In our chapter on “A Family Reunion Tea,” we included a Kosher variation of the menu with a brief summary of the laws for keeping Kosher. To review, in Kosher cuisine, meats and dairy products cannot be eaten at the same meal. For our Kosher Family Reunion Tea, we chose to highlight dairy products and pareve (neither meat nor dairy) foods. For this Kosher Tea with Traditional Jewish Foods, we will feature meat and pareve dishes. This menu will include no buttery pastries, cheeses or creamy dishes, but Jewish cooks have been surprisingly creative over the centuries in developing recipes that are delicious and interesting while honoring the laws for Kosher eating. We invite you to join us as we enter the ancient and sacred world of Jewish cooking. In preparing this traditional meal, make sure not to use dishes or utensils that have been used for cooking or preparing dairy products.
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A Vegan Kosher Tea
If you find that you are enjoying Kosher food, take a look at our Vegan Afternoon Tea menu. Vegan food is all pareve, and therefore acceptable for a Kosher meal. Just be sure to respect the guidelines for separating plates and cooking utensils that may have been used for meat and dairy dishes. This includes separate procedures for washing these items. |
Menu
Beverages:
Hot Black Tea
Fresh Lemonade
Sparkling Apple Juice
Savories:
Tea Sandwiches Using Kosher Meats: Corned Beef on Dark Rye with Sauerkraut, Beef Brisket with Mustard on Light Rye
Kosher Dill Pickles
Chopped Liver with Bagel Crisps or Matzo
Cups of Matzo Ball Soup
Breads and Scones:
Challah Bread with Charoset
Sweets:
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Kosher Oatmeal Cookies
Pareve Chocolate Cake
Apple Cake
Beverages:
Hot Black Tea
Fresh Lemonade
Sparkling Apple Juice
Savories:
Tea Sandwiches Using Kosher Meats: Corned Beef on Dark Rye with Sauerkraut, Beef Brisket with Mustard on Light Rye
Kosher Dill Pickles
Chopped Liver with Bagel Crisps or Matzo
Cups of Matzo Ball Soup
Breads and Scones:
Challah Bread with Charoset
Sweets:
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Kosher Oatmeal Cookies
Pareve Chocolate Cake
Apple Cake
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Recipes Included:
Tea Sandwiches Using Kosher Meats If you are fortunate enough to have leftover corned beef or beef brisket in your refrigerator, you can make these simple but very flavorful corned beef sandwiches. Some people like a little mustard or prepared horseradish with corned beef or beef brisket. You can decide what would be best for your tea sandwiches. Chopped Liver with Bagel Crisps Chopped Liver takes a little getting used to, as it is not a visually appealing food. To be honest, it is a pasty gray mass that does not resemble food at all. Wet cement is a closer analogy. However, we must not be food snobs. Some of the world’s most interesting and flavorful foods (Korean Kim Chee, Hawaiian Poi, Japanese Natto, and yes, English Fruitcake) do not at first appear to be desirable food choices. Yet all of these foods, including Chopped Liver, will grow on you if you will only give them a chance. Chopped Liver is really just a combination of three familiar food items—onions, chicken livers and boiled eggs, processed in a food grinder with a little salt and pepper added. What’s not to like? To make Chopped Liver, it helps to have a food grinder, but you can make it in a food processor. The texture will just not be quite the same as Grandma (or Bubbie) used to make. Matzo Ball Soup Almost every culture throughout the world thrives on some form of chicken soup. This all-purpose comfort food and tonic for all that ails us will be part of the human family forever. This Jewish version is a very rich home made chicken stock with dumplings (matzo balls) made from the meal of unleavened bread. Like so many other traditional Jewish foods, matzo is steeped in historic and spiritual significance. Matzo, or unleavened bread, commemorates the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus 12:39. In their dramatic departure from slavery, the Israelites did not have time to wait for their bread dough to rise, so they took unleavened bread with them on their journey of liberation. This event is relived each year at the Passover Seder where matzo is eaten as a perpetual reminder of both the salvation of the people and the call to humility. Matzo, after all, is humble food, and it challenges the community to recall their previous lives of poverty and captivity. Indeed, matzo challenges all of us to show generosity and compassion to all who are powerless and in need. To help you create this humble but deeply significant dish, we offer an adaptation of a recipe by Alison Roman which appeared in Bon Appetit magazine in April of 2014. The process calls for more than one chicken, plus lots of fresh vegetables and herbs and hours of simmering. Of course you will be tempted to substitute canned chicken broth, which will make a nice tasty soup, but if you can devote the time to making Matzo Ball soup from scratch, this act of kindness to your friends will elevate your Kosher Afternoon Tea to the spiritual realm. We recommend making the chicken stock and the matzo ball mixture a day in advance and finishing the soup and the matzo balls shortly before your party begins. Do not be frightened by the length of this procedure. There is nothing complicated or difficult about making Matzo Ball Soup. As our grandmothers were well aware, good food just takes time, patience and lots of love. Challah Bread with Charoset Jewish food is inspired by ancient Biblical commandments and the ensuing traditions of Jewish communities throughout the world. Bread in its many forms, mentioned so many times in the Torah, is the foundational food of Jewish cooking. Challah is served at the weekly Shabbat meal, but because it is a leavened bread, it is not included in the Passover Seder. The word Challah actually refers to the small piece of dough that is separated during the kneading process and given to God as a dough offering, as instructed in the Book of Numbers, 15:20-21. The recipe we include here, from chabad.org, is not large enough in volume to require a dough offering. However, as food for thought, we offer these words from chabad.org: “Replete with spiritual meaning, (the Separation of Challah) … has a far-reaching effect on the mind and heart of the one who fulfills it, on her household, and on the very character of her home. For more than a hundred generations, Jewish women throughout the world have fulfilled this beautiful and life-transforming mitzvah.” Charoset Charoset (also spelled Haroseth,) is one of the symbolic foods traditionally served at the Passover Seder. It is an uncooked combination of chopped dried fruits, nuts and spices. Symbolically, Charoset represents the mortar used by the Israelites for brick making while they were enslaved in ancient Egypt. Since only unleavened bread can be consumed at the Seder, Charoset is eaten with matzo. However, there is no rule that says that Charoset cannot be served with yeast bread on occasions other than Passover. We think this sweet and spicy fruit mélange would be delightful with freshly baked Challah for Afternoon Tea. In fact, Charoset reminds us of unbaked fruitcake—minus the cake. What could be easier or more charming? There are dozens of regional variations for Charoset from Jewish communities throughout the world. Not surprisingly, these variations reflect the kinds of fruit and nuts that are available in these disparate communities. Thus, eastern European Charoset might include apples and walnuts, while Mediterranean and North African Charoset will feature dates and pistachios. Feel free to experiment with the varieties of fruits and nuts that you and your guests enjoy. The recipe we offer here, adapted from Diane Rossen Worthington, has a decidedly Mediterranean accent. Chocolate Covered Strawberries Strawberries are always welcome in the spring and summer when they are fresh and ripe and readily available. Use the reddest and ripest strawberries you can find to make these irresistible chocolate covered treats. You can leave the green stems attached if you wish, making for a more attractive presentation and giving your guests something to hold onto when they pick up the strawberries. Kosher Oatmeal Cookies These scrumptious oatmeal cookies will delight your guests and bring back happy childhood memories. If children are invited to your Kosher Afternoon Tea, they will go straight for the cookies. This recipe calls for two cups of add-ins—raisins, chocolate chips, nuts or whatever suits your fancy. These cookies would be nice with walnuts and dried cranberries in the autumn, and both the Oatmeal Cookies and the Apple Cake would be welcome additions to your Kosher Thanksgiving menu. Pareve Chocolate Cake with Divine Chocolate Sauce Kathleen developed this easy Chocolate Cake that contains no diary products. It makes a moist 8” or 9” round cake, or you can double the recipe and make a layer cake sandwiched together with blackberry jam. If you decide to serve it as a single layer cake, you can lay a round paper doily over the top, press it gently onto the cake and sift powdered sugar over the doily, lifting it off gently for a lovely lace pattern. Whether you double the recipe and make the blackberry layer cake or serve the cake as a single layer, either presentation would be even more delicious with Divine Chocolate Sauce. Kathleen also created this luscious sauce using no dairy products. Apple Cake This impressive fresh apple cake, popular for Passover, is also perfect for Afternoon Tea. This is the cake to put on your most attractive cake pedestal where it belongs. The apple and orange flavors in this cake combine beautifully, and the apricot glaze on top adds extra flavor and glittering elegance. Be patient with this cake, as it can take from 90 minutes to 2 hours to bake. If your timeline permits, you can serve it with nice cups of hot tea while it is still warm. |
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