Passover begins on April 12th, so I’m menu planning.
The dinner is centered on a ritual. The ritual is a Seder. The word Seder means order. While there’s flexibility to create a personally meaningful seder, we generally retell the story of the exodus from Egypt step by step.
For those unfamiliar with Passover, the centerpiece on everyone’s table is a Seder Plate. It is filled with food symbolic of the experiences of Jews in Egypt: a roasted egg, symbolizing the cycles of life and renewal, a lamb shank to represent the lamb sacrificed during the Exodus, salt water for tears, haroseth for the mortar used to build the pyramids, parsley for spring and renewal, and horseradish for the bitter tears we shed. And of course matzoh- representing the rapid departure from Egypt. Our seder’s have a progressive, feminist bent, so we include oranges to honor the role of women and LGBTQ+ individuals in Jewish life and olives for Palestine. And this year, we’ll add pineapple to represent support for refugees and immigrants. For vegetarians, tofu can stand in for a bone.
Because my reality is filtered through a lens of Chinese Medicine, I fold in these principles throughout our seders.
Chinese Herbal Medicine emphasizes the flavors of herbs. In Chinese medicine, flavors are actions.
Acrid, spicy flavors are dynamic and moving. Think garlic, cinnamon, watercress. Feeling stuck? We use acrid herbs to move qi.
Sweet flavors nourish and moisten us. Think fruit and grains: the taste of carbohydrates. Feeling depleted? We’ll emphasize tonifying herbs that have sweeter flavors.
Sour flavors are gathering and fluid-sparing. Sour is citrus, yogurt, and pickles. Feeling scattered or excessively sweaty? It’s a call to use sour herbs.
Salty flavors are grounding and softening. We use seaweeds and also various minerals for this. We refer to grounded people as “the salt of the earth.”
Finally, bitter flavors are often antibacterial and antiviral, so we might use them for infections. Bitters are heat-clearing, so we use them to treat reflux. Finally, bitters calm agitation and anxiety. The realm of their action is vast: The most common bitter in the American diet is coffee. But herbs like dandelion and parsley are commonly eaten.
This summary barely scratches the surface of this topic. But I’m describing it to bring you into my process around holiday meals and the intersection of thoughts, emotions, food, and life experiences.
This is a heated time in American History. Nearly everyone I encounter is upset, anxious, and angry. One of the ways we can help our patients manage their energy is by using formulas containing bitter herbs that help alleviate fan xie, vexation and agitation.
A Seder plate features horseradish. Yes, it’s bitter, but it’s also spicy. Translated through the lens of Chinese Medicine, we might say it’s both calming and mobilizing. I think it meets the energy of the moment.
So, what am I cooking this year?
My upbringing was untraditional, and because of that, I don’t feel locked into a set menu based on the dishes of my childhood. This gives me tremendous freedom to follow my mood and inspiration.
My mood for this year is for a meal that feels light and refreshing. I’ve just returned from Copenhagen- the land of bread with cheese served with butter.
So, I’m craving clean, bright flavors. This year, I’m drawn to Joan Nathan’s recipe for Saffron Fish with Preserved Lemon.
I like that the recipe has salty and sour lemons and olives. Let’s just say it matches my mood.
Joan curates exquisite recipes from the Jewish diaspora, and we are fortunate that many of them are shared on the NY Times cooking app.
Saffron Fish with Preserved Lemon.
Yield: 4 to 8 servings
- A few pinches to ½ teaspoon saffron strands
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 red bell peppers, trimmed, quartered, seeded, then halved crosswise
- 1 large red or yellow onion, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 bunch cilantro, leaves and delicate stems separated and chopped
- Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
- 8 skinless fish fillets (about 4 ounces each), such as salmon, sea bass, striped bass, whitefish, or rockfish
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- ¼ cup pitted Kalamata or green Moroccan olives
- 1 preserved lemon, rinsed, chopped (peel and flesh), and seeded (or the juice of 1 fresh lemon)
PREPARATION
Step 1
Pour 2 cups of boiling water into a bowl and sprinkle with the saffron strands. Use a spoon to press the saffron strands against the side of the bowl to release the flavor. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside.
Step 2
Heat the oil in a large skillet over low. Add the bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, and cilantro stems, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is transparent.
Step 3
Nestle the fish into the vegetables and sprinkle with the paprika, red pepper flakes (if using), one teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Pour the prepared saffron water over everything. (You can do all of this in advance for 1 day and refrigerate until ready to finish.)
Step 4
When ready to cook, add the olives and preserved lemon (if using — but if using fresh lemon, that will come in Step 5). Bring the mixture to a boil over high, reduce to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, basting the fish every 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the cilantro leaves during the last few minutes of cooking.
Step 5
Taste for seasoning and serve, setting the fish on the vegetables. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice; if not, use the preserved lemon. Serve warm or at room temperature.
The rest of the menu follows a similar script to all:
Matzah ball soup, the seder plate, a bitter green salad, and so on.
After the Seder, this year will be just like Festivus: we’ll have an “Airing of the Grievances .”Oy. Now, more than ever, there’s much to discuss regarding freedom and slavery.
May we all be happy and free.
With great love and peace on earth,
Cara
