with plenty of herbs.”
Ben-Herut scours DeKalb Farmers Market and other specialty stores for Israeli brands and exotic ingredients. At Passover, observant cooks should make sure they have bought ingredients specifically approved for the holiday.
This year, Ben-Herut will celebrate Passover with friends. Along with traditional matzo ball soup and haroset, a symbolic dish made of chopped fruits, nuts, sweet wine and honey, she will bring Israeli Passover dishes that are classics in her family: a potato salad with chopped egg and olives she describes as “real comfort food,” and chicken liver pâté.
“It is smooth as silk and a little sweet because of sautéed onions,” she says.
Although Ben-Herut doesn’t care much for sweets, she can’t imagine Passover without the coconut and peanut macaroons that are ubiquitous this time of year.
“You can’t avoid them. Passover is unthinkable without them,” she says.