With a recipe for fish “en papillote”

This summer, my daughter Gabriella is spending her summer in Jerusalem on a Yeshiva University internship, writing for an Israeli online publication.

In every phone call, she tells us about her interviews and of her exploits traveling around Israel visiting the Nova Festival site, Sderot, the Gaza envelope, Gush Etzion and Shiloh.

Her most recent journey was to Hebron to visit Maharat Ha’Machpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and the old domed structure of the Avraham Avinu Synagogue, built by Sephardic Jews in 1540.

This call sent me straight back to when I was a college student at YU.

It’s the eighties and I’m sitting on the Madison Avenue uptown bus headed to my happy place: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s where I would go to gaze at the Impressionist masterpieces, works by the Dutch and Italian Baroque masters, the precious jewelry of the Ancient Egyptians and the plush bedrooms of the French aristocracy.

All of a sudden, there’s a kerfuffle at the front of the bus. Two visibly Orthodox Jewish men are trying to pay with dollar bills to get on the bus. I’m a little annoyed—don’t they know you need exact change or tokens?

I want to go help them, but I am embarrassed that I am wearing jeans. No one else stands up, so I go and pay their bus fare.

When they try to pay me back, I realize that they are Israeli. I speak to them in Hebrew, and they ask me where I am from. I explain that I was born in Israel, grew up in Australia, that my family lives in Los Angeles and that I am studying in New York. The taller, more talkative man exclaims “You are the daughter of David and Shoham! We just spent Shabbat with your family in Beverly Hills.”

The man’s name was Rabbi Yigal Kutai, the leader of the Kiryat Arab Community Center. His companion was Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, a member of the Israeli Knesset and founder of Yeshivat Nir Kiryat Arba in Hebron. They were running late to a meeting with Bibi Netanyahu, who was then the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. They couldn’t find a taxi and had decided to hop on a bus.

Fate dictated that we should meet.

Over the years, Yigal and his lovely wife, Shifra and his children became close family friends. Kiryat Arba and Hebron were as normal to visit as Jerusalem, Tzfat and Tiberius.

Hebron, the first place in Israel that was owned by the Jewish people, was firmly imprinted on my family’s heart.

In 2007, we celebrated two bar mitzvahs there—my son Ariel in January and my cousin Aron in May.

That summer, my brother Danny, a couple of days after marrying my sister-in-law Lemor, took our friends and extended family on a bus tour to Hebron. I will never forget the UN peacekeeper, who filmed us in the casbah, the area of the vegetable market purchased by Jews in the 1800s. After a hot day visiting the ancient sites and modern sights, we celebrated Sheva Brachot at the pizza place there.

I just remember that summer as exceptionally hot. I craved ice cold, sweet, juicy watermelon and fresh salad, which is truly the best Israel has to offer.

Before our visit in Israel was over, my uncle hosted a family meal at his home in Yemin Moshe and I offered to make a salad. I remember shopping at Shuk Machne Yehuda and reveling in the bright colors of the freshly picked produce. The dark red peppers, the cucumbers with their little frilly stems, the almost neon green of the scallions, and each ear of corn, individually wrapped by Hashem, in a pale, papery husk.

“I remember shopping at Shuk Machne Yehuda and reveling in the bright colors of the freshly picked produce.“

I brought all the vegetables home and was inspired to combine two salads into one— the Israeli salad of my birth country and the black bean and corn caviar of my home in California to make a fresh summer corn salad.

Over the years, this has become my most requested salad recipe. I make it almost every Shabbat. I make it for parties and for potlucks. It’s beloved by young and old alike.

The basic ingredients are fresh roasted corn, black beans, crunchy cucumber, red, orange and yellow peppers, green scallions and perfectly ripe avocado, with a creamy honey sriracha dressing, garnished with crispy tortilla chips.

Perfect as a meal for a meatless Monday (or the nine days) or as a side at a barbecue.

We hope you add this fresh summer corn salad to your repertoire.

—Sharon 

Summer Corn Salad

Dressing: 
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sriracha or hot sauce
1 tsp granulated garlic powder
1 tsp salt
2 limes, juiced

In a small bowl, add mayonnaise, honey, sriracha, garlic powder and salt. Mix to combine well. 

Add lime juice and mix well. 

Set aside. 

Salad: 
2 ears of fresh corn or 1 can of corn
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 Persian cucumbers, diced
4 stalks of green scallion, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 bag of tortilla chips, for garnish 

Roast or microwave the corn for 5-7 minutes, until cooked. Cut corn from the cob. 

Place cooked corn in a large bowl. Add the beans, peppers, cucumber, scallions, and avocado. 

Pour dressing over the vegetables and toss well. Garnish with tortilla chips. 

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A Passion for ‘Poisson’

I have a passion for entertaining, and throwing a party is one of my favorite things to do. 

I love to visualize the colors of the table settings and the flowers, I love to plan the menu and I love to make my guests feel welcome in my home.

Ever since my son Sam became a personal chef (follow him @sheffathome), I have creative, talented competition in the kitchen!

I am inspired by the way he takes traditional Mediterranean recipes and presents them in a thoroughly modern, reductionist style. Everything he creates looks incredibly simple, but his recipes are so refined, distilling the food to its very essence.

One of my favorite collaborations with Sam was for my husband’s surprise 60th birthday party. My son Max took Neil golfing for the day. Neil came home and found our close friends standing with champagne glasses in their hands, ready to toast him.

The guests sat at tables set with woven placemats, stone plates, fancy glasses and lots of vases with vibrant yellow flowers and leafy greens. The ultimate fresh summer backyard touch were the many lemons scattered on the table. The fresh citrus scent put everyone in a happy mood.

Sam loves to serve his meals in multiple courses. This meal started with hot sourdough alongside creamy homemade, hummus, tehina and a cherry tomato and garlic confit. Then seasonal farmers market lettuces, dressed in a light, lemony vinaigrette. Then a melanzane con mozzarella e pomodoro (eggplant with melted mozzarella in a flavorful tomato sauce). Then his homemade pasta noodles in a lemony cream sauce.

The piece de resistance was poisson en papillote, which is French for fish in paper. A delicious filet of white fish served with spinach and broccolini.

Dessert was a fancy birthday cake and hamsa shaped sesame brittle.

Having the small courses encouraged our guests to savor the food and created anticipation for the next course.

It was a wonderful night filled with excitement and laughter.

We share this fabulous fish recipe for the days before Tisha B’Av, but we know that it will become a favorite.

Serving fish “en papillote” sounds really fancy. The theatrical presentation is fantastic—like a surprise on your plate, a little gift ready to unwrap. And while it might look difficult, it’s very easy to make. The recipe adapts to whichever vegetables and seasonings you have on hand.

A firm fish, like halibut, cod, sea bass, or salmon, works best for this cooking method. Pick your favorite fish and choose two or three vegetables to include—asparagus, zucchini, French string beans, shallots, spinach. All will taste delicious. Grape tomatoes or quartered roma tomatoes add a lovely sweetness. Potatoes go well with fish, so I like to add very thin slices of Yukon gold or parboiled fingerling potatoes. Add a salty, umami tang with Kalamata or Castlevetrano olives. Capers add a Provençal touch.

Aromatics, such as fresh oregano, parsley, thyme or basil lend a subtle sweetness. Add a squeeze of lemon juice or for a very French touch, a splash of white wine.

Et voila—you have your nine days fish recipe all wrapped up.. 

—Rachel 

Poisson en papillote

This recipe is for one portion of fish. Multiply the amount needed for each portion. 

1 12”x16” piece of parchment paper
1 6oz seabass filet
1 large gold potato, thinly sliced on a mandolin
6 thin asparagus spears
1 roma tomato, cut into wedges
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp of olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 Kalamata olives, pitted
A few sprigs of fresh oregano or thyme
2 Tbsp white wine or juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place the potatoes in the center of the parchment sheet. Sprinkle with salt, then add 3 spears of asparagus. 

Place the fish on top and season with salt and pepper, wine and fresh herbs. Then add the tomatoes and olives around the fish. 

Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. 

Fold the top and bottom of the parchment closed and twist the ends shut.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

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Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food