The Hunt For Jewish Food: SF Bay Area

The Zaslavsky family in Philadelphia c. 1915. My grandmother is the little girl on the left.

I have been drawn out of my blog posting lethargy by a recent bout of food sleuthing. Tasked (by myself) with producing a mini bar-mitzvah buffet extravaganza for my mother's extended family in Modesto, I was soon on the hunt for local sources for Jewish & Yiddish foods. The occasion was a reception in honor of the publication of the McHenry Museum and Historical Society Stanislaus Stepping Stones magazine issue dedicated to the history of my mother's family, the Zeff nee Zaslavsky clan who have lived in Modesto since about 1918.

My grandmother was the second of nine children, and the colorful, larger than life stories of her and her siblings were the stuff of my childhood- there was my grandmother, who never learned to drive after a mishap in the 1930's when she took husband Sidney's car out unaccompanied and ended up crashing through the front window of the ice cream shop four blocks down the street. Maurice, the surgeon, who met his wife Margaret, also a physician, when he was a patient at UCSF with a grievous back infection (before antibiotics) and she was the resident who took care of him. Uncle Willie, the Superior Court judge and friend of Earl Warren who married us. Aunt Sue, the aspiring actress who made Tallulah Bankhead jealous during an audition and forgot her cancan panties the day that the family came to watch her perform in the Cavalcade of the Americas at the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco.  Uncle Sam, her twin, who used to dance up the wall shouting "Look everybody, I'm Fred Astaire!" Uncle Babe, war hero, successful businessman and my father's golf buddy. Sadly, I never knew my great grandmother Pesse, who was the light of my mother's life. She passed away in 1942 from an adverse reaction to anesthesia during surgery.

My great grandfather Ben Zeff, his second wife Vally, and most of their children and grandchildren.

Sophisticated as the foodie scene may be around here, the Bay Area, unfortunately is known for its dearth of delis. So, it is with great pleasure that I share my menu, the sources that I discovered, and a few Zeff family recipes.

Best Sources:
Corned Beef, Pastrami, Corn Rye Bread, Chocolate Babka: 
Wise Sons Deli   3150 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110  (415) 787-3354
Runner-up: Corn Rye & Chocolate Babka-
Your local Trader Joe's, believe it or not! Know that the Chocolate Babka is stocked seasonally.                                                                      
Smoked Salmon:
Bi-Rite Market   3639 18th St,  San Francisco, CA 94110-1531  (415) 241-9760; 2nd location- 550 Divisadero St., SF (415) 551-7900
Salmon is cold smoked in-house
Runner-up:
Spence & Co. Nova Lox at your neighborhood Whole Foods.
Kosher Salami:
Hebrew National at Draeger's Markets (San Mateo, Menlo Park, Los Altos & Danville)
Smoked Turkey, Pickled Herring, & German-style mustards:
Dittmer's Gourmet Meats & Wurst-Haus   4540 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA 94022,
(650) 941-3800 Don't get all excited when you see their corned beef and pastrami; it's made from top round and is way too lean! And make them slice the turkey for you fresh.
Runner-up: Pickled Herring- Blue Hill bay brand on sale in 26 oz. jars at Costco
I was able to order challah and bagels from these sources through my local grocery store which was much appreciated, as it cut down on the last minute running around.
Challah:
Esther's German Bakery  987 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, CA 94022  (650) 941-4463
Esther's also delivers to groceries in San Francisco and on the Peninsula, and sells at local farmers markets, listed on her webpage.
Bagels:
House of Bagels   5030 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, Ca (415) 752-6000
Also House of Bagels-Mountain View located at 1712-D Miramonte Ave, Mountain View, CA, 94040 (650) 694-4888
These bagels have that tough water bagel crust and a soft interior, delicious with cream cheese!
Izzy's Brooklyn Bagels   477 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306  (650) 329-0700
Izzy's bagels have a softer and squishier exterior. Best fresh from the oven!
Overall, best stocked Kosher foods department:
Mollie Stone's Markets (Nine locations in Marin, San Francisco & on the Peninsula)
Fresh matzo, frozen chicken schmaltz(!), Kosher meats, chocolates, etc. etc. Where Bay Area families who actually keep kosher shop.

The buffet table

Recipes

To delve further into the history and many delights of Jewish cuisine, consult The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden, winner of the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year award. So fun to look up a recipe and read that your mother's version is "Ukrainian style," which was exactly where the family emigrated from.

Jewish Chopped Liver
You either love it or you hate it. I hadn't cooked chicken livers in over twenty years and found them to be a little disgusting, but the results won raves from happy eaters.

3-4 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) (See Note)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed
1 cup flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Matzo, for serving

In a very large skillet, melt the butter and 1/4 cup of the chicken fat. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and just starting to brown, about 10 minutes.

Wash the liver, drain well, and pat dry on paper towels. Combine the salt and pepper with the flour in a pie plate. Dredge the livers in the flour mixture and add them to the skillet. Cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until barely pink inside, but crusty on the outside, about 8 minutes.

Put the hardboiled eggs in the bowl of a food process and process until crumbly and put them in a medium-size mixing bowl. (You can also hand chop them.) Scrape the livers into the bowl of the food processor and let cool slightly.  Pulse until the livers are finely chopped but not completely smooth. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken fat and pulse to combine. Season to taste with more with salt and pepper.

Transfer the chicken liver to the bowl with the eggs and gently stir together. Taste again for salt and pepper. Press plastic wrap onto the surface and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes. Serve with the matzo.

Chicken Schmaltz
Trim the raw chicken skin and fat from chickens before roasting and save it in the freezer until there is enough to render.

Put the fat and a little water in a small saucepan and cook slowly (1 ½-2 hours, depending on the quantity). Throw in a sliced onion and cook the schmaltz until the onion and cracklings are light brown. Cool the schmaltz and then strain it into a jar while it is still liquid.

Sourcing schmaltz: You can buy commercially made chicken schmaltz at stores that carry Jewish and Kosher foods. In the Bay Area you will find it in the freezer section of Mollie Stone’s Markets.

Pickled Herring in Sour Cream
Not my favorite, but they were swiping the bowl clean! Excellent on corn rye.

2 12-oz. jars pickled herring, either whole fillets or in chunks
2 cups sour cream
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Pepper, to taste

Drain the pickled herring in a colander. Place it in a bowl and stir in the sour cream and onion. Add black pepper to taste. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Makes 4 cups.

The dessert table: kugel, mandelbrot, babka, nut strudels, and honey cake.

Lokshen (Noodle) Kugel

12 oz. wide egg noodles, parboiled (slightly undercooked, 5-7 minutes) and drained
1 cup large curd cottage cheese, full fat (if you can find it; otherwise use farmer's cheese or full fat small curd cottage cheese)
1/3 cup sugar
4 Tb salted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the baking dish
4-6  eggs, well beaten
1 tsp.vanilla
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup white raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix all the ingredients together and bake in a well buttered baking pan. (You can use any size pan as long as the pudding is at least 2 “ high.)

Bake the kugel for about 45-50 minutes or until it is lightly browned on top.

Mandelbrodt 
Jewish biscotti! To minimize crumbling, slice the long loaves into individual cookies while they are still warm. These taste sort of lousy until they have had their second baking.

3 eggs
1 c. sugar
½ c. salad oil
½ c. (or more) toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
½ t. vanilla
3 c. flour
2 ½ t baking powder
whole raw almonds

Beat the eggs, add the sugar, and then the oil. Mix in the chopped almonds. Sift the dry ingredients together, and add them to the egg mixture. The dough should be wet, but firm enough to form loaves. (Add a little additional flour, if needed.)

With floured hands, form three long narrow loaves (1 ½’ high x 2 ½” wide) 2” apart on greased cookie sheets.  Push raw whole almonds, with points parallel to the width, into the dough at 1” intervals.

Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly brown on the edges. Immediately cut into 1” wide slices by cutting between the almonds on top. Turn the cookies on their sides, and return to the oven and bake again until lightly browned, another 20-25 minutes. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.