Twenty years ago, when Alexandra Zohn was packing up her life in Mexico City to move to New York City, she brought just two kitchen items with her: a tortilla press and a heavy pan with small circular indentations. The pan, which was a gift from her grandmother Rita, is used for just one recipe in their family: buñuelos de Pesach, a sweet and savory matzo meal fritter served during Passover. 

Alexandra is the fifth generation of women in her family to enjoy the buñuelos recipe. It traces back to Rosa Cohen, her great-great-grandmother who was born in Izmir, Turkey and immigrated to Mexico around 1920. Alexandra never met Rosa, but her recipes and stories of her still sustain the family through her granddaughter Rita, who is now 93-years-old.

Rosa was “a woman who taught herself to read when she was 60, because she hated that she couldn't read the newspapers and participate in conversations with others,” Alexandra explains. And, even when she was elderly, she preferred the company of young people. She would “go to a cafe and make friends with everyone,” Alexandra adds. 

Growing up in Mexico City’s Jewish community, with one Sephardic parent and another Ashkenazi, Alexandra says she was a “gastronomical Jew.” Adding: “Our Judaism was expressed through the food.” And cooking helped bind the family together. Every Monday, after school, Alexandra and her brother would go to Rita’s house. Their uncles, grandfather, and parents joined in for a late lunch Rita would prepare. 

“In Mexico, I think something very interesting happened to Jewish cuisine,” Alexandra explains. As Jewish families became more established, they hired cooks and nannies. Recipes from Jewish immigrant communities from Izmir, Syria, and Eastern Europe, blended with Mexican dishes and ingredients. Alexandra points to gefilte fish a la Veracruzana, a Mexican rendition of the Ashkenazi staple, made with tomatoes, onions, capers, and olives as an example. In her family, however, Alexandra says her grandmother Rita is a purist when it comes to recipes from Izmir, preparing nearly all of them the same way Rosa did a century ago. 

During Passover, that means making charoset made with apples, dates, nuts, orange juice, raisins, and a bit of matzo meal. There’s also sodra, which Alexandra compares to matzo brei with lemon, and, of course, the buñuelos. At Seder, there was always a selection of minas, matzo layered with savory fillings and baked, like a Passover lasagna. Among them was a vegetarian rendition with parmesan, spinach, potatoes, and cream cheese. 

Before Alexandra moved to the U.S., she spent time with Rita writing down her recipes in a notebook that also contains recipes from Alexandra’s late mother Esther. And, more recipes were jotted down over the phone like the one for the buñuelos and mina, ensuring Alexandra would have them with her in New York.

In recent years, Alexandra hasn’t made mina or buñuelos for Passover, as she, her husband, and kids typically fly to Florida to celebrate the holiday with family. This year, they will stay put in their New York home and host a small Seder just for them. “I haven’t made Passover for a long time,” Alexandra says. Fortunately, she adds, she’s already ordered the ingredients for the buñuelos.