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For thousands of years Jewish people have been gathering around the table on Friday nights to celebrate a humble but ancient ritual, the sabbath meal. The lighting of candles, the singing of simple blessings and the breaking of bread have been the unifying thread that has connected Jewish life across centuries and continents. In this multi-dinner series, Alissa Kondogiannis explores Shabbat dinners as they have evolved in Jewish communities around the world, e.g. Ashkenazi in Eastern Europe, Sephardi in Spain and North Africa, Mizrahi in the Middle East and Central Asia.We kick off with the food that is closest to Alissa’s heart, the flavours of her bubby’s cooking, Ashkenazi food born in the shtetls (Yiddish: “little towns”) of Northeastern Europe. This the most familiar kind of Jewish cooking in North America — things like matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket, challah and bagels — since the vast majority of Jews here are emigres from this tradition. Centuries of village life in Poland, Ukraine and Russia forged a sturdy, warming cuisine of deeply comforting dishes built from modest ingredients, perfect for a chilly February evening.
Note: this meal contains no dairy, as per the kosher prohibition of serving milk and meat at the same meal. That said, the brisket will not be sourced from a kosher butcher. All dishes except for the brisket are vegetarian.
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Challah
Whole, freshly-baked, braided challah breads for sharing at each table; an essential part of a Shabbos meal.
Deli Coleslaw and Pickled Veg
Plenty of cabbage and pickles speak the realities of Eastern European winters, and the preservation techniques that kept vegetables available all year long
Mushroom Barley Soup
Foraged mushrooms are an important part of the foodways of Eastern Europe, and hearty barley is one of the oldest domesticated grains in the world, cultivated in the region for millennia.
Slow Cooked Brisket with Onions
Beef brisket, with its large size and long cooking time, is more of a celebratory dish in Ashkenazi tradition for special occasion and big gatherings. In Jewish custom, the hindquarters of the steer is not kosher, meaning that Jews have always had fewer cuts to choose from. Brisket was also cheaper as its tough texture requires long, slow cooking at a low temperature, but this could be used to the advantage of Jewish cooks. They could set it to cook on Friday, leave it untouched on the Sabbath when work was prohibited, and then have it ready to eat on Sunday. Large scale immigration of Ashkenazi to the United States in the late nineteenth century saw brisket become a beloved part of New World Jewish cuisine, both traditionally slow-baked, and also with corned beef and pastrami becoming Jewish deli staples.
Vegetarian option: Jackfruit brisket; definitely not traditional, but very tasty nonetheless.
Kasha Varnishkes
Nutty buckwheat, another ancient grain, is combined with farfalle (“bow tie”) noodles, crispy caramelized cabbage, and onions in this now-classic American-Jewish dish, that evolved as a sort of deconstruction of Russian buckwheat dumplings.
Winter Vegetable Kugel
Kugel is an interesting dish, a sort of baked pudding based on either potatoes or noodles that can be either savoury or sweet. This savoury version features grated potato, parsnip, turnip, and onions combined to form the perfect casserole companion to our brisket dinner.
Poppyseed Babka
Babka, one of Alissa’s signature specialities, is a decadent, dessert version of challah, a tender bread loaf swirled through with a sweet filling — in this case a paste of poppy seeds — and lacquered with a shiny sugar glaze; served with fruit tea.
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$79 +HST
BOOK NOW: https://thedepanneur.ca/event/supper-club-gut-shabbos-by-alissa-kondogiannis/
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Alissa Kondogiannis loved eating challahs and babkas her whole life, but it was only after travelling that she really got on the path of making her own breads from scratch. Her aim is to introduce everyone to the joys of making bread, and show that people don’t have to be intimidated by yeasted doughs. She has been teaching babka classes for a number of years in Thornhill, where she runs a small catering business, Barnstar Kitchen.
@barnstarkitchen
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The Depanneur is a place where Interesting Food Things Happen. For more than a decade The Dep has been showcasing Toronto’s remarkable culinary diversity through thousands of unique food events as well as the forthcoming Depanneur Cookbook, featuring 100 recipes from 100 cooks. After more than 10 years at its iconic College Street location, The Dep is now bringing all new Interesting Food Things to exciting venues all across the GTA.
@thedepanneur
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The Depanneur, 184 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T, Canada,Toronto, Ontario
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