On a Hanukkah food search
Dishes associated with Jewish holiday mainly a niche item in area
Finding a Christmas ham, roast turkey or prime rib dinner to go this month in the Capital Region is not difficult. The truth is that it never has been, as the traditional foods associated with Christmastime celebrations (for observant
Christians or those that enjoy the secular practices associated with Christmas) are common offerings on holiday restaurant menus designed for catering or pick-up to be served at home. Taken a step further, the region is rich in the Italian Catholic practice of the feast of seven fishes, where even non-italian restaurants make the multicourse seafood platter symbolic of various themes in the Bible.
Hanukkah or other non
Christian December holidays are not as represented on Capital Region menus, the sizable local Jewish population notwithstanding. In 2010, the Daily Beast ranked Albany the 12th “most Jewish” of 110 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. (New York City was first.) Albany ranked between San Francisco (11th) and Tucson, Ariz. (13th) and the report cited Albany and surrounding suburbs as having a
2.1% Jewish population. Albany has the second-largest Jewish population in New York state and historical records show the city as one of the first large areas of Jewish settlement in what was to become the U.S.
“It’s hard to be a kid and be Jewish in December in the Capital Region,” said Rabbi Matthew Cutler of Congregation Gates of Heaven synagogue in Schenectady. He said the lack of Hanukkah-specific menus can be attributed to several factors. First, he said, “Hanukkah is a minor, late Jewish holiday,” that appears relatively late in the Jewish story. Families may not place as much emphasis on a big celebration as they might for Passover, Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur so the demand on restaurants may not be present. “Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas, it just comes at the same time of year,” Cutler said. He mentions that the foods are very simple during Hanukkah and that anything cooked in oil could constitute a “Hanukkah food.” Jelly doughnuts, a classic treat during Hanukkah, are available all year. Brisket, a cut of meat that is popular in Jewish cooking, appears on many barbecue menus locally.
Another issue: Judaism is a religion present in so many parts of the world, it is hard to pinpoint what, exactly, Hanukkah food is. Russia, Germany, Eastern Europe, Spain, France, Italy, Israel and the greater Middle East, North Africa and even South American countries all have notable Jewish populations, and deciding which global regional pantry to feature can be a feat in itself.
A significant number of families in the region are interfaith, said Cutler, and the merging of cultures during the holidays is made clear on the table According to the 2010 Capital Region Jewish Community Study by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, 18.2% of Jewish residents in the local area have non-jewish spouses. Something considered Jewish in origin — a kugel, for example — might be relegated to a side dish.
The biggest deterrent from a robust Jewish-focused holiday menu is the religious element of kosher certification, which requires specific slaughter, harvest and cooking techniques. Howard Gross, owner of The Iron Works barbecue restaurant in Troy, said that the strict guidance and need for rabbinical oversight on food preparation to promote a menu as kosher makes the lure and profitability difficult for non-kosher restaurants. “It is hard to appeal to a different audience,” he said. Gross is Jewish and his restaurant will offer a Hanukkah to-go menu that includes brisket, smoked fish, latkes, rugelach and sufganiyot that can be preordered for pickup during the Hanukkah holiday, which starts on Thursday and ends Dec. 17.
“My guess would be that restaurants that don’t offer Jewish holiday-themed events simply don’t think that there’s enough of a demand to make it profitable. There may also be some hesitancy around the kosher laws. Even though the majority of Jews don’t keep kosher, Jewish-themed events tend to be kosher - so a nonkosher restaurant might shy away from them,” said Leah Koenig, a Jewish food scholar and author of six cookbooks, including “The Jewish Cookbook” (Phaidon) and “Modern Jewish Cooking ” (Chronicle Books.) Like Gross, she finds the appeal for a restaurant to accommodate Jewish eaters is not enough to promote Hanukkah-themed menu items.
Few standalone restaurants in the Capital Region are kosher-certified. Terra, a prominent kosher restaurant that had rabbinical oversight in its kitchen, ended its kosher affiliation in 2016 due to a lack of business and customer support. The websitewww.kosherdelight.com only lists three certified kosher establishments: Shabbos House Student Center and University of Albany Hillel, both located at UALbany, and Vaad Hakashruth of the Capital District, which is actually a kosher certification firm that works closely with The Kosher Store at Price Chopper in Colonie. Ben and Bill’s — a to-go offering inside of Price Chopper in Slingerlands — offers kosher meals, and Cutler said that Mazzone Hospitality offers Seder dinners through preorder. Local establishments A Better Bite (Albany), Saati Deli (Albany and Latham) and Gershon’s (Niskayuna) offer menu items commonly associated with kosher cuisine but do not list themselves as Kosher establishments. There are many restaurants serving halal-certified cuisine in the Capital Region, which follows similar guidelines to kosher regulation.
“Right now there is such a need for joy and a need for excitement about this,” said Cutler of the coming holidays. He called Hanukkah a “home holiday” and suggested that people use the inward quarantine nature of the COVID-19 pandemic to explore making Hanukkah dishes in their own kitchen. Still, when a restaurant offers a Jewish-specific menu in relation to a holiday, Cutler said he and other Jews feel a sense of validation. “I feel like I’m being recognized,” he said, and notes that inclusion of our region's multicultural makeup is essential to holiday celebration, regardless of faith.