Rosh Hashanah

 

Rosh Hashanah recipes include recipes for special food prepared on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year and is observed on the first two days of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah recipes include recipes for various symbolic foods and sweet dishes to begin the New Year with sweetness.

 

Traditional Rosh Hashanah Recipes and Rosh Hashanah Food Menu

The Jewish New Year is celebrated with a host of traditional Rosh Hashanah recipes which symbolize the New Year. Here are some popular Rosh Hashanah recipes and food items-

  • Symbolic foods: Symbolic foods, which show mention in the Talmud, the central text in Judaism containing discussions on Jewish laws and customs, are eaten on this occasion. Symbolic Rosh Hashanah food includes black eyed beans, dates, spinach, guard and leek.
  • Fruits: Fruits form an important part of Rosh Hashanah food. Apples, dates and pomegranates are quite popular. Apple is a medieval addition to the Rosh Hashanah food menu, but is now popular everywhere.  Apples are usually accompanied by honey, and symbolize sweetness in the New Year.
  • Gefilte Fish: It is a dish made of poached fish which is minced and stuffed into the fish skin. The types of fish generally used for this include carp, mullet, pike or whitefish. The dish can be prepared in sweet or savory taste. The taste is also considered an indicator of the Jewish community, where one group is the sweet gefilte fish eating one, and the other consumes the savory variant. The geographical boundary separating the two communities is now called 'Gefilte Fish Line.'
  • Lekach: It is a loaf shaped cake of dense form, in which honey is used for sweetening. There are many variations to the cake which can also be of sponge cake form. It is an important part of traditional Rosh Hashanah food.
  • Rodanchas: They are savory pastries with pumpkin filling.
  • Keftedes de prasa: They are leek fritters, which are a part of the New Year feast platter 'Yehi Ratzon'.

 

Significance of Rosh Hashanah Recipes

Most traditional Rosh Hashanah recipes are symbolic of the New Year. Yehi Ratson platter is a large platter in which symbolic foods are served on New Year, when a short prayer is recited, beginning with the Herbrew words 'Yehi Ratson' or 'May it be Your Will'. It consists of apples dipped in honey (which symbolize sweetness in the New Year), pumpkin pastries, leek fritters, baked and peeled beets and head of a fish. Stuffed birds as well as stuffed vegetables are other dishes that form a part of the platter.