Sweet and local: Celebrate Rosh Hashanah with a farm-to-table accent

Shana tovah u’metukah. A good and sweet year.

This is the traditional Rosh Hashanah greeting that Jewish people around the world will exchange as the holiday begins at sundown one week from today.

Rosh Hashanah has a deep and introspective component; the New Year is a time for reflection and self-evaluation. Sure, OK. But, for some of us, holidays are all about the food.

Rosh Hashanah dinner typically starts with matzo ball soup, often ends with apple cake and covers a lot of deliciousness in between. As Jewish cooks take on the task of preparing all that food, lists will be made and shopping will be done.

RECIPE:Grandma Ida’s Chicken Soup

The local farmers market is the perfect place to find many of the fruits and vegetables that play a key role in your favorite Rosh Hashanah recipes.

Farm to table is more than a hot food trend. It’s become a way of life, and the concept has its roots (pun intended) in the way our ancestors cooked. In her book, “The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen,” author Amelia Saltsman explores this idea.

“When food traditions were developing for the holidays, everything was local and seasonal,” she says in a phone interview. “The growing cycles have to do with the natural cycles of the year, and the Jewish calendar is based on those natural cycles.”

Food traditions grew out of what was available, and every meal was a farm-to-table, seasonal one.

“If you think about the celebratory foods we eat for the new year, they are what is in season right now,” Saltsman continues. “Everything tastes best grown in its true season.”

Local caterer Hannah Sattler, owner of Hannah’s Kitchen, is a big fan of building holiday recipes around farmers markets finds. Sattler’s roasted vegetable side dish is a perfect example.

“I won’t necessarily have a list for the roasted vegetables, I’ll go and see what’s there,” Sattler says. This time of year, a visit to the farmers market might have some of us wondering what to do with a purple carrot or kohlrabi, but Sattler takes advantage of the foods she finds as much as possible.

“With Rosh Hashanah, you want to feel that fall, warm taste; you can grab vegetables for your stocks or to put it in the roasted vegetable mixture.”

RECIPE:Honey Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables

A single mom of three young girls, Sattler also appreciates the educational benefits a trip to the market offers.

“The farmers market lets children understand where their food comes from and what goes into growing food,” she says.

No Jewish holiday dinner would be complete without homemade chicken soup. It’s my favorite part of the meal, and it’s earned its nickname “Jewish Penicillin” for proven healing properties (seriously, Google it.).

My family’s recipe was passed down from my grandmother, Ida, to my mother, Beverly, to me. While each put her own spin on this classic, my mother and grandmother never went to a farmers market for carrots, onions, celery and dill. For this city girl growing up in Pittsburgh, farmers markets weren’t a thing. But when I pass the recipe on to my daughter and sons, I’ll encourage them to shop at their market for seasonal, locally grown ingredients.  

Rosh Hashanah dinner begins by dipping apples in honey while reciting a prayer for a sweet new year. In keeping with this tradition, apples are incorporated into a variety of Rosh Hashanah dishes and desserts.

What better way to get those apples than by picking them right off the tree? Sattler and her daughters have a yearly, pre-holiday apple picking ritual.

“We love learning what’s an eating apple vs. what’s a baking apple and learning about how you use them differently.”

RECIPE:Roasted Autumn Fruit

Apple cake is a popular holiday dessert, but apples can star alongside other fruits, with no cake or pie-baking required. Saltsman’s roasted autumn fruit features apples and pears along with any other local fall fruit you can find.

 “This is my go-to autumn dessert,” says Saltsman, “perfect for all the season’s holidays, whether served on its own or as an accompaniment to cakes or ice cream.”

The simplicity of the dish keeps the focus on the delicious seasonal fruit flavors. “Roasting fall fruit brings out the spicy notes we associate with desserts this time of year, and it naturally partners with the rest of the meal,” she adds.

RECIPE:Apple Honey Cake

Saltsman lives in Santa Monica, Calif., where her farmers market goodies might be a bit more exotic than what we have in Wisconsin. But there’s no need to succumb to market envy.

“In California, I have the option, I can choose between apples and pomegranates. But if you’re cooking locally, you will have lots of apples and if I’m having dinner at your house in Milwaukee, I want Wisconsin apples.”

Yes, you do. Because Wisconsin apples, like all of our locally grown produce, taste great, with or without honey.