The Yom Kippur fast may start Friday at sundown, but New York Jews have been salivating about their Saturday night break-fast meals for weeks.
“Yom Kippur is supposed to be a very solemn holiday. It’s a day of atonement. But some people admit to us secretly that it’s their favorite holiday, because the break-fast has become a great and delicious celebration,” says 36-year-old Niki Russ Federman, who holds down the fort at her family’s 100-year-old Lower East Side deli, alongside a cousin.
For many, a trip to Russ & Daughters is as much of a Jewish New Year tradition as blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah.
“Eating the food and coming here and experiencing the tradition is a way for people to connect with where they came from, who they are and their family,” says Federman, who tells of a customer who this year requested to have her great-grandmother’s order from 1952 reproduced.
“We absolutely did not have that on record,” says Federman, with a laugh. “But that was very endearing, and it gives you a sense that Russ & Daughters is about providing a sense of continuity for people.”
Continuity — and some of the best Gaspe Nova smoked salmon in town.
For the past week, Russ & Daughters’ phones have been ringing off the hook with requests for smoked salmon and yummy treats to nosh on.
Here, the downtown institution breaks down the holiday madness — and dishes sold — this week.
Bagels
More than 8,000
Cream cheese
2,000 lbs., in nine different types.
“The two most popular are plain and scallion,” says Federman.
Whitefish
Herring
“That’s a staple of a Yom Kippur spread. The most classic this time of year being pickled herring with pickled onions and cream sauce,” says Federman. “My great-grandfather got his start 100 years ago selling herring straight out of the barrel on Orchard Street.”
Oldest bread starter
80 years
“The starter for the breads, the sour, has been kept alive for over 80 years. This bread is, in and of itself, a part of history. You are literally eating history.”
Smoked salmon
More than 5,000 lbs.
“And keep in mind, this is all sliced by hand,” Federman points out.
Rugelach
700 lbs.
“The traditional is the most popular, and it’s the raspberry with currants, walnuts and cinnamon,” says Federman.
Babka
1,000 loaves
Chopped liver
500 lbs.