Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year celebration, begins at sundown on October 2. All over the country, Jewish families, including mine, will gather with friends and family to recite the holiday blessings, break bread and wish one another “L’shana tovah:” a sweet new year! With less than a month to go, it is not too early to start planning your Rosh Hashanah menu.
Rosh Hashanah comes at a time of year when fall fruits and vegetables are at their peak, making it easy to plan a delicious and seasonal menu. Because we leave nothing to chance, Jewish families celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which means the “head of the year,” with a meal full of sweet foods to symbolize our hope that the coming year be a sweet one. For example, many families begin Rosh Hashanah dinner by dipping slices of apple in honey.
Other foods are traditional for Rosh Hashanah because eating them is considered to be a good omen for the new year, bringing luck and prosperity. These traditions are often based on the foods’ names and plays on other Hebrew words or a food’s color and appearance.
One fall vegetable that graces many Rosh Hashanah tables are carrots. In Yiddish, the word for carrots is very similar to the word for “many.” So, we eat carrots to express our hope that the coming year will be a prosperous one and will bring many blessings. Make sense? Okay, not really. But it is a tradition nonetheless.
Luckily, carrots are kind of trendy right now. Yes, carrots! Look for carrots with the green tops still attached – they have the best flavor – and seek out some heirloom varieties in different hues of yellow, orange and even purple at your local farmers market. I find that roasting brings out carrots’ natural sweetness. Add a sweet-tart glaze made with pomegranate molasses and honey — another traditional Rosh Hashanah food — and you have carrots worthy of a holiday meal.
Pomegranate molasses, a common Middle Eastern ingredient, is simply pomegranate juice that has been reduced to a thick sauce. It resembles nothing so much as Balsamic vinegar. You will find it at better grocery stores or you can make it yourself by cooking down pomegranate juice until syrupy. After Rosh Hashanah is over, don’t forget that bottle of pomegranate molasses! Try it in drinks, salad dressing or as a glaze for meat.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs carrots, preferably with the tops attached, peeled
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 TB pomegranate molasses
- 2 TB honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Peel the carrots and trim the green tops. Wash well.
- Arrange carrots on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil.
- Roast carrots until tender and browned, about thirty-five minutes, turning once.
- In a small saucepan, combine the pomegranate molasses and honey and bring to a simmer. Simmer five minutes until slightly reduced and thickened.
- Drizzle pomegranate and honey glaze over roasted carrots. Season well with salt and pepper and serve.
