food and family ties.

Thank you all for the good wishes for the new year!  Right back at you, Jewish or not.

No matter where I am in the world, I have always been able to find the community, however small, with whom I can celebrate, read a common language, and of course, share familiar food.  Though I’m certainly not intensely religious or observant, I feel ties of undeniable strength to my culture and roots, and perhaps they are most powerful over the tradition of a holiday meal.

Food was not in short supply yesterday, as usual – beginning with hors d’oeuvres:

Most importantly, apples and honey [for a sweet new year] and challah, which should have been round, symbolizing the cycle of one year into the next.  Of course, all our metaphors are edible.

Then there was wine:

The table was colorful and full, no centerpiece required – food is the star and the art in this family.  We’re a bit liberal when it comes to the classic foods, and we tend to go for flavor over tradition.

Vegetables abounded as always:

Quite possibly the best salmon I’ve ever had, in a holiday-appropriate honey glaze…

Moroccan braised beef with toasted Israeli couscous…

I had tastes of everything, of course, and we leisurely chatted and dined away the afternoon.

I will never take for granted the close relationship I have with my immediate family, and I am equally grateful that the majority of our extended family live within reasonable distances.  The familial bond goes deeper than any, and holidays were never quite the same while I was abroad and apart from the gathering around our dining room table.  Plus, my mom and aunt make incredible desserts:

Brownies and mandel bread [a Jewish version of biscotti]…

Blueberry crisp and a bowl of sweet fruit…

And my mom’s apple pie.  The best.  In the world.

Knowing the pie didn’t stand a chance of lasting past this meal, I made sure to snag a slice.  Rosh Hashanah is a two day affair, so I saved the blueberry crisp for today – a key aspect of balance: you can always have more tomorrow.  

After our relatives had left, my parents and I stood in the kitchen, finishing off a final bottle of petite syrah, toasting to a new year.  I think my sister summed up our connection to our culture best – her words:  we like everyone, we eat a lot, we drink wine, we’re happy.  Here’s to a new year.

Do you feel strong connections to your cultural roots?  

Related posts:

1. fasting and family food.
2. ethnic food.
3. family, foodies, fondue.