Rosh Hashanah Seder
Like the better-known seder, the main difficultly in putting together the Rosh Hashanah seder is finding and remembering everything. Fortunately, there are plenty of substitutions, and most Ashkenazim will settle for just apples and honey. For the order of operations and blessings, see A Family Seder for Rosh Hashanah or various similar documents online.
Ingredients
- Honey (including enough for making the challah)
- Dates
- Pomegranate
- Beans (black eyed peas)
- Apples
- Pumpkin or gourd
- Leek or scallion
- Beet
- Sheep or fish head
Other notable items are:
- wine
- grape juice or other wine alternatives
- bowl(s) for honey
- challah, preferably round with honey and raisins
Instructions
- Make the challah (see Rosh Hashanah variant).
- Wash, slice, and/or check the appropriate fruit and place in small bowls.
- Cook the vegetables in bite-sized pieces, or retrieve enough pieces for the guests out of the tzimmes. See Lemon Blossoms for help with beets.
- Cook the fish or sheep’s head.
- Pour honey into bowls or fancier honey holders.
A Rosh Hashanah Menu
Here are some menu ideas mixed together from various years. Often my choice of dishes is intended to use up the excess seder ingredients.
- All of the previously mentioned items
- Pasta Fagioli with the black-eyed peas, moqueca, spicy pumpkin soup (the leek variant), Italian wedding soup, or another soup chosen to use up seder extras
- Green salad
- A seasonal starch of some sort such as Couscous Stuffed Squash, Carrot and Raisin Basmati Rice, rice kugel, a wild rice pilaf like Wild Rice with Carrots and Beets, or Stuffed peppers
- Tzimmes (the Rosh Hashanah variant)
- Briskette or Crockpot Briskette (about ⅓ lb. per person, more if you want any leftover), or Stufadin (Cucina Ebraica p.145)
- Non-dairy Pumpkin Pie, Apple pie, Apple cake, or honey cake
If possible, make the brisket, dessert, and whatever else you can manage a day ahead.
Warm up anything cooked ahead at the appropriate point of the meal, if necessary.
