The New American Jewish Cuisine

Matzo quesadillas? Gefilte fish with salsa? Charoset with pecans and mango? Kosher-for-Passover bagels? And what about Cajun matzo balls or Dallas matzo balls with pecans? What has become of traditional Jewish food in this country?

It has become American Jewish.

“A lot of Jewish food has become part of the American culinary mainstream,” says cookbook author Marian Burros.

Just as the Jewish population is no longer confined to a few of the country’s larger cities, Jewish foods have traveled nationwide. And notions of Jewish food have altered with the availability of regional ingredients.

For example, Edward Colodny, former chairman of the board of

USAir, grew up in Burlington, Vt., where he ate his potato latkes topped with maple syrup. Gefilte fish is made with whitefish in the Midwest, salmon in the West and haddock in Maine.

In the Southwest, salsa sometimes replaces the traditional Eastern European horseradish. In Georgia, grits are added to gribenes, rendered chicken cracklings, and in Louisiana, hot pepper and green onions are used in matzo balls.

As early as the late 19th century, crossover foods were beginning to affect the non-Jewish public. “Jewish cookery is becoming much like that of their Christian neighbors; except among the more denominationally strict, the old restrictions are melting away, and they often employ Christian servants,” reads the 1901 introduction to “Smiley’s Cook Book and Universal Household Guide.”

Not only have regionalism and local products affected Jewish food, so too have post-World War II immigration and expanded travel. “Most of our customers are familiar with falafel and shawarma (spit-roasted meats) from trips to Israel,” says Larry Dekelbaum, owner of the 1 1/2-year-old Max’s Kosher Cafe and Marketplace in Wheaton, Md.

While restaurants from Brooklyn to Berkeley are trying to introduce the American public to Mediterranean tastes, traditional American kosher companies are expanding their base beyond the Jewish population.

Matzo used to be strictly for Jews at Passover. Now not only does it appear year round on the cafeteria menu of the United Nations, but Manischewitz has launched a line of salted and unsalted matzo snacks in assorted shapes for noshing.

For the crossover cook, there is “Matza 101,” written and published by Jenny Kdoshim and Debbie Bevans of Alta Loma, Calif. These women found innovative ways to disguise unleavened bread as puff pastry in “matzo napoleons” and as tortillas in “matzo quesadillas.”

Like Manischewitz, Gold’s Pure Food Products is thinking beyond the red-beet horseradish that the present owners’ grandparents grated during the Depression. Not only does the company recommend combining its classic horseradish with cranberry sauce to “make your turkey gobble,” it is also producing a kosher barbecue sauce with horseradish, chunky Mexican salsa, an Asian duck sauce and a Russian-style borscht.

And the largest kosher manufacturer of all, Hebrew National, owes most of its kosher hot dog consumption to a non-kosher-eating public.

More than anything else, however, America’s chefs have become trendsetters in creating outlandish pairings of Jewish foods.

At a recent “Newish Jewish” dinner for the Chaine des Rotisseurs at Chef Allen’s Restaurant in Aventura, Fla., the menu included potatonik with smoked salmon salsa, corned beef knish, pickled salmon and red snapper with fennel and fish kishke and mamaliga with pot-roasted ropa vieja and roasted garlic schmaltz.

A few years ago, when Leonard Rubin, then chef at the Phoenician Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., prepared Southwestern brisket with 14 spices, noodle kugel with fresh cilantro and tsimmes stuffed in Anaheim chiles, Michael Batterberry, editor of Food Arts magazine, observed, “I couldn’t tell if I was in the Sonora desert or in the Bronx.”

“In the American kitchen,” Batterberry says, “the melting pot means precisely that. You can mix and match any ethnic strains you want.” It all boils down to giving old favorites a bit of a lift by putting them in party clothes every once in a while.

PECAN MATSO BALL SOUP

2 matzos

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons kosher-for-Passover vegetable oil

1/2 onion diced

1/2 cup matzo meal

1 teaspoon salt 3 quarts plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Crumble matzos and soak in warm water about 5 minutes. Drain well incolander.

Grind pecans in food processor so they still have some crunch. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add drained matzos, matzo meal, salt, 2 tablespoons chicken broth and eggs and mix well. Fold in pecans and parsley. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours.

Roll mixture into about 20 nickel-size balls. Bring remaining 3 quarts stock to simmer and add matzo balls. Cook, uncovered, about 15 minutes, until matzo balls float.

Makes about 20 matzo balls or 8 to 10 servings of soup.

Each of 8 servings contains about:

212 calories; 1,481 mg sodium; 55 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 0.22 gram fiber.

MATZO VEGETABLE AND CHEESE QUESADILLAS

This recipe was adapted from “Matza 101” by Jenny Kdoshim and Debbie Bevins. Note that there is a 2 1/2-hour matzo-prep step before the cooking begins.

12 matzos

About 1/4 cup butter or kosher-for-Passover vegetable oil

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced 4 green onions, sliced into 1-inch strips

2 green bell peppers, seeded and sliced into 1-inch strips

Salt, freshly ground pepper

Kosher-for-Passover prepared salsa

At least 2 1/2 hours before serving, line counter top with 3 layers of white paper towels.Run each matzo under cool water, making sure to wet both sides. Place on towels and cover with single layer of wet paper towels. Allow to stand 1 hour or until texture resembles al dente lasagna. Remove wet paper towels. Allow matzos to dry additional 1 1/2 hours before using.

Heat enough butter in large nonstick skillet to coat bottom of pan. Place 1 matzo in skillet. Sprinkle with little of each cheese. Top with some tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, salt and pepper to taste and finish with a dollop of salsa. Top with another matzo.

When quesadilla has browned on one side and cheese begins to melt, about 3 to 5 minutes, turn quesadilla over and cook other side until crisp, adding butter as needed. Repeat with remaining ingredients, keeping quesadillas warm while cooking. Allow quesadillas to cool before cutting each one on diagonal to make 4 triangles. Serve with additional salsa.

Makes 24 pieces or 8 servings.

Each serving, without salsa, contains about:

140 calories; 129 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.15 gram fiber.