Jewish Brunch for Non-Jewish People

A Bountiful Spread Celebrating Food & Tradition

What do you get when you combine a group of creative, quick-witted, wine drinking girl friends with the prospect of an impromptu holiday party--a delicious feast with a theme, of course! As we sat around our dear friend Faith's living room, we passed around ideas (along with several bottles of Cabernet) of what the brunch would entail..."I'll head to Miller's East Coast Deli for lox and bagels," said Carmen. "I'll make the latkes!" I volunteered. "Hot pastramis on rye!" chimed Camille. "Faith will hand sew yamakas!" came an anonymous shout from the circle.

Laughter ensued, as well as Faith's decline on the arts and crafts project. In the end, we decided to focus our celebration on traditional Jewish foods and forgo any desperate attempts at a traditional Jewish Hanukkah. And thus, "Hanukkah Brunch by the Christmas Tree" was born.

When The Editor and I arrived at Camille and Joe's, our hosts du jour, Camille was diligently manning the oven, Mimosa (not kosher) in hand. Her first batch of hot pastramis on rye were almost ready to be pulled, and I was ready to pounce. The fresh rye bread oozing with Swiss cheese speckled with stone ground mustard was beckoning me. One bite, and I was hooked. The light rye loaf from Arizmendi Bakery combined with the salty, smoky pastrami from Arguello Super Market (known for their outstandingly high quality deli meats and sandwiches), were the perfect base ingredients for these highly addictive sandwiches.

Hot pastrami on rye. You can't stop at one!

Bagels and cream cheese and lox--oh my!

Carmen was next with her stunning display of many-flavored bagels, cream cheeses, lox and a full spread of accompaniments. As I approached the table, I felt as though I had just stepped into a full-on Jewish buffet.

Carmen's edible masterpiece

Not to be outdone, Faith presented her Muhammara (Moo-HAHM-mer-ah) dish. The sweet and spicy Syrian dip is made from dried red peppers*, walnuts, breadcrumbs and olive oil, Muhammara gets its distinct flavor with the addition of pomegranate molasses (can be found at some Whole Foods, middle eastern grocery stores or click here for a recipe to make your own) and Indian spices like cumin. Faith served hers with salted whole wheat pita triangles.

Thick, spicy

*Faith used roasted red peppers in her recipe.


My contribution included: 1) Apple Crisp - Kosher, so far as I can tell; 2) Israeli Couscous Salad - I believe the consensus was kosher, but the more traditional version is made sans the grains (couscous); 3) Cantine Riondo Spago Prosecco (Magnum-style) - Non-kosher. According to Jewish lore, all grape products must be produced by a Jewish person. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this

Latkes...a Jewish food staple

one...was not. 4) Latkes! That's right, those delicious, four ingredient, glorified tator tots were made by hand in my kitchen. Latkes (and other fried treats) are especially important at Hanukkah because they serve as a reminder of the oil that burned during the 8-day celebration of Jerusalem's victory over Syria-Greece. We served two different varieties: Plain and Zucchini-Potato hybrid. Guests loved both equally and topped them with their choice of traditional sour cream or apple sauce. Scrumptious as they are--oy vey!--those pan-fried potato pancakes are quite the laborious snack. Good thing The Editor was on-hand to help peel and grate 2 lbs of Russets. Very kosher!

HE'BREW, The Chosen Beer

Bargain in a bottle

In case you haven't noticed, Jewish brunches are carbo-licious. To wash all of our starchy kosher goodness down, The Editor picked up the most kosher brew on the shelves, HE'BREW, by Schmaltz Brewing Company. We imbibed on the Messiah Bold, according to Schmaltz, "a deep, bold nut brown ale beautifully balanced with rich dark malts and a complex hop character."


And since there was only so much HE'BREW to go around, we also indulged in many a Mimosa and a full Bloody Mary bar. Once again, I pulled through with a magnum of sparkling to keep us...bubbly. This time, I bought the Riondo Spago Nero Prosecco, a gem of a sparkler at a steal price, $12.99 at World Market. If you are looking for a deliciously kosher wine to try this season, pick up a bottle of Yarden. They carry a wide variety of reds and whites (and a Blanc de Blancs!) at a affordable prices produced in the Golan Heights region of Israel.

DIY Bloody Mary Bar

Some might say we have a lot of chutzpah to throw a party like this. But we like to think our Jewish brunch-athon was a classy, delicious affair. With the Christmas tree shining, we toasted to a "celebration of lights" all our own. There were no dreidels, no menorah, but in reality, we probably couldn't "light a candle" next to a proper Hanukkah. So, we stuck to what we know--food--in all its forms. Shalom!

L'chayim!