The Jewish high holidays are almost here, and whether you’re a wiz in the kitchen or you want to let someone else handle the cooking, you’ll be sure to ring in the new year with some tasty dishes.
Let someone else do the cooking
Alon's. The eatery is offering a special Rosh Hashana menu available, featuring dishes including chicken liver. Bay of Fundy salmon, matzah balls and apple strudel. Orders must be placed and paid for by 5 p.m. Sept. 7, with pickup before 4 p.m. Sept. 9. Also look for a special Yom Kippur menu offering dishes such as apple noodle kugel and an Israeli vegetable plate, available for order through 4 p.m. Sept. 16.
4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, 678-397-1781 and 1394 North Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta, 404-872-6000, alons.com
The General Muir. Carry out or dine in at the Emory Point deli. The carryout holiday menu features dishes such as brisket, kugel and matzoh ball soup. Orders for Yom Kippur must be placed by Sept. 12 and picked up Sept. 18 or 19. Chef Todd Ginsberg is also planning a four-course dinner for Sept. 9 and 10, with options including duck breast, N.C. trout and fig salad. Dinner is $48 per person plus tax and gratuity or $68 with wine pairings; children 12 and under are $24.
1540 Avenue Place, Atlanta. 678-927-9131, thegeneralmuir.com/home
Muss & Turner's. The restaurant is offering an a la carte Rosh Hashana menu for the first time, featuring dishes such as short ribs, creamy potato leek soup and noodle kugel. See the complete menu here.
1675 Cumberland Pkwy. SE, Smyrna. 770-434-1114, mussandturners.com/
Cook it yourself
Start this meal with apple wedges and slices of challah, and provide small bowls of honey for dipping. Serve gefilte fish as a first course, then tzimmes for the main course.
Provide a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, which formerly expressed the wish for an abundant harvest and now stand for good health. Finish with a walnut-studded honey cake.
Almost every food served at the traditional Eastern European or Ashkenazic Jewish New Year feast has a special meaning. Carrots, besides being sweet, stand for prosperity because carrot slices resemble gold coins. They provide decoration for gefilte fish, which is popular at many holiday meals because fish is a symbol of fertility.
Challah, or Jewish holiday egg bread, is made differently for Rosh Hashanah. Raisins and sometimes honey are added, making it slightly sweeter than during the rest of the year. Its shape is round - either smooth and round, to represent a full year, or braided to form a crown shape, in accordance with one of the prayers, "the whole world will crown Thee."
Gefilte fish means "filled fish." In some versions, the ground fish mixture is stuffed into fish slices. Now most people prefer to shape the filling into ovals and serve it alone. Traditionally the dish is made from a mixture of equal quantities of three fresh-water fish: carp, pike and whitefish. Cooks vary the selection according to what is available, but at least part of the fish should be fresh water.
<<Click here to see the full recipe on mobile
<<Click here to see the full recipe on mobile
<<Click here to see the full recipe on mobile
Carrots, sweet potatoes and white potatoes lend color and interest to this hearty stew, a favorite in the Polish-Jewish kitchen.
<<Click here to see the full recipe on mobile
<<Click here to see the full recipe on mobile
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