Whatever the tradition, a sweet new year

BROOKLINE -- Ella Komar is familiar with the traditional Rosh Hashana foods served on both Ashkenazi and Sephardic tables. When she was a child, her family immigrated from Russia to Israel and most holiday dinners, including the Jewish New Year, reflected her mother's Russian heritage. But Komar was especially fascinated with the Sephardic households of her Israeli neighbors and friends. ``They were merrier, filled with more kids, and their meals were much more colorful," she remembers.

Now the Israeli is living in Brookline for a few years with her husband, Amit Nemlich (whose grandparents settled in Israel from Poland and Romania), and their three children, Aya, 7 1/2; Tama, 6; and Yshay, 2. Nemlich's work with the Cambridge architect Preston Scott Cohen brought them here. This is their second New Year here, and they typically host friends. ``I try to use traditional foods that are part of the blessings, but I like to give them a twist," says Komar.

If there is a prevailing theme for the holiday celebration, which begins at sundown on Friday and lasts for two days, a thread that spans various Jewish cultures, it is sweetness. Rosh Hashana meals always include foods representing hope for a sweet year ahead. Both Ashkenazi Jews, whose ancestors came from Russia and Eastern Europe, and the Sephardim, whose roots are in Spain, North Africa, and the Mediterranean, say a blessing over apples dipped in honey. The egg-rich challah, a bread shaped into a round as a symbol of the continuity of life, is always present. Sweet root vegetables such as beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, and dried fruits are usually part of the menu. It's common for chicken, lamb, and beef dishes to include prunes, quince, dates, or raisins.

Komar, 35, is a cooking instructor who teaches classes through Boston's Temple Israel; she is also translating a Yemenite cookbook into Hebrew. In Israel, she developed a community-based program to encourage people to use natural and seasonal ingredients at home.

At her Rosh Hashana table, after the customary apples and honey, the festive meal begins with bowls of homemade chicken soup and dumplings. Next is a fish course, a tradition shared by Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, but with strikingly different preparations. Instead of gefilte fish, Komar prepares a spicy Moroccan recipe called chraime (pronounced khri -mee), a casserole of potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, paprika, garlic, chilies, and white fish fillets. Chunks of the challah are perfect for dipping into the highly seasoned sauce.

A crisp salad, made with thinly sliced raw beets tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, chili pepper, and lots of cilantro, usually comes next. This is an Arabic preparation, which has a brilliant purple hue, a little heat, and rich earthiness from the fruity oil and leafy cilantro. Pomegranate seeds on top add a sweet-tart crunch. In Israel, Komar makes this with local pomegranates and has a plateful of the red orbs on the table. The seasonal fruit, found growing on trees in many backyards there , is also part of the traditional blessings recited for the New Year. The prayer, for fruitfulness, translates roughly as ``May your seeds be as many as the pomegranate."

The center of the meal is chicken or beef simmered with lots of onions, carrots, and raisins, along with basmati rice.

A light dessert of more fruit -- maybe baked apples, poached pears, or dried fruit compote -- usually completes the meal. If a guest brings a traditional honey cake, everyone takes a sliver.

For Komar and Nemlich, whether they're in Israel or Brookline, their own home or temporary quarters halfway around the world, Rosh Hashana's menu will offer enough sweet foods to carry the family into a new year.