Passover a la Mexicana at The James Beard House
Passover a la Mexicana at The James Beard House
Holidays are a unique opportunity to see how Jews celebrate all over the world, and the diverse foods that they eat. This year, The Jewish Food Society’s Passover seder, which takes place Tuesday, April 11 at the James Beard House in New York City, is all about Mexico. Chefs Fany Gerson (La New Yorkina), Rafa Zaga (Marea) and Pati Jinich (Pati’s Mexican Table) dug into their family archives for the recipes they will be cooking, which are all sourced from their grandmothers.
At first glance, the menu looks like Passover’s greatest hits—gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, brisket. But each dish is a singular product of the Jewish diaspora. Gerson’s matzo ball soup, brightened with jalapeño peppers, is a reflection of her Eastern European meets Mexico City heritage. (A handful of lucky students got a preview at Fany Gerson’s Mexican Seder cooking class earlier this week, hosted by the JFS and Haven’s Kitchen.) Pati Jinich’s gefilte fish, a poached fish cake in a spicy tomato sauce, aka a la Veracruzana, is edible evidence of her family’s journey from Poland to the port city of Veracruz. And Rafa Zaga’s rice-stuffed lamb with tamarind is influenced by his Syrian grandmother, whose cooking changed forever when she began making Middle Eastern dishes using Mexican ingredients.
Though Tuesday’s seder is sold out, we’re happy to share several of the chefs’ family recipes and the stories of the women who inspired them below, including Mexican gefilte fish and matzo ball soup, and Rafa’s grandmother’s unique sweet-tart-savory haroset. It’s not too late to add one of them to your seder table, if not this year, then next.