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| Solving the Passover Puzzle | Solving the Passover Puzzle |
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| PARIS — A Seder in Paris should never be boring. So when Roger Yvon, an upscale butcher, proposed his signature deboned duck decorated with pitted green olives for the Passover dinner, I ordered two. | PARIS — A Seder in Paris should never be boring. So when Roger Yvon, an upscale butcher, proposed his signature deboned duck decorated with pitted green olives for the Passover dinner, I ordered two. |
| Roger knows that my husband, Andy, is Jewish and that we take seriously “the Jewish feast,” as Roger calls it. But when our first guests arrived and I proudly removed the ducks from their aluminum foil, I saw that they had been stuffed with a suspicious ground-meat filling. | Roger knows that my husband, Andy, is Jewish and that we take seriously “the Jewish feast,” as Roger calls it. But when our first guests arrived and I proudly removed the ducks from their aluminum foil, I saw that they had been stuffed with a suspicious ground-meat filling. |
| For a second, I considered pretending that everything was fine. Maybe no one would mention the stuffing. Or I could say it was veal. But what if it wasn’t? I sneaked into the bedroom and called Roger. | For a second, I considered pretending that everything was fine. Maybe no one would mention the stuffing. Or I could say it was veal. But what if it wasn’t? I sneaked into the bedroom and called Roger. |
| “What’s in the stuffing?” I whispered. | “What’s in the stuffing?” I whispered. |
| “Pork,” he said. | “Pork,” he said. |
| “How could you use pork?” I hissed. “I told you it was for the Jewish feast!” | “How could you use pork?” I hissed. “I told you it was for the Jewish feast!” |
| He had forgotten. My husband does not keep kosher, but I hail from one of the most superstitious strains of Roman Catholicism (the Sicilian), and I worried that knowingly serving pork to Jews on Passover might be some sort of mortal sin. “I’m on my way over,” I told Roger. By the time I got to the butcher shop, he had cut and trussed a lamb gigot. | He had forgotten. My husband does not keep kosher, but I hail from one of the most superstitious strains of Roman Catholicism (the Sicilian), and I worried that knowingly serving pork to Jews on Passover might be some sort of mortal sin. “I’m on my way over,” I told Roger. By the time I got to the butcher shop, he had cut and trussed a lamb gigot. |
| Putting on a Seder every year in Paris is a bit of a challenge for me — not only as a gentile, but also as a transplant to a country where the ways and means to do it can be mysterious. | Putting on a Seder every year in Paris is a bit of a challenge for me — not only as a gentile, but also as a transplant to a country where the ways and means to do it can be mysterious. |
| France has the largest Jewish population of any country in Europe. But unlike Americans, who often wear their faith on their sleeves, the French have a reverence for the secular republican state that makes them apt to keep religious beliefs to themselves. You won’t find recipes for chopped liver and Moroccan haroseth or advertisements for kosher wine in the mainstream media. | France has the largest Jewish population of any country in Europe. But unlike Americans, who often wear their faith on their sleeves, the French have a reverence for the secular republican state that makes them apt to keep religious beliefs to themselves. You won’t find recipes for chopped liver and Moroccan haroseth or advertisements for kosher wine in the mainstream media. |
| And there’s no etiquette guide to whether you should wish chag sameach (happy holiday) to people you know are Jewish, in case they want to keep their religion private. When Andy and I ran into Maurice Lévy, the French advertising magnate, and his wife in a Jewish épicerie before Passover one year, there was an awkward pause before both sides felt comfortable enough to acknowledge why we were there. | And there’s no etiquette guide to whether you should wish chag sameach (happy holiday) to people you know are Jewish, in case they want to keep their religion private. When Andy and I ran into Maurice Lévy, the French advertising magnate, and his wife in a Jewish épicerie before Passover one year, there was an awkward pause before both sides felt comfortable enough to acknowledge why we were there. |
| I came slowly to Passover cooking. The first time I was invited to a Seder by friends on the Upper West Side, we made a toast to world peace and dug into dinner. Then I married, and joined my husband in his family’s Seders. His uncle Harvey, a lawyer, had a lot of Orthodox Jewish clients, and every one of them wanted to say thanks with a cake. There was always at least one flourless cake, hard and tasteless, for every person at Uncle Harvey and Aunt Myrna’s table. | I came slowly to Passover cooking. The first time I was invited to a Seder by friends on the Upper West Side, we made a toast to world peace and dug into dinner. Then I married, and joined my husband in his family’s Seders. His uncle Harvey, a lawyer, had a lot of Orthodox Jewish clients, and every one of them wanted to say thanks with a cake. There was always at least one flourless cake, hard and tasteless, for every person at Uncle Harvey and Aunt Myrna’s table. |
| When we moved with our two daughters to Paris a decade ago, we were suddenly free to create a Passover tradition that worked for us. A natural division of labor has followed. Andy takes care of the Haggadot, the Seder plate, the yarmulkes and the table settings. He leads the reading of the Passover story, the prayers and songs, navigating between English-Hebrew and French-Hebrew Haggadot depending on the linguistic talents and limitations of our guests. | When we moved with our two daughters to Paris a decade ago, we were suddenly free to create a Passover tradition that worked for us. A natural division of labor has followed. Andy takes care of the Haggadot, the Seder plate, the yarmulkes and the table settings. He leads the reading of the Passover story, the prayers and songs, navigating between English-Hebrew and French-Hebrew Haggadot depending on the linguistic talents and limitations of our guests. |
| As he is indifferent to chopped liver, matzo ball soup and gefilte fish, I take charge of the food. | As he is indifferent to chopped liver, matzo ball soup and gefilte fish, I take charge of the food. |
| Every year, I go to two very different neighborhoods that offer kosher-for-Passover fixings: the Marais (which caters to Eastern European Ashkenazi tastes) and the Rue Richer (which serves the much larger Sephardic community) in the Ninth Arrondissement, where I live. | Every year, I go to two very different neighborhoods that offer kosher-for-Passover fixings: the Marais (which caters to Eastern European Ashkenazi tastes) and the Rue Richer (which serves the much larger Sephardic community) in the Ninth Arrondissement, where I live. |
| The Marais is clogged with tourists eating falafel on the street and boutiques selling $200 T-shirts; the Rue Richer offers down-at-the-heels authenticity and the Folies Bergère theater. I prefer the Rue Richer. | The Marais is clogged with tourists eating falafel on the street and boutiques selling $200 T-shirts; the Rue Richer offers down-at-the-heels authenticity and the Folies Bergère theater. I prefer the Rue Richer. |
| You have to know where to get what. I’ve never found horseradish on the Rue Richer, for example, or the fiery orange-red harissa made by the French company Shim’on in the Marais. It can be challenging to find schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) for chopped liver, but just about any supermarket or butcher carries duck fat. (As this is France, an alternative to chopped liver is ... foie gras.) | You have to know where to get what. I’ve never found horseradish on the Rue Richer, for example, or the fiery orange-red harissa made by the French company Shim’on in the Marais. It can be challenging to find schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) for chopped liver, but just about any supermarket or butcher carries duck fat. (As this is France, an alternative to chopped liver is ... foie gras.) |
| There are French-made food items that I’ve never found elsewhere, like thick, round Algerian-style orange-and-wine-infused matzos, and potato egg noodles. | There are French-made food items that I’ve never found elsewhere, like thick, round Algerian-style orange-and-wine-infused matzos, and potato egg noodles. |
| At La Foire du Livre, a Jewish bookstore and gift shop on the Rue Richer, there was a molded cake pan in the shape of a Star of David in the window. Andy was mortified when I said I wanted to buy it. “Pure kitsch,” he said. | At La Foire du Livre, a Jewish bookstore and gift shop on the Rue Richer, there was a molded cake pan in the shape of a Star of David in the window. Andy was mortified when I said I wanted to buy it. “Pure kitsch,” he said. |
| I went in anyway. “I was walking by, and totally by chance I found the perfect cake pan,” I said. | I went in anyway. “I was walking by, and totally by chance I found the perfect cake pan,” I said. |
| “There’s no such thing as chance,” said Mordechai Uzan, the salesman. I bought the pan, and use it to make a classic flourless chocolate and almond cake (a cinch to make here since ground almonds are sold in supermarkets). | “There’s no such thing as chance,” said Mordechai Uzan, the salesman. I bought the pan, and use it to make a classic flourless chocolate and almond cake (a cinch to make here since ground almonds are sold in supermarkets). |
| Most years, I make osso buco. The advantages are threefold: it’s easy to find good-quality veal shanks in Paris, it can be prepared in advance and it’s hard to ruin. I ask the butcher to tie each piece of veal shank, bone in, with string so that it doesn’t melt away if it cooks too long. (The downside is the frantic cutting and removing of the strings before serving.) | Most years, I make osso buco. The advantages are threefold: it’s easy to find good-quality veal shanks in Paris, it can be prepared in advance and it’s hard to ruin. I ask the butcher to tie each piece of veal shank, bone in, with string so that it doesn’t melt away if it cooks too long. (The downside is the frantic cutting and removing of the strings before serving.) |
| I confess that I cut corners at Passover. I don’t make everything from scratch. I have found frozen matzo balls on the Rue des Rosiers in the Marais. I have made soup broth by straining store-bought chicken vegetable soup that comes in cardboard containers at the supermarket. | I confess that I cut corners at Passover. I don’t make everything from scratch. I have found frozen matzo balls on the Rue des Rosiers in the Marais. I have made soup broth by straining store-bought chicken vegetable soup that comes in cardboard containers at the supermarket. |
| I also stretch some of the rules, and have persuaded Andy to go along. I serve saffron rice with osso buco, for example. The custom among Ashkenazi Jews is to ban rice from the Seder table (along with corn, beans, lentils and peas). But Sephardic Jews are rice-eaters during Passover, and that’s good enough for Andy. | I also stretch some of the rules, and have persuaded Andy to go along. I serve saffron rice with osso buco, for example. The custom among Ashkenazi Jews is to ban rice from the Seder table (along with corn, beans, lentils and peas). But Sephardic Jews are rice-eaters during Passover, and that’s good enough for Andy. |
| There are some culinary boundaries Andy will not cross. One year, our friends Steve and Elisabeth and their two children arrived from Washington, D.C., with a grand mint-green gift box of assorted macarons from Ladurée on the Rue Bonaparte. Andy claimed they couldn’t possibly be kosher for Passover. Others argued that because they were made of sugar, ground almonds and egg white, they broke no rules. A lively debate ensued. Some guests chose the macarons; others stuck to my less-elegant flourless chocolate cake. | There are some culinary boundaries Andy will not cross. One year, our friends Steve and Elisabeth and their two children arrived from Washington, D.C., with a grand mint-green gift box of assorted macarons from Ladurée on the Rue Bonaparte. Andy claimed they couldn’t possibly be kosher for Passover. Others argued that because they were made of sugar, ground almonds and egg white, they broke no rules. A lively debate ensued. Some guests chose the macarons; others stuck to my less-elegant flourless chocolate cake. |
| We never seem to have enough people to fill our table, so we invite strays, including Jewish relatives or friends who happen to be in Paris for Passover, and non-Jewish friends who might enjoy a Seder as a cultural experience. One year, we were so desperate we solicited strangers from Stanford University’s exchange-student program. Three came. One, Scott Bade, made the most astonishing declaration midway through dinner: “This is the best meal I’ve had in Paris!” Good grief, I thought, what have you been eating? | We never seem to have enough people to fill our table, so we invite strays, including Jewish relatives or friends who happen to be in Paris for Passover, and non-Jewish friends who might enjoy a Seder as a cultural experience. One year, we were so desperate we solicited strangers from Stanford University’s exchange-student program. Three came. One, Scott Bade, made the most astonishing declaration midway through dinner: “This is the best meal I’ve had in Paris!” Good grief, I thought, what have you been eating? |
| Andy and I have been here so long that we now have friends in the right places. Like Michel and Franca Kalifa, who run a butcher shop in the Marais. He is Sephardic, she is Ashkenazi, and they blend the best of both traditions. I asked Franca if she knew where I could find homemade gefilte fish, matzo balls and soup broth. | |
| “Of course,” she replied. “I’ll make them for you.” | “Of course,” she replied. “I’ll make them for you.” |
| As for Roger, the butcher, the pork-stuffed duck episode had a happy ending. I walked into his shop one day a few months later, and he was giving customers samples of his new creation: sausages made with ground veal and preserved lemon peel. | As for Roger, the butcher, the pork-stuffed duck episode had a happy ending. I walked into his shop one day a few months later, and he was giving customers samples of his new creation: sausages made with ground veal and preserved lemon peel. |
| He told everyone he had been inspired by his Passover faux pas. | He told everyone he had been inspired by his Passover faux pas. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: March 18, 2013 | Correction: March 18, 2013 |
A previous version of this article misspelled the name of one of the friends who visited the writer in Paris one year. She is Elisabeth, not Elizabeth. | A previous version of this article misspelled the name of one of the friends who visited the writer in Paris one year. She is Elisabeth, not Elizabeth. |