NEW YORK – Poached quinces in a clove and cinnamon-scented syrup for Rosh Hashana? Absolutely. Food writer Joyce Goldstein calls quinces an ideal choice to serve as one of the holiday’s traditional sweet dishes – and she’s put that in print.
The recipe for poached quinces is among about 145 in the new paperback edition of her 1998 Italian-flavored cookbook, “Cucina Ebraica” (Chronicle Books, 2005, paperback $19.95).
“It’s such a beautiful fruit,” she says, even characterizing the quince as sexy.
Speaking by phone from San Francisco, she points out that quinces are not fully in season there yet, “but if people in other parts of the country can’t find quinces, they can use apples instead,” she suggests. “You should choose a firm apple, like a Grannie Smith or a Gala.”
And to give the syrup more color she recommends “an old Mediterranean trick – adding some pomegranate juice to give the fruit an extra rosy tint, to make the dish look more elegant.”
Another confection to serve with the quinces at Rosh Hashana or to break the Yom Kippur fast could be the almond sponge cake known in Italian as “bocca di dama” – mouth of a woman.
These and a variety of other recipes are a substantial element in her pleasingly written and illustrated cookbook-cum-history, which traces what the subtitle calls “the flavors of the Italian Jewish kitchen.”
Jews have lived in Italy since the second century B.C., Goldstein tells us, and their story is as rich and complex as Italy’s own history.
Goldstein, a chef, food writer and teacher who is Jewish, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., has lived and studied in Italy, and now lives in San Francisco. Other books she’s written, “Sephardic Flavors” (Chronicle, 2000) and “Saffron Shores” (Chronicle, 2002), have also focused on Mediterranean cooking.
She says “Cucina Ebraica” does not claim to be a comprehensive study of the food of Italian Jews. Instead, she describes it as “a personal selection of some of my favorite Italian Jewish recipes, those that I thought the home cooks of today would be interested in preparing.”
Sometimes she has streamlined directions and increased the seasonings of traditional dishes to bring the recipes more in line with the contemporary palate, she says, but she always lets readers know.
If you look at the recipes in the book, she writes, you may think they are simply Italian. What makes them Jewish, Goldstein explains, is how they are served, the structure of the kosher meal, and the laws of kashrut, which deal with what is permitted (kosher) and what is forbidden (treyfe).
The recipes range from appetizers, soups and pastas, through main courses to desserts, and Goldstein suggests special menus for the major holidays.
For Rosh Hashana, the food has to echo the theme of the sweet new year, she says, describing a typical meal. “First, a whole fish, complete with its head, and usually poultry. And then, of course, the desserts. It’s a very joyful meal – the kids love it for all those sweets.”
She mentions the range of dessert ingredients, from pine nuts to raisins and dried fruits. Then she recalls another easy and appropriate recipe in her book, a simple recipe for baked figs.
“These are just super,” she says. “With lemon zest pushed into slits in the tops of the figs, so the flavor of the lemon pervades them – it’s very sensual,” she adds.
In this recipe, the quinces are left unpeeled for their preliminary cooking in water, and then are peeled and cooked in syrup.
Quince in Syrup
(Mele Cotogne in Giulebbe)
For the syrup:
In a large saucepan, combine the quinces with water to cover.
Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, uncovered, until barely tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the quinces and, when cool enough to handle, peel, halve, core and cut into slices.
To make the syrup, in a saucepan large enough to accommodate the sliced quinces, combine the sugar, 1 cup water, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the quinces and additional water if needed to cover. Simmer for 5 minutes. Then, over the course of 12 hours, bring the quince slices to a boil in the syrup 3 times, boiling them for 5 minutes each time. This helps to bring up the rich red color of the fruit and allows them to absorb the syrup over time.
Transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate. Serve chilled.
Makes 6 servings.
