Rosh Hashanah Dinner Menu: Traditional Brisket

Growing up in Texas I learned a thing or two about brisket. The smoked BBQ variety, like Thanksgiving turkey, has a tendancy to dry out, and I recall feeling disappointed by this on more than one occasion. When faced with a dry brisket the only solution is to drench it in BBQ sauce. Since the traditional Jewish brisket already comes that way this is never an issue. It's slow-cooked in sauce so you'd have to do something really special to dry it out.

Tough cuts of meat should be slow-cooked so the fat gelatinizes, pervades the meat, and it begins to fall apart and tenderize. Adding acid to the sauce also helps break down the meat. This explains why many recipes call for ketchup, and those scary, really old-fashioned ones for Coca Cola. Adding soda to meat freaks me out, so I had to bypass more than one grandmother's recipe. You can make this dish one or two days ahead and refrigerate. The longer the meat sits in the sauce, the more it will break down and tenderize.

And check out our resident Impulsive Gourmand's Top Five Ways to Eat Leftover Brisket.

Click here to return to the Rosh Hashanah dinner table for more symbolic dishes.