Levana Kirschenbaum hates garlic powder with a vengeance. Calling it her nemesis, she said recently that you will never find the offensive substance in her recipes, because once exposed to air, it quickly goes rancid.
That was just one of the tips the groundbreaking chef shared last month at a cooking demonstration and dinner at Congregation Chevra Thilim in San Francisco.
Kirschenbaum is a pioneer in kosher cooking. In the late 1970s on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, she and two in-laws opened Levana Restaurant — arguably the nation’s first upscale kosher restaurant. Kirschenbaum was the co-owner there for 32 years, until it closed in 2009, and an inspiration for other chefs and restaurants that followed.
Now a popular cookbook author with a devoted following, she was brought to Chevra Thilim, a Modern Orthodox shul in the Richmond District, by Chani Zarchi, the wife of the synagogue’s rabbi. Zarchi said she had fond memories of eating at Levana for a special occasion meal in New York many years ago.
Referencing the lack of kosher restaurant options in San Francisco, Zarchi told the audience: “Tonight’s dinner will be the best kosher meal you’ll have in San Francisco, except in your own kitchen.”
Later, Zarchi explained why bringing Kirschenbaum to her shul was a no-brainer. “We wanted to show people how kosher could be original, tasty, healthy and creative,” she said. “Having the opportunity to share that with the Chevra community was a great chance not to be missed.”
During the three-hour demo, Kirschenbaum whipped up five dishes (with some behind the scenes help, of course): Mushroom Chestnut Soup; Moroccan Spicy Lettuce Chick Pea Salad; Turkey with Jasmine Chocolate Sauce; Curried Kale, Cauliflower, Pumpkin Latka Wedges with Homemade Apple Sauce; and a Peanut Butter Chocolate Tarte with Cranberry Coulis for dessert.
If you’re thinking Thanksgivukkah — seems like ancient history, doesn’t it? — you’d be right.
Perhaps more entertaining than watching her cook was listening to her zingers, one after another. Examples: “Got a sugar daddy for me?” when asked whether she’d open a kosher restaurant in the Bay Area; “Dr. Praeger should be well, but his veggie burgers are terrible; ” and “Tofutti is a very nice guy, but he has a lot of hazerai [junk food] in it.”
Kirschenbaum, who was born in Morocco, also fired off this statement: “As a foreigner, I don’t understand it; most recipes for cooking turkey are pathetic. Is it any wonder people hate [preparing] turkey? They hate the slavery that comes with it.”
Her quips aside, I was pleased to learn that unlike some kosher chefs I’ve come across, Kirschenbaum uses only whole foods in her recipes, and in many cases, her recipes are gluten-free, or offer a gluten-free version.
According to the 2010 book “Kosher Nation,” Kirshenbaum was raised Orthodox but “fell away” from observance for a while, which allowed her to partake in a plethora of foods not available to a kosher eater. When she became observant again, she decided to bring fresh, unprocessed and interesting ingredients to kosher cooking.
Her latest self-published cookbook is called “The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen,” and she had harsh words for some of her fellow cookbook authors who use prepared cake mixes and other heavily processed ingredients in their recipes. “Cake mixes in a cookbook? Terrible,” she shuddered.
Kirschenbaum got a gasp or two when she used a hammer to gently force her chef’s knife through a sweet potato.
She admonished against using products like “cooking wine” or “cooking sherry,” saying those products were artificial. She often relies upon sake, she said, because its alcohol content (higher than wine) makes it shelf-stable for the time required to go through an entire bottle.
Also, she sings the praises of frozen vegetables — which she often relies upon to save time, since they don’t need to be washed, chopped or searched for bugs. “I’m a huge, huge fan,” she said. “In many instances, they are actually better than fresh.”
Given the prevalence of tiny bugs in leafy greens, which makes them unkosher, buying a package of frozen kale or spinach can be a huge time-saver, she noted. Also, she said, if you’re going to puree any such frozen vegetables, you don’t need a hechsher (kosher symbol) on them, according to her rabbi.
Kirschenbaum eschews using vegetable stock in her recipes, since she’s found a suitable alternative that saves a lot of time, and she doesn’t like the flavor of store-bought.
When she wants the flavor of chicken stock, she uses white miso (fermented Japanese soybean paste) and white wine, while dark miso and red wine imitate the flavor of beef stock, she said.
When it comes to salads, Kirschenbaum prefers platters rather than bowls to serve them. Otherwise, she said, “the upper leaves take all the dressing and oppress the lower leaves.”
While her latke turned more into a vegetable patty (deliberately, because of time constraints) and actually didn’t much resemble a latke at all, attendees raved about her chocolate tarte, amazed that such a rich dessert could be made with tofu.
“Tofu is the problem child of the culinary world,” she said, but its benefit is that it takes on whatever flavors you pair with it. Case in point: her Peanut Butter Chocolate Tarte with Cranberry Coulis. When she put the tofu in the food processor (which she called the “work horse of her kitchen,” in that few recipes don’t use it), she said, “Cream it like you mean it until it’s perfectly smooth.”
Here is Kirschenbaum’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Tarte recipe. More recipes and information about her cookbooks can be found at www.levanacooks.com.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Tarte with Cranberry Coulis
By Levana Kirschenbaum
This dessert has all possible assets besides being heavenly and totally wholesome: No baking needed, dairy-free, no eggs and easily adapted to gluten-free. You will be totally satisfied with a small serving: Mine yielded about 20 portions! For this recipe as for all chocolate recipes: Only the best, please! You’ll see the difference at dessert time, maybe even before, if you are one of those bakers who like to help with cleaning by licking the batter!
2 5-oz. packages graham crackers (Gluten-free: 1 1/2 8-oz. packages)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, best quality
1/2 cup pure cocoa powder
2 Tbs. instant coffee powder, decaf OK
1/4 rum or brandy (liquor stores)
1/2 cup sugar, or a drop more (taste the finished mixture before adding)
8-oz. container dairy-free cream cheese
1 lb. silken tofu, drained
2/3 cup peanut butter (Settle for another nut butter if you are accommodating peanut-allergic people)
In a food processor, finely grind the crackers with the oil. Press the mixture very firmly into a 12-inch pie plate.
On a very low flame, melt the chips, cocoa, coffee, rum and sugar (or microwave 2 minutes). Transfer to a food processor, with all remaining ingredients, and process until perfectly smooth, a full minute. Pour the mixture over the crust. Chill. Cut the pie in wedges. Serve with cranberry coulis, if desired, recipe follows.
Cook 2 cups fresh cranberries with 2 cups cranberry juice , 1/2 cup maple syrup or a little more, if needed), and 3 tablespoons Creme de Cassis for just a few minutes. Blend in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.
Alix Wall is a personal chef and freelance writer in Oakland. Send story ideas to her at [email protected].