While many American seder tables were bereft of gefilte fish this year, due to a much-reported shortage of Great Lakes whitefish, guests at the White House seder Tuesday night enjoyed homemade gefilte with “little carrots” on it.
Although he is not Jewish, President Obama has been hosting seders, using a Maxwell House Haggadah, for Jewish and gentile friends since 2008. This year Vered Guttman, who is married to Forward reporter Nathan Guttman, helped prepare the meal and wrote about the experience for Haaretz and the Forward.
Susan Barocas, who helped launch the Washington-based Jewish Food Experience — a project that according to its website “brings people together through the universal language of Jewish food” — also helped with the cooking and menu planning.
The spread? In addition to aforementioned gefilte, White House guests dined on matzah ball soup; haroset; chicken in pickled lemon and olives; wilted spinach; quinoa in coconut milk with roasted sweet potatoes and Tuscan kale; chicken in pickled lemon and olives and beef brisket.
For dessert, White House pastry chef Bill Yosses made “lovely” Passover brownies, Mandel bread and a raspberry ganache, Guttman reported.
No word yet on the wine list.
