Perfect Seder
Humorous new book filled with kvelling, killer recipes
For the past 10 years, coowner Evan Bloom of Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco and Larkspur’s Marin Country Mart, has spent the days leading up to Passover slicing brisket and rolling matzoh balls for the 200 guests who flood the restaurant over two nights to break flaky, flavorful olive oil-laced matzo together.
“The crew goes into Passover mode and starts projecting based on last year’s number,” Bloom says. “How much matzo meal do we order? Can we make chicken fat ahead of time? It’s not something I ever thought I’d be doing, but it’s a great tradition.”
This year will be different, of course. Bloom will be home with his wife, Jessica, and their newborn baby. He’ll still be cooking, but the famous Wise Sons Seders — a tradition for so many of the city’s Jews — will be virtual. And there’ll be way less horseradish to grate and cry over.
If you were planning to sink your teeth into that prunetinged brisket and famous, caramelized onion-loaded chopped liver, the good news is that you still can. Wise Sons Deli is planning on catering and delivering full Seder meals within 30 miles of their Contemporary Jewish Museum location in San Francisco. And the deli’s catering director said the team was prepared to deliver further out as needed.
“With the shelter-in-place likely to continue, we are working to provide Passover catering as far and wide as possible,” Bloom says. “I am working on putting our Wise Sons haggadah up online, and we’ll provide everything from Shabbat candles to Seder plate.”
Or, of course, you can cook that Passover feast yourself. Together with comedic writer Rachel Levin, Bloom has penned his first book, “Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers
Who Like Jews” (240 pages, Chronicle Books, $30).
Part memoir, part cookbook, the scrapbook-style “Eat Something” stems from the idea that Jews eat by occasion — be it bris (On Pastrami and Penises), brunch (Go-To Guide to All Kinds of Shmears) or dinner with the goyim in-laws (Intermarriage Meat Loaf with Melted Onions). The book is organized into 19 different life-cycle events highlighting 70 fabulous recipes.
The Passover section features every recipe you’ll need, from really good matzo, credited to Amy Remsen and Blake Joffe of Beauty’s Bagel Shop in Oakland,
to classic apple-and-raisin charoset and crisp, savory potato kugel. (Yes, it’s possible. Use plenty of salt and slice and sear before serving.)
The trick to getting really good matzo, that’s blistered and flavorful — nothing like boxed Streit’s — is olive oil, kosher salt and a pizza stone set in a 500 degree-oven. In a pinch, you can use a cookie sheet or cast iron pan turned upside down, but you may not get as much heat retention, according to Bloom.
“Keeping it moist with enough olive oil and following the recipe closely is key,” he says.
As for achieving that glistening Wise Sons brisket, loaded with sliced onions that caramelize and provide body for gravy, you need to start with a good piece of meat: Flat cut, with even thickness end to end and a 1-inch fat cap to keep it tender and juicy as it braises for three hours, Bloom says. He recommends cooking it a few days ahead of time to allow the flavors to marry.
“The worst thing you can do is
undercook a brisket or cut it the wrong way, he says. “If you don’t cut it across the grain you’re going to get more stringy, chewy slices.” Equally important: Cut it cold for consistency and reheat it in the gravy. At Wise Sons Deli, Bloom adds a few pats of butter for thicker gravy and more glisten-y goodness.
And since you don’t have to entertain this year or schlep around gathering Maxwell
House haggadahs, you can spend a little extra time on dessert. May we suggest ditching the coconut macaroons for Dafna Adler’s sensational tiramisu matzah cake 2.0? Adler is an Oakland-based food blogger and baker who creates crave-worthy desserts on
Stellina Sweets.
Just looking at the partyworthy photo of her Passover dessert will put a smile on your face. The recipe, inspired by the semifreddoesque tiramatzu at Robicelli’s in Brooklyn, calls for two batches of espresso ganache, a square cake mold and a roll of acetate (available on Amazon) to help build your five matzo-sheet tower of deliciousness.
Adler recommends freezing it overnight to set everything and help the matzo stay soft, but not soggy. Then move it into the fridge several hours before serving to thaw it out — it will not be cuttable from the freezer, even with a hot knife.
“It’s best to serve it cold and creamy, with the different textures intact, in the sweet spot between frozen and soggy-from-sitting-inthe-fridge,” she writes on the blog.