A Seder Feast in Provence, with Roots in Ancient Rome

CARPENTRAS, France — Since Roman times, Jews have lived in this town in northern Provence, which lies on an ancient trade route from Marseille to Bruges, Belgium. This year, about 50 people will hold a communal Passover Seder at the Carpentras Synagogue, built in 1367 and one of the oldest active synagogues in Europe.

Today’s congregation has about 100 members, many with roots in North Africa; their Seder traditions include salmon tagine and a feast of vegetable salads. But Gilberte Levy, who can trace her family tree here back to the 1600s, will also cook some of the kosher recipes that Provençal Jews have been making for centuries.

Haroseth, the fruit paste that evokes the bricks and mortar used by Jewish slaves in the Passover narrative of the Old Testament, is part of every Seder ritual. Her 13th-century recipe includes dried apricots, figs, raisins and chestnuts, reflecting the sunny climate of this Mediterranean region. And a traditional whole veal breast stuffed with Swiss chard will be the centerpiece of her table.

Because there is no longer a shochet, a kosher butcher, in Carpentras, Levy must order the meat from Marseille, about 70 miles away. “Once, the community’s shochet slaughtered chickens, lamb and goats right inside the synagogue building,” she said.

Carpentras became a center of Jewish life after 1306, one of many occasions when Jews were expelled from the Kingdom of France. Like other nearby sanctuaries such as Avignon and Cavaillon, Carpentras was not in France, but within the Comtat Venaissin, a papal state, where Pope John XXII decreed that refugees would be welcome. With more than 1,000 Jews among its population of about 10,000, Carpentras became known as “la petite Jerusalem,” with a large ghetto arising around its famous synagogue.

The ghetto had kosher butchers and grocers, and for cooking the residents shared two communal ovens at the synagogue: one used year-round for bread, and the other for Passover matzot.

For more than 300 years, by papal decree, the ghetto was locked at night to protect the residents, and unlocked each morning to allow them to shop, travel and work under strictly limited conditions.

In some periods, “Jewish men living in the carriero could only be horse traders, secondhand clothing and furniture dealers, or tailors,” said Levy, using the term for ghetto in Shuadit, a Hebrew-French-Provençal dialect that is almost extinct. Jewish men and women alike had to wear a yellow item of clothing when outside the ghetto, to denote their difference.

In 1791, when French Jews were finally granted citizenship, most Jews still living in Carpentras moved to cities, including nearby Avignon and Marseille. But not Levy’s ancestors. Many have served the synagogue as its rabbi; she continues the tradition as a historian and volunteer.

Her great-grandmother Noémie Cohen Bédaride “was one of the last to bake coudoles in the synagogue’s oven,” Levy said, using the Shuadit word for matzo.

The community was decimated by influenza in 1918, and then again in World War II. Levy’s grandparents survived, hidden from the Nazis in the nearby village of Bédoin, where they were protected by the mayor, local communists and members of the Resistance.

Meyer Benzekrit, the synagogue’s current president, believes that the ancient synagogue of Carpentras will once again become the heart of a vital Jewish community. Behind and beneath its unassuming exterior are a perfectly preserved Baroque interior, the original ritual bath with fresh water from an underground stream, a slaughterhouse and the bread ovens. All are being excavated and renovated.

Most traditional foods of the Provençal Jews have been forgotten, but a few live on. Some old-time bakeries here sell brassados, bagel-like rolls that are boiled and then baked. Lightly sweet and sometimes spiked with anise, orange flower water or orange peel, they were adopted by Christian bakers as a Lenten and Easter tradition. Levy makes her own crunchy brassados with matzo meal.

To start her Seder meal, Levy serves chicken soup with a mashed hard-boiled egg and crushed matzo. Then, the veal with its stuffing of chard, a vegetable that is in constant use in Provence. She sees her family’s cuisine as part of French culinary tradition, not different or separate from it.

In this tiny enclave, she said, it has always been understood that Jewish dishes were simply adapted from the local food, according to the laws of kashrut.

“We didn’t have to prove anything or hide anything,” she said. “That is why Carpentras feels like home.

—Provençal Veal Breast Stuffed With Swiss Chard

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Total time: About 3 1/2 hours

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 large onions; 2 diced, 1 cut into 2-inch pieces

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon) plus 2 cloves, unpeeled

4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and chopped (about 1 teaspoon)

1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped (1 teaspoon chopped)

2 pounds Swiss chard (2 to 3 bunches), leaves and stems chopped

1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 square matzo, crumbled into 1/2-inch pieces

1 boneless breast of veal, about 4 pounds, trimmed, butterflied, bones reserved (a butcher can do this, or order it for you); see note

1/2 cup Côtes du Rhône or other dry red wine

3 carrots, cut in half lengthwise and then cut on the diagonal in 1-inch slices

1. Make the filling: In a large skillet, heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onions, season with salt and pepper and sauté until softened. Mix in the chopped garlic, thyme and rosemary. A few handfuls at a time, stir in the chard and, using tongs to toss, cook with the onion mixture until all the greens are soft, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer chard mixture to a large bowl. Stir in tomatoes, egg and matzo pieces, mixing well. You will have at least 5 cups cooked filling.

2. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lay the meat flat on a clean work surface, season the top with salt and pepper and spread a thin layer of the filling (about half) evenly over the surface of the meat, leaving a 1-inch border. Reserve and refrigerate the remaining stuffing. Tightly roll the meat and secure it with kitchen twine, making a knot every 1 1/2 inches and tucking the meat in to enclose the ends. Season the outside of the roll with salt and pepper.

3. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet, turn the heat to medium-high and brown the stuffed veal on all sides. Transfer to a large roasting pan with a lid. (If your skillet isn’t large enough, brown veal directly in the roasting pan, laid over 2 burners of your stovetop.) To the pan where you browned the meat, add wine and simmer for about a minute, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Spoon liquid over the meat. Scatter the carrots, large onion pieces and whole garlic cloves around the veal, place the bones, and pour in about 8 cups of water or enough to come halfway up the meat.

4. Reduce oven to 325 degrees and cook, covered, 2 1/2 hours, basting every 20 minutes or so, until veal is cooked through and tender, 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.

5. Remove the meat from the pan, set aside to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Strain the sauce, reserving the carrots and discarding the bones and the onions. Refrigerate sauce and carrots.

6. The next day (or when ready to serve), remove and discard the fat from the sauce and simmer sauce in a small pot until reduced by 1/3. Season with salt and pepper. Using a long sharp knife, slice the veal into 1-inch portions. (Pull out kitchen twine as necessary). Carefully transfer slices to a large ovenproof serving dish or roasting pan, scatter the reserved stuffing around the veal and pour the braising liquid and carrots over the top. (You can refrigerate the whole dish at this point, to be reheated just before serving, or proceed to reheat the meat now.)

7. Just before serving, reheat in a 350-degree oven, covered with foil, about 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve in individual portions or on a platter, with a little chard stuffing and carrots on top of each slice for color, and drizzled with some of the braising liquid.

Note: You can use breast of lamb instead of veal.

—Provençal Haroseth for Passover

Yield: About 5 cups

Total time: 15 minutes

1 cup blanched or roasted unsalted almonds

1 cup raisins

1 cup dried apricots

1 cup dried figs

1/2 cup walnut halves

1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 cup peeled roasted chestnuts (available vacuum-packed or canned)

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted if desired

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

4 to 6 tablespoons sweet wine, kosher for Passover

1. Place the almonds, raisins, apricots, figs, walnuts, apple, and chestnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until you reach the consistency of your choice.

2. Add the pine nuts and stir in the cinnamon, ginger and wine vinegar. Pulse once more, adding enough sweet wine to bind the ingredients.

3. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.