Here’s What Food Network Staffers Eat to Break the Yom Kippur Fast
Yom Tov!
Lauren Volo
Yom Kippur is considered to be the holiest day of the year in the Jewish religion. Known as the Day of Atonement, traditionally Yom Kippur consists of day-long fasting, synagogue services, prayer and reflection. After 25 hours of no eating and drinking, “a break fast” occurs at sundown the following day. We asked Food Network staffers to share the very first meal they eat to break their holy day fast. From bagels to brisket, here's what they had to share.
Michael Solomonov's Mom’s Coffee-Braised Brisket
I like to have dinner ready to go for breaking the fast but can’t handle smelling something simmering in the slow cooker all day long. Mike Solomonov’s brisket (pictured above) is the perfect fix here — he recommends letting the fully cooked brisket chill overnight in the fridge before cooking, so all you need to do is heat it up at sunset. This is easily the best brisket I’ve ever made (and is now requested by my family for every occasion), it just needs a bit of backwards planning for an overnight dry brine and an overnight chill.
- Julie Hines, Managing Editor, Food Network Kitchen App
Murray’s Sturgeon Shop's Bagels, Scallion Cream Cheese, Salmon Nova and Sablefish
The Yom Kippur fast lasts about 25 hours, but after hour three at synagogue, I’m already thinking about the spread my family and I will enjoy together the next evening to break the fast. Since I was able to first chew food, every single break fast has had exactly the same perfect menu in my opinion. We pick up several dozen bagels (everything and onion are my faves), plus the most gorgeous smoked fish from Murray’s Sturgeon Shop on the Upper West Side of New York City. In addition to a schmear of scallion-flecked cream cheese, my bagel is piled high with silky smoked salmon nova and buttery sablefish that’s coated in garlic and paprika before it’s cured, smoked and sliced. Add a few tall glasses of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice without pulp (it has to be this OJ — call it nostalgia) and I’m a new woman, thankful for making it through the day of deep reflection and revived to take on the new year with purpose. Murray’s Sturgeon Shop ships, so you don’t have to be in NYC to enjoy its superb offerings.
- Alessandra Bulow, Food and Recipe Editor
Tetra Images/Getty Images
Everything Bagel with Tomato and Munster Cheese
Not all Jews eat Lox or other smoked fish; yes, it's true, and I’m one of them. This has been my go to Break Fast meal since I was a kid. Yom Kippur usually falls within the end of the season on local tomatoes. My go-to food every year is an everything bagel with a thick slice of tomato with salt and two slices of Munster Cheese on each bagel half — must be two. This then goes into the toaster or broiler to get nice and bubbly. Between the melt factor of the Munster Cheese and the flavor bomb of the Everything Bagel with a tomato that actually tastes like a tomato, this is a perfect meal after a day of fasting.
- Dave Mechlowicz, Director of Culinary Production
Lucy Schaeffer
Brisket and Lemon-Garlic Potatoes
I'll be breaking fast with some brisket (pictured above), lemon-garlic potatoes and spinach. Of course challah and honey will be on the table too!
- Rachel Gramuglia, Social Media Coordinator, Food.com & Cooking Channel
Related Content: