There is a tradition at the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah to eat symbolic foods meant to help ensure a good new year. This list blends both foods from various Jewish traditions, and includes a delicious recipe for Honey Apple Bundt Cake.
Please feel free to share with me any of your favorite family recipes, either via email at catherines@macaronikid.com or by submitting a comment below. Enjoy.
Apples & Honey
How better to wish for a good and sweet new year -- than to eat one of nature's sweetest foods? Apples are the iconic accompaniment to honey. Note: Children under 12 months should not consume honey.
Pomegranates
The pomegranate, is special for many reasons. It has traditionally been used as a "new fruit" for the blessing on Rosh Hashana. But there's another link -- just as the fruits are full of seeds, we hope we'll be similarly full of merits in the coming year.
Carrots
Eating them on Rosh Hashana is meant to express our desire that God will nullify any negative decrees against us. Interestingly, the Yiddish words for "carrots" are similar to "more" -- so among Yiddish speakers, carrots symbolize the desire for increased blessings in the new year.
Beets or Spinach
The Hebrew word for beets, selek, is similar to the word for "remove." They're eaten to express the hope that our enemies will depart. Some maintain that this leafy green is the original symbolic food for Rosh Hashana. Of course, you could always hedge your bets with a spinach and beet salad...
Black-Eyed Peas, Green Beans, or Fenugreek
Rubia, which may refer to several different types of small beans, or even fenugreek, is reminiscent of the work yirbu, meaning "to increase". These foods symbolize the hope for a fruitful year filled with merit.
Heads of Cabbage or Garlic
Our hope in including some sort of head on the menu is that we be likened to a head, and not a tail. In other words, we should move forward and make progress in the coming year, rather than follow or linger in the rear.
Fish!
The ancient belief that fish don't sleep has been discredited, but the notion that fish are ever vigilant and swim constantly is linked to this symbol, and reflects the desire to be constantly aware of opportunities to do good deeds.
Gourds
The Hebrew word for gourd means "to rip," and also "to announce." We ask that God rip up any evil against us, and that our merits be announced or noticed.
Dates
The Hebrew word for dates evokes the word tam, "to end," and the hope that our enemies or any negativity will be finished. On a more positive note, dates, like pomegranates, are one of the Seven Species of Israel.
Holiday Recipe: Honey Bundt Cake
"The batter of this moist and delicious cake could also be baked in two loaf pans. Reduce baking time to 45 minutes. To make this even more special, dust with confectioners' sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon, or drizzle with warm honey before serving."
Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch Bundt cake
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3 apples - peeled, cored and shredded
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and oil. Beat in the eggs until light, then stir in the honey and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice; stir into the batter just until moistened. Fold in the apples and nuts.
Bake for 50 to 65 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the crown comes out clean. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a plate and tapping out of the pan.
