Is it too early for Easter menu planning? It certainly can’t hurt to get a little baking practice in. This year, try a sweet and festive Easter bread that suggests Russian coffee cake, from “Tava,” a comprehensive volume on Eastern European baking. Irina Georgescu, a Romanian food writer based in the U.K., begins the book with this: “How we bake in Eastern Europe, and especially in Romania, is largely unknown.” (I second that.) Then she leads you to discover a panoply of tastes and techniques, including rectangular slab pies filled with fruit or cheese; folded yeast-raised plum pastries made with lard and butter; pear cake scented with sage; and pull-apart buns, like monkey bread. More familiar are Austrian and Hungarian items, including strudels, and some entries from the Jewish repertoire: “Jewish cookies with plum butter,” a.k.a. hamantaschen for Purim (starting on March 6), and perhaps the best noodle kugel you’re likely to try, a recipe from Transylvania crackling with phyllo. The histories of the many nationalities that inhabit the region and that have contributed to the table are outlined in rich detail. Shortcomings? She calls mostly for medium eggs but fails to say you can substitute large; and pan-sizes are often odd, so some adapting is necessary. As for “tava,” that means tray in Romanian.
“Tava: Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania and Beyond” by Irina Georgescu (Hardie Grant, $42).
A Permanent Pop-Up for Independent Producers
With a keen eye and more than 10 years in marketing, Emily Schildt took the next step and will open a shop as a showcase for small food companies and start-ups. Her first Pop Up Grocer, in 2019, existed for only 10 days on the Lower East Side. Soon after came a 30-day run on the Bowery, then evanescent stores in seven cities, including Austin, Texas, and Chicago. Success led her to this permanent location in Greenwich Village, opening on Friday in an airy corner store with a central counter. Her criteria for products is that they be from independent producers with quality ingredients, have an interesting story and good packaging. Among the products on her shelves that have done well are Fly by Jing, Fishwife and Magic Spoon Cereal. The store also has a coffee bar serving drinks from a rotating roster of suppliers, with pastries and snacks alongside.
205 Bleecker Street (Avenue of the Americas), 929-600-0784 (text only), popupgrocer.com.
Eliminating Food Waste One Sauce at a Time
“Farm-to-table” has become an easy cliché more honored in the breach. But not for Anna Hammond, whose new company, Matriark Foods, puts a different, honest spin on the concept. Addressing food waste, her company collects rejected produce from local farms and some processing companies and puts them on their way to the table instead of the landfill. The company also claims that three tomato sauces, its initial products, are carbon-neutral, as emissions are reduced by rescuing the tomatoes and packing the sauces in cartons instead of glass jars. Tomato Basil, Gentle Marinara and Spicy Arrabbiata are the choices, all smooth-textured and basic. (The arrabbiata delivers just a smidgen of heat.) Ms. Hammond was an executive director of the Sylvia Center, a New York City food education organization.
Matriark Foods tomato sauces, three 18-ounce packages for $27, matriarkfoods.com.
A Pepper Grinder Made to a Watch Designer’s Standards
If there are pepper nerds out there — black pepper, not chiles — the new Black Rain mill could improve your kitchen arsenal. Created by Jimmy Olmes, a former watch designer, and brought to life by crowdfunding, the one-hand push-button metal device dispenses an impressive shower of spice. The grind is easily adjusted, the body holds a nice quantity and it also lights up. It needs charging. The downside is that it’s heavy in the hand, nearly a pound and a half, and expensive. It comes in black, silver and red.
Black Rain Precision Pepper Mill, $149.95 (introductory price), blackrainpepper.com.
New Imported Halvah at La Boite
La Boite, the Hell’s Kitchen shop known for scores of spice blends and single spices, has started importing halvah from Israel. It’s made by Har Bracha, an enterprise located near Nablus on the West Bank, which has long been in the business of importing high-quality humera sesame seeds from Ethiopia. The seeds are stone ground into tahini, the essential ingredient in halvah and a product for which the company is known. The halvahs are flaky-textured, just sweet enough and come in three flavors: vanilla, pistachio studded with nuts, and marbleized chocolate — all kosher.
Har Bracha Halvah, $14 for 250 grams (8.8 ounces), La Boite, 724 11th Avenue (51st Street), 212-247-4407, laboiteny.com.
Jewish Tunes With Kosher Wines to Sip
“L’chaim,” the Jewish toast, will be put to good use at an interactive wine and music event in the Streicker Center at Temple Emanu-El, on the Upper East Side on March 13. Jewish music, including Broadway tunes, will be performed by several cantors, with an accompanying wine tasting. There will be four wines, two of which, Chaya Pinot Grigio and Recanati Yasmin Red, are also kosher for Passover to help plan for that holiday. All four are $75; individually they’re $12 to $15. Order by March 6 to have wines delivered, and by March 8 to pick up the wines at the Streicker Center.
“Life is a Cabernet: A Jewish Musical and Wine Tasting Journey,” March 13, 7 to 8:30 p.m. in person (for those at least 21) and virtually, $18, Streicker Center, 1 East 66th Street, 212-744-1400, streicker.nyc.
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