Oy, am I in a pickle?

September 15, 2009 7:59 PM

Rosh Hashanah at a friend's home and I've promised to bring food or beverage, but there's a problem.

Friends have invited me to services at their home on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and I've promised to bring food or beverage. But there's a problem. I'm a recent convert and have attended services only in the synagogue, so I'm not sure what to expect. I volunteered to bring some food or wine, which may have been an error since some other invitees might be Orthodox. We have no kosher grocers or synagogue within 200 miles. Oy, am I in a pickle? What shall I bring?

posted by Smalltown Girl to Religion & Philosophy (11 answers total)

Apples and honey are classic, as are baked goods based on them. Some people who keep kosher will eat milk-and-pareve foods made in non-kosher households, if you'd like to bake. In that isolated an area, you are likely safe with other guests, who keep kosher but not carefully when out of the house, or who keep kosher and thus bring their own food. You can of course ask the host if bringing foods you make in your own non-kosher home is acceptable.

I like to make challah (which is often round for the new year) and serve it with honey.
posted by jeather at 8:10 PM on September 15, 2009

This may not count, but it can supplement anything else:

It's traditional to eat a new fruit on Rosh Hashana in order to say the blessing of שהחינו. A pomegranate is commonly used, although it can be any new, interesting, fruit.

Actually, just re-read your post and noticed that you're going on the first day, the new fruit is for the second night. It's still within the spirit of the holiday, though.
posted by mhz at 8:14 PM on September 15, 2009

I am totally not Jewish, but here's a High-Holiday Menu from Epicurious, which is always hella classy on the food advice. In particular, this Spiced-Up Honey Cake is kosher and theme-appropriate and tasty sounding. Here's another Honey Cake recipe; the writing on Smitten Kitchen makes every recipe more enjoyable to me.

Going non-traditional, here, a couscous and vegetable salad dressed in olive oil would be completely safe (no meat, no dairy, no nothing) and can be made ahead and served cold.

Again, I am totally not Jewish, so feel free to lambaste me if I got something wrong.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:38 PM on September 15, 2009

IAAJ, but IANAOJ. You don't need a kosher grocer, just go vegetarian. If you're buying any packaged ingredients, look for a symbol showing its kosher. The best one is one with a U inside a circle. Many many standard brands have this symbol. Otherwise, stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, and cook them yourself (using a pan that has not been used to cook unkosher meat). If you do that, you'll be completely fine bringing your food to a gathering with orthodox jews.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 8:47 PM on September 15, 2009

First off, welcome to the tribe! Second off, don't fret. I'd suggest asking your friend if strict kashrut is required for either food or wine. The fact that there's no synagogue in your area suggests to me that it's unlikely your friend's other guests will be Orthodox (unless they are houseguests), since observant Orthodox Jews will not drive on a holiday or shabbat.

But in any event, there's no harm in asking. As someone who keeps kosher, if I ever ask anyone to bring something over, I always explain things in advance. Presumably your friend would do the same, though s/he might have made an oversight, so definitely ask.

If for some reason strict kashrut is required, then I'd go with the suggestion of whole, uncut fruit, as fruit does not need to be certified kosher. (If your friend keeps kosher, and you don't, and they're having strictly observant guests, then it may be best to do the preparation - ie, cutting stuff up, if need be - at your friend's house, since their utensils will be kosher.)

If you want to get honey to go with apples, just get a bottle which has a hechsher. You may already know about this, but in case not, many products sold in North America are certified kosher by a variety of different organizations. The most common are shown at the top of this page. You will find certified products at every supermarket. Since apples & honey are so super-traditional, there's a good chance your friend is already planning to prepare this, so you might want to inquire about bringing something else.

P.S. If you are looking for a good, general guide on kashrut, the best book I've come across is Lise Stern's "How to Keep Kosher." She takes a good, non-preachy approach, and also explains both Conservative and Orthodox views on the subject.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:53 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

A regular old wine store will have some kosher wines, I'm sure -- see if they have any that aren't sweet, and everyone will be pleased at the novelty. (You want a wine marked "mevushal," btw, if some guests keep kosher.)

Have fun, and L'shanah tovah!
posted by palliser at 9:00 PM on September 15, 2009

To clarify what palliser said: Wine can be certified as "kosher" or as "kosher - mevushal." You can read more about what mevushal means here, but just know that it's a very strict standard, and liquor stores which stock kosher wine might not carry any mevushal wine. If your friend wants you to bring mevushal wine, then that's something they'd really need to make clear - they can't just assume that's what you'd bring. (I've sometimes been asked to bring kosher wine by Orthodox friends, but never mevushal.) Also, you don't really want to bring mevushal wine unless absolutely necessary, as the quality is poor.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:10 PM on September 15, 2009

When I am bringing stuff to a place where there might be strict people, I will often get packaged food (cookies?) and leave it IN the package when I bring it. It's sort of a courtesy because then people can see the hechser themselves. Even normal groceries should have plenty of kosher packaged goods because so many big brands are certified kosher. Otherwise, given everything you've said, anyone who's really strict will probably either bring food themselves or otherwise not be that strict outside the home. Nthing going dairy/pareve though.
posted by eleanna at 9:57 PM on September 15, 2009

I had a somewhat related question.
posted by salvia at 11:06 PM on September 15, 2009

Conrad is probably right; I'm in the unusual situation of being unfamiliar with any level of kashrut but a super-strict one (secular family with one ultra-Orthodox member).
posted by palliser at 6:26 AM on September 16, 2009

I completely agree with palliser and Conrad Cornelius. Bring a kosher wine.

I wouldn't bring challah or apples and honey. That's something they're likely to already have on hand and if folks keep strict kashrut, they may not eat challah you've made if you're not working in a kosher kitchen.

That being said, l'shana tova tikatevu!
posted by Sophie1 at 7:48 AM on September 16, 2009