A Sort of Persian, Mostly Vegetarian Passover

Charoset
I finally wrangled an invitation to a Seder. For years I’ve only heard about the ceremony and the food, and finally this year I got to experience both. I also had the opportunity to help cook this one, so I was really excited.

 Table

Our hostess, Haven Bourque, decided on a Persian menu. There were several reasons for this: One was a recent musical outing, that inspired us to want to eat Persian food, one was an article in the New York Times, and one was a vegetarian on the guest list, and our own veggie leanings.

 

Here’s the menu:

 

First Course:

 

Seder plate—in the Persian tradition green onions are on the table for the guests to beat one another with. Yep, that’s right. It symbolizes the sting of the whips of the Egyptian slaveholders. Rather fun and they do sting!

 

The charoset was wonderful. Lots of delicious dried fruits, cardamom, and pistachios.

 Beet_soup

Second Course:

Beet soup—very simple vegetarian version made with beets and leeks and balanced with champagne vinegar and then garnished with lebne and cilantro.

 Deviled_eggs

Third Course:

Smoked salmon

Asparagus roasted in a blazing hot oven with olive oil and salt

Deviled Eggs

 

Mainish Course:

 Grape_leaves

Two types of grape leaves—one with lamb and rice and one with rice and dried fruit from the recipe in the New York Times above

 Prepping_chokes

Roasted/braised baby artichokes: Quartered and roasted with salt, olive oil, thyme sprigs, and sliced lemons until brown and then oven-braised in white wine.

 Artichokes_before

Dessert:

Flourless chocolate cake and macaroons from La Farine and illegal for Passover baklava from Zand’s. Best baklava I’ve ever had. I finally understand why people eat baklava.

 

The ceremony was great. It was a secular humanist Passover and we sung songs of social justice while drinking plenty of wine.

 

Hope I get invited back next year!

 

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This entry was posted in Food and Drink, community, entertaining, from the market, healthy, holidays. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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  1. [...] an ultimate dinner needs multiple courses, we had a simple garlic soup with a poached egg that Haven gave me the recipe for. Couldn’t be easier. Just sauté tons and tons of sliced garlic in olive [...]

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