In Pikesville, Mosi Treuhaft is busy preparing trays of latkes for Hanukkah catering orders at Knish Shop — but this year, he said, many customers are ordering them “loaded,” with pastrami, corn and jalapeños in a cheeseless, kosher homage to nachos.
Hanukkah begins on Sunday, and at some of the Baltimore area’s longstanding Jewish restaurants, menu offerings for the eight-day Jewish holiday look a bit different from those of 10 years ago. Several of these restaurateurs say that they are more focused on innovating classic Jewish dishes than ever — whether by giving them modern spins or by embracing global flavors. Both Jewish and non-Jewish diners, Treuhaft said, are craving novelty.
“We research all day in the market to find things to make people’s eyeballs pop out,” he said. “We want them to come in and say, ‘Really? This is kosher?’”
For the past 26 years, Treuhaft has been focused on expanding diners’ perceptions of kosher food. Hannukah, also referred to as the “festival of lights,” is an apt time to experiment in the kitchen. Some of Treuhaft’s latest concoctions have included loaded latkes, donut burgers and “Chanukah Subs” with fried salami and schnitzel.
But he isn’t the only one pushing the boundaries of “Jewish food.” At kosher bakery Pariser’s in Fallstaff, owner Mordechai Margalit has crafted 30 flavor varieties of traditional Hanukkah donuts, or sufganiyot, including those filled with s’mores ingredients, cookies-and-cream and Dubai chocolate. Similarly, at Brewers Hill restaurant Gunther & Co., guests will find creative cocktails with beet juice and roasted olive fat-washed vodka alongside classic latkes and brisket on the Hanukkah dinner menu.
“We don’t hold anything sacred. We really want to make delicious food,” said Nancy Hart Trice, director of operations at Brewers Hill restaurant Gunther & Co. Although she said that many of the dishes on this year’s Hanukkah menu “nod to tradition… we really want people to just come experience something that maybe they’ve never had before.”
Margalit admitted that he gleans some inspiration for his more trendy baked good concepts from social media — a phenomenon that, in and of itself, is new terrain.
“We, today, generate a lot from the non-kosher world,” he said. “In the olden days, there was only your shtetl [Yiddish for “small town”]. Today, you’re inspired from all over the world.”
Marc Attman, owner of Baltimore's landmark Attman's Delicatessen, said that customers have craved more variety as the years have passed.
Jewish communities exist internationally — and while Ashkenazi food, from Central and Eastern Europe, has become synonymous with “Jewish food” in America, chefs and diners in Baltimore are beginning to expand its definition to include Sephardic food, from the Iberian Peninsula, and Mizrahi food, from North African and Middle Eastern countries. At Gunther & Co., the Hanukkah menu also includes Moroccan-influenced red-wine-braised lamb shank, and at Knish Corner, Treuhaft said Tunisian shakshouka, a spiced stew with eggs and tomatoes, is a popular catering order.
“Who the hell knew what shakshouka was 10 years ago?” said Treuhaft. “But today, people want shakshouka. They want good food.”
Treuhaf said he likes to challenge himself to make well-researched kosher versions of international dishes, and that these choices are often a hit during the holidays. In the past, he’s tried his hand at Italian and Mexican cuisine and, recently, he made a Kosher sushi board in the shape of a menorah for someone’s Hanukkah party.
“Jews are are no longer eating gefilte fish out of a can,” he said. “They’ve gone all over the world, and they demand that food.”
At Attman’s Delicatessen, owner Marc Attman said he “increased some of the choices” due to customers’ desire for “a little bit more variety” at the 110-year-old Jewish deli, including adding a shrimp salad onto the menu.
However, Attman said one of the deli’s principal missions is “keeping the Jewish tam,” the Yiddish word for “taste.” This year, he estimates that across the three Attman’s locations, the deli will pump out 2,000 latkes for Hanukkah.
“The recipes from your grandmother that you grew up with — that’s what Jewish food is,” said Attman. “It’s a consistent, generational taste.”
Treuhaft believes that, this Hanukkah season, there’s room for everything on the table.
“People want to eat some of the traditional foods, but they also want pulled beef in their donuts,” he said. “It’s making life much more exciting and less one-dimensional.”
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