Aubergines char directly on a gas flame or under a hot grill until the skin is uniformly black and the flesh is collapsed inside. Steamed briefly under foil; peeled. Flesh chops, then mashes (don't blend, the texture is the point) with tahini, lemon, garlic, salt. Plate; pool olive oil; scatter pomegranate seeds and parsley.
A stiff bread dough - much firmer than sandwich bread - kneaded long, given a first rise, divided and shaped into rings, cold-proofed overnight in the fridge for flavour development, then boiled briefly in a sweetened water bath before baking. The boil sets the crust and gives the characteristic shiny mahogany surface; the bake finishes the inside. Topped with seeds while wet so they stick.
Strong bread flour worked with eggs, honey, oil, salt and warm water until the dough is smooth and elastic. Two long rises, the first slack and the second tight after braiding. A six-strand braid if you're showing off, three-strand if you want the loaf made before the candles. Brushed with egg yolk for the lacquer-deep crust, scattered with sesame or poppy seeds, baked until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
The Ashkenazi version, simplest and most common in northern Europe and the United States: tart apples chopped fine, walnuts crushed coarse, cinnamon, a little brown sugar, and sweet kosher red wine to bind. Stirred together and left for the flavours to meld. Some households add a pinch of ground ginger or a squeeze of lemon. There are dozens of regional variants (Sephardi versions use dates and figs); this one is the most familiar at a North American seder.
Dried chickpeas soak overnight, do not cook them. Blitz with onion, garlic, herbs and spices to a coarse green paste. Rest for 1 hour. A pinch of baking powder mixes in just before frying. Shape into balls; deep-fry at 175°C 4 minutes until darkly crusted. Stuffed into pita with hummus, tahina, salata, pickles.
Dried chickpeas soak overnight with a teaspoon of baking soda. Cook for 60-75 minutes with baking soda until very soft. Reserve a small handful of whole chickpeas as garnish. Blend hot chickpeas with garlic, lemon, salt, ice cubes (yes, they help the emulsion) and a generous quantity of good tahini. Result: smooth, silky, pale-gold. Plate in a wide bowl; swirl with the back of a spoon; top with chickpeas, paprika, parsley, olive oil, cumin.
Vegetables are diced into uniform 5 mm cubes, knife work matters. Lemon juice, olive oil and salt are the only dressing; sometimes a teaspoon of sumac or a clove of crushed garlic. Eaten freshly made; doesn't keep, the cucumbers weep.
Red bell peppers char briefly under the grill, skin peels off. Tomatoes (fresh or tinned) and the peeled peppers blend coarse. Chopped garlic, hot green chilli and oil heat in a wide pan; the tomato-pepper mix joins. Cooks down slow 75 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very thick and jammy. Paprika, cumin, salt, sugar fold in late.
Wide egg noodles cooked just past al dente, drained and tossed in butter so they don't clump. A custard of cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar and cinnamon is whisked smooth and folded through the noodles with golden raisins. The mixture goes into a buttered baking dish, gets a generous topping of crushed cornflakes (or cinnamon-sugar crumbs) and a dot of butter, then bakes low and slow until the custard sets and the top is mahogany-brown. Cut into squares while warm.
Babka - at its sweet best as the chocolate version - turns out to be a wonderful vehicle for savoury fillings. The dough is the same enriched milk-and-butter base: pillow-soft, gold-yellow, kneaded long until it pulls smooth. The filling here is pesto (basil or, in season, ramp/wild garlic) and a generous grating of sharp cheddar. The dough rolls into a long log, gets sliced lengthways down the middle so the cut sides face up, then twisted into a rope and curled into a wreath on the tray. Risen, egg-washed, baked. The cut faces of the twist open as it bakes, exposing layered green-and-yellow swirls.
A simple yeasted dough, flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, warm water. Rises for 1 hour. Divides into 8 portions; rolls into thin discs about 18 cm wide; rests for 20 minutes. Baked at maximum heat on a hot baking stone 2-3 minutes, they puff dramatically into balloons and fall flat as they cool, leaving a pocket.
Three ingredients carry this dish: potato, onion, oil. The potatoes are grated coarse and squeezed bone-dry - this is the only step that really matters; wet potato gives a soggy kugel. The onions are sliced fine and fried slow until deep gold, drawing out their sweetness. Both go into a wide bowl with an egg, garlic powder, salt and a generous slug of the still-warm onion oil, mixed quickly so the egg doesn't scramble. The tin gets a thin layer of more hot oil - the heat of the tin is what creates the dark crust on the underside, the signature of a good kugel. Mixture poured in, smoothed flat, baked at high heat until the top is dark brown and the inside is set but still tender.
A rich yeasted dough, flour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, milk and a splash of vanilla. Long first rise for 1 hour. Roll to 1 ½ cm thick; stamp 6 cm rounds; second rise for 30 minutes. Fry at 175°C 2 minutes per side. Drain; inject jam into the centre with a piping bag; dust heavily with icing sugar.
Ready-rolled puff pastry cut into squares; a generous spoon of a three-cheese filling on one corner of each; the opposite corner folded across to form a triangle; edges pressed and crimped with a fork to lock the filling in. Brushed with beaten egg, scattered with sesame, baked hot until puffed and deeply gold. The filling stays soft and salty against the buttery crisp pastry. To eat them properly, split each triangle along the long folded side and stuff with a slice of hard-boiled egg, a smear of harissa and a few pickled cucumber rounds - the classic Tel Aviv bakery breakfast.
Carrots, sweet potatoes and prunes are layered in a baking dish with butter or oil, honey, brown sugar, orange juice and a stick of cinnamon. Covered and roasted low until the vegetables soften and absorb the sweet braising liquid, then uncovered for the last fifteen minutes so the top catches and the juices reduce to a syrup. The dish is sweet on purpose: it is the food of a hopeful festival.