South Philly Review

All of my life, I’ve been a nice Jewish girl. I was one of those crazy kids who loved Hebrew school and attended Saturday morning services. The beautiful, ancient, liturgical music transported me to a higher place. At one time, I wanted to be a cantor.

Most Jewish women I know make brisket. When I tell my friends I have never braised one, their reply was, “What do you mean you’ve never made a brisket?”

This is akin to Jewish culinary heresy. My grandmother and mother never made brisket. We preferred prime rib. Now that Rosh Hashana is near, it’s about time I learned how to make this very Jewish roast.

Since Rosh Hashana begins at sundown two days after Labor Day, I had to find a nice Jewish boy or girl chef to teach me how to prepare this cut of meat during the dog days of August.

I checked in with Michael Schulson of Sampan. He declined because he is busy at his Japanese place, Izakaya, at the Borgata in Atlantic City and not sleeping too much since the birth of his son in February. Chef David Katz, who owns Meme, was an intriguing possibility because his maternal grandmother is a Sephardic Jew. He declined because he is busy at the Fitler Square eatery and with his family.

I recalled chef Michael McNally, who owns London Grill with his former wife, Terry, always prepares traditional Jewish fare at the Fairmount restaurant during the holidays. I have tasted his brisket, chopped liver, matzo ball soup and potato latkes and they are all scrumptious.

Terry and their son, Jake, are Jewish. Michael is a lapsed Catholic. Who knew a nice Irish boy could rival a Jewish mother in the kitchen?

He can and he does.

Michael e-mailed me the recipe several weeks before our 11 a.m. start time. As always, Dash the photographer was on hand to record the delicious deed.

“Brisket is a tough piece of meat and has to braise for a long time,” Mike said. “You season it well with lots of kosher salt and pepper and sear it in a hot pot before the vegetables are seared and the liquid is added.”

We heard the sound of beef sizzling and the aroma filled my kitchen. Mike, who is 54 and grew up in the Northeast, makes his own veal stock.

“You can use packaged beef stock or chicken stock,” he said. “Two cups of dry, rich, red wine, such as Merlot, are also added to the pot.”

While the brisket was braising, we made kasha and bows because it is a traditional side dish with any roast that gives up a good, rich gravy. Kasha is a healthy buckwheat grain. Bows are bow-tie pasta known as farfalle in Italian. Terry and Dash read the instructions on the back of the kasha box while Mike and I tended to the meat’s prep.

Mike is self-taught. He studied with Madeleine Kamman in San Francisco for a short time, but he never attended culinary school.

“My brother got me a job as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant on Montgomery Avenue when I was in high school,” he recalled.

That’s how he found his professional calling.

While Mike was cooking the kasha, Terry polished her chops and blew the shofar she brought with her. It took several attempts, but she finally got a big toot from this instrument made from a ram’s horn. The shofar is blown on Rosh Hashana and at the end of Yom Kippur.

We feasted on brisket and raised our glasses with the traditional toast “l’chayim” — to life.