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Passover recipes from my mother’s cookbooks
My late mother, Anna Birshtein Geffen, was born in Brestletovsk, Russia, in 1906. Her father, Cathriel Birshtein, went to the US to work in 1907 and brought his family – my mother, her older brother, and her mother – to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1909. After growing up and working from the age of 15, my mother met Louis Geffen, my father, in 1934. They married that year and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where my father was a lawyer and where I was born.
After my father’s six-year service in World War II as a judge advocate in Mississippi, we moved back to Atlanta. What I remember vividly is my mother cooking and baking for Passover. She was amazing. Her recipes came from the cookbooks she used.
THE AUXILIARY Cook Book was published in 1909, compiled by the Auxiliary Society of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of New York, Orphan Asylum. It was given to my mother in 1927. In addition to working full time every day, she cooked a complete meal for my father and me for supper. About 11 p.m. several days a week, she began to bake. These are some of the recipes she used.
Mrs. H.J. Sower’s Matzah Balls
Soak one or more matzot [in water] according to the number of matzah balls wanted; when soft, squeeze out. Cut into small pieces. In a pan, brown one small chopped onion in one large spoonful of oil. Add the matzot. Remove from heat. Add salt, pepper, two eggs, and one-quarter cup of matzah meal. Mix well. When cold, make into balls.
Mrs. S. Neuberger’s Matzah Cake
12 eggs
2 cups matzah meal
1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 cup almonds, very finely chopped Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with the sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the matzah meal, almonds, grated lemon rind, and lemon juice. After mixing well, add in the beaten egg whites. Bake at low heat.
Mrs. Sower’s Matzah Fritters
4 eggs Pinch of salt 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 apple, very thinly sliced Butter or margarine for frying
Soak two or three matzot in water until soft. Squeeze out. Add eggs, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and apple, and mix. Into a fry pan with very hot butter or margarine, drop in a tablespoon of the mixture, one at a time, until brown. The fritters are very nice served with any stewed fruits.
While my father was stationed in Mississippi at Camp McCain, my mother’s brother gave her The Jewish Examiner Prize Kosher Recipe Book, published in 1937 by the Brooklyn weekly paper The Jewish Examiner, edited by “Balabusta,” the editor of the women’s section of the newspaper. This cookbook contains much more than recipes. There are brief chapters on topics such as the importance of keeping kosher and of reporting fraudulent so-called kosher products, annotated by Rabbi Louis B. Gross, editor of the newspaper.
Pearl Decker of the Bronx, New York, participated in The Jewish Examiner contest with Apricot Marmalade. She received an honorable mention for her recipe.
I recall my mother using this recipe.
Pearl Decker’s Apricot Marmalade
1 pound apricots
1 lemon
3 oranges
6 glasses water
5 cups Jack Frost sugar (ad in the cookbook)
Wash apricots thoroughly and soak them in the water overnight. Slice the oranges and lemon into fine pieces, without removing the skins. Cook the apricots in the same water in which they were soaked overnight, adding sugar and the sliced fruit. Cook for two hours on low heat, stirring occasionally. “This makes 2 quarts of fine marmalade,” wrote Pearl Decker.
Mrs. M. Slutzky of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, submitted her Matzah Meal Eierkuchel recipe.
Mrs. M. Slutzky’s Matzah Meal Eierkuchel
2 eggs
1 cup Manischewitz cake meal (ad in the cookbook)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cool water
Melted butter
Jack Frost sugar
Beat the eggs. Stir in the salt and water; add the cake meal slowly and steadily. Make a soft dough and divide it into 10 parts. Roll each part on a board covered with cake meal a quarter-inch thick. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet in a hot oven for 6-8 minutes.
The favorite for Passover, the Pesachdikke Sponge Cake recipe, came from Elsa London of Sydney, Australia.
Elsa London’s Pesachdikke Sponge Cake
5 eggs
1 teacup fine Manischewitz matzah meal
1 teacup Jack Frost sugar
1 teacup ground almonds
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Butter or oil
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until stiff. Add sugar and beat well. Then add yolks and beat until stiff and creamy. Gently stir in the matzah meal and almonds, adding lemon juice and salt. Bake in a well-buttered or oiled tin in a moderate oven for 40-50 minutes.
This recipe was somewhat unusual in the 1930s: Yellow Matzot from Mrs. Irving Rose from Brooklyn, New York. She also specified Manischewitz matzot but, of course, any matzot can be used.
Mrs. Irving Rosen’s Yellow Matzot
1 pound pot cheese (or cottage cheese or ricotta drained in a cheesecloth) 1/4 cup sour cream
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt or more
Dash of pepper
4 Manischewitz matzot
About 11 p.m., several days a week, she began to bake
Mix cheese, eggs, sour cream, butter, salt, and pepper; spread evenly over the matzot. Place on a broiler pan and slip under medium heat in broiler oven. Bake 15 minutes or until all matzot are brown on top. This makes 4 servings.
Valuable tips have a section, too. “Peeling onions without shedding tears: Run the knife to be used in peeling onions through a heavy raw potato before attacking the onions. Repeat performance if effectiveness on onions gives signs of waning.”
Thanks, Mom, for saving the cookbooks for me. What Passover memories!