Roast Chicken With Plums Gets a Touch of Spice for Rosh Hashana - Melissa Clark

It’s one thing to wish your family and friends a sweet new year. But at Rosh Hashana, Jews bring the sentiment to the table throughout the meal.

You’ll get honey drizzled on apples, sugar in the gefilte fish, orange juice in the tsimmes (a dish of carrots and prunes), and possibly all three in brisket. And that’s not even mentioning the honey cake for dessert. A sweet new year’s meal is one of the finer aspects of Jewish tradition.

The only problem: When things veer from pleasing to cloying. The job of the cook is to play up the sour as well as the sweet, and let them temper each other into a happy balance.

Usually this means a splash of vinegar or squeeze of lemon or lime. But sumac, a spice crushed from a tart red berry that thrives all over the Middle East, accomplishes the same goal, adding a mild earthy fragrance along the way.

I started cooking with sumac after a trip to Turkey several years ago, where it’s sprinkled over all manner of salads, grilled meats and olive-oil-rich dips. The coarse, ruddy powder is celebrated in the region for its brightness in both color and taste.

Roasting two birds at once is no harder than roasting one. Credit Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

In this recipe for roast chicken, I use sumac as part of a garlicky spice rub to season the birds (there are two), along with allspice, cinnamon and black pepper.

Photo Credit: Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

It’s also in the honeyed plum chutney that cooks simultaneously underneath the birds. As the chickens roast, their sumac-imbued drippings season the plums, adding just the right sour and complex note. Then the plums become the a sweet-tart sauce for serving. Perfect for Rosh Hashana, or any other festive gathering where a touch of sweetness is desired.

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I made this recipe with two chickens because it is meant to feed a crowd, and roasting two birds at once is no harder than roasting one. You just need a bigger pan. A large roasting pan with a rack, the kind you’d use at Thanksgiving for the turkey, is ideal, and it’s nice to put it to use before November rolls around. Continue reading the main story

As with many dinner-party-friendly recipes, you can and should do most of the prep work for this in advance, up to a day ahead. Then pop the pan into the oven as your guests arrive. Other than carving, your work is done.

Which will give you plenty of time for dipping apples into honey, and other sweet pursuits.

Recipes: Roast Chicken With Plums |More Rosh Hashana Dishes

Source: The New York Times

Rosh Hashanah 2015 begins in the evening of Sept.13.

Sunday, September 13

and ends in the evening of

Tuesday, September 15