24 Rosh Hashanah Recipes to Celebrate the New Year (2024)

FAQs

What do you cook on Rosh Hashanah? ›

Two of the most popular foods are apples dipped in honey, and pomegranates. Each food symbolizes a different good fortune that we pray for in the coming year. These foods are generally eaten at the beginning of the two evening Rosh Hashanah meals. Each food is given separate attention and a brief blessing.

Think: fluffy challah, saucy brisket, and ultra-moist apple cake. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time to reflect on the past year—and look forward to the coming one. The holiday's celebratory meal can include favorites like yeasty challah, matzo ball soup, and apples dipped in honey.

Sour foods are usually avoided. Some people avoid nuts during Rosh Hashanah since the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the word “nu*t” add up to the same number as the word “sin.” During dinner, blessings are said over candles, wine and challah.

Eating round challah (to mark the cycle of the year) and apples dipped in honey (to wish for a sweet new year) are lovely customs for Rosh Hashanah, but they are just that, customs.

At the start of each Rosh Hashanah dinner, everyone seated at the table dips a piece of apple into honey. This is eaten to symbolize the hope that the new year will be a sweet one.

Symbolic Foods in Judaism

On Purim, we eat hamantaschen. On Shavuot, we eat dairy foods like crepes and cheesecake. And on Rosh Hashanah, we eat apples and honey. Passover, though, is the most overtly food-centric, with endless arrays of traditional and symbolic foods.

Usually lamb with bone and fat is used in cooking. I had lamb shanks which has good fat so this cut worked well. Beef with bone in also works 2.

If you're attending a Rosh Hashanah celebration as a guest, it is customary to bring a gift. Traditional choices include honey, apples, pomegranates, or kosher wine. A sweet dessert or a bouquet of flowers could also be appreciated. It's always best to ask the host if there's anything specific they would prefer.

Mateh Efrayim (583:3) extends this minhag to include not eating beans. However, some poskim write that nuts that are ground up and mixed into a recipe do not pose a concern. Also, chickpeas do not present this problem and may be served. It is written that the Vilna Gaon would not eat grapes on Rosh Hashanah.

What are the 3 main features of Rosh Hashanah? ›

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur call us to bridge the distances—wherever they may be—and to restore and reconcile those relationships and things that make up our lives. The three Rs of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—Renewal, Return, and Reconciliation.

Two of the most recognisable food staples to be found on the dinner table during Rosh Hashanah are apple and honey, a tradition that has passed down the generations for centuries.