Preparation and First Seder - KL 2011

When we decided to move to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March, we knew we would be celebrating Passover on our own this year. This would be the first Passover in my life that I wasn’t with my family. It was always at my parent’s house or my cousin’s place in Riverdale or my Aunt and Uncle’s place in Franklin Square, Long Island or even more recently our apartment or my brother’s apartment in NYC. Regardless of where, it was always with my parents, usually with one or both of my brothers and a few other people like Brondi, cousins, friends, family. Now it was going to be just Lauren and me, our first Seder since we got married in November. So, while we were packing up our lives and getting ready to leave NYC for an indeterminate amount of time, I made sure to pack a Haggadah and four yarmulkes.

To be in honest, I was a little bit nervous about bringing the Haggadah and yarmulkes. We were moving to a Muslim country and as Jews, we were concerned with how we would be accepted. I don’t wear a yarmulke or anything like that, but while doing our preparation research we came across a mixed batch of views on what it is like to be a Jew in Malaysia. We knew Malaysia did not recognize Israel as sovereign country, we knew that there only a few Jews who live in Malaysia and we read that customs officials will sometimes go through your bags and if they find Judaica (Hebrew texts, yarmulkes, etc), it could become a difficult entry. Ultimately, we decided we were prepared for a problem if one should occur at customs and if they really did not want us to enter Malaysia, we would simply turn around and pick our lives back up in NYC.

We made it through customs without anyone even looking at us and began the journey of starting our lives in a very foreign place, a long way from home.  Lauren started working right away and I began to explore Kuala Lumpur’s markets, hawkers, restaurants and neighborhoods. There is an expansive network of street food (hawkers) and the truth is the best food here is found under a tin roof, in a stall, along a dirty street. Other then our weekly Sunday Dim Sum restaurant (we are New York Jews after all), we have been disappointed with the “formal” restaurant scene in KL. Time passed and Passover was removed from our list of concerns. I began working part-time at Bayan Indah, a Culinary Retreat/Cooking School hidden in a rain forest on the outskirts of the city. This offered me an opportunity to explore my passion away from our ill-equipped Service Apartment kitchen (2 tiny electric burners, a small fridge and about 22 inches of counter space).

Sunday, April 3^rd rolled around, and as we were devouring soup dumplings at Dragon-I in the Pavilion Mall, we realized we needed to figure out what we were going to do for Passover. We had yet to make any new friends and the only people we knew in town were Lauren’s work colleagues, not a Jew amongst them. But, we often had non-Jews at the Seder, so we decided to invite a few people from Lauren’s office over to the house and I began devising what kind of a Seder I could throw together in Malaysia, in my almost non-existent kitchen. I began walking the wet markets (outdoor markets) and supermarkets with a new focus. Could I find what I needed to bring the foods and flavors and memories of Passover in NYC here to Kuala Lumpur? And could I do it on an electric stove with two tiny burners? What about with one tiny burner since there was really only room for one pot at a time?

Slowly but surely I began to check off the ingredients: horseradish – check; chicken livers – check; safflower oil – check; brisket – check; Matzo – CHECK!!!!  Yes, grouped together with the crackers at the Cold Storage supermarket in the KLCC mall I found Matzo. And two sizes no less! Rakusen’s “plate-sized” Matzos and Matzo Crackers! The box was marked “Not For Passover”, but who cares! We would have Matzo at our Seder. It dawned on me, we were going to have a real Seder. (By the way, if anyone from Rakusen’s is reading this, maybe you can start shipping Kosher for Pesach Matzo to Cold Storage next year starting in March?)

We began to invite Lauren’s co-workers to the Seder and four of them accepted our invitation. Seder for six, great, I can manage that. Then we remembered an article Sarah, Lauren’s co-worker from NYC who moved to KL, sent us about an experience a professor had at a Seder he attended while passing through KL a few years back. He had come across an advertisement in the New Times Straits inviting one and all to a Seder in Kuala Lumpur. It was to be hosted by Gary Braut, a transplant from Crown Heights who had lived in KL for some 20 plus years. Should we track down this guy and invite him to our Seder? Is he having a Seder? As Jews in a far off place where very few Jews live, isn’t it our obligation to make sure Gary has a place to celebrate Passover? We knew we had to at least try to track Gary down and after just a few minutes searching the Internet, I got an email address.

“Hello Mr Braut-

My wife and I are new to Kuala Lumpur (from NYC), we arrived in early March, and we are slowly settling in to life to KL. We have been doing some research on some potential options for Pesach Seder this year when we came across an article that described your Seder from 2010.  Any chance you are hosting another Seder this year? If not, we will let you know what we come up with if you are in need of a place to celebrate Pesach.

Regards,

 Four days passed with no response. Well, at least we tried. Then on April 8^th I received a reply:

“ERIC,

SEVERAL TIMES I HAD INVITED YOUNG RABBI FROM CROWN HEIGHTS

AS WELL I HAVE BEEN TO SINGAPORE OR BGK EVEN HK.

CALL ME IF U HAVE A CHNACE

SHALOM,

GARY”

I called Gary the next day and he opened the conversation with a line I realized he likes to use with all new people he meets, “You are new to KL, but I’m the next new guy here….I’ve been here 23 years!” Gary was not planning on hosting a Seder this year, so I invited him to come join us. We were going to try to have two Seders and he was welcome at both. Gary accepted and he offered to send me a list of his Jewish contacts in KL. I was shocked, other Jews in KL? I figured there had to be and as I soon came to realize, Gary was like a Jew magnet. He made every effort to publicize his Judaism and the result was that a small, informal Jewish community had been established around his large frame.

Gary then sent me a list of his twelve Jewish contacts in KL with brief descriptions: Director of a company and his Israeli/American wife; USA Art Professor, Messianic Missionary; Moroccan Jew married to a Sultan’s daughter; New Orleans boy, furniture exporter in KL 20 years. The list was accompanied by a photo of Gary. Once I saw the photo, I realized the menu I had been building for the past week would probably not sit well with my company. Gary had peyos and wore a yarmulke. Not only was he Jewish, but he appeared to be Orthodox or Hassidic. I quickly emailed him back and let him know that I was planning a menu of brisket, chopped liver and chicken soup. Obviously not kosher meat, but I was willing to switch gears and make salmon.

The reply:

“Eric,

Thanks your e-mail and please do not be "fooled" by my photo.

My main concern is avoiding pork as wellthe contact I gave you should be fine with your brisket and liver

But no "wet" (Gabruchts) Matzoh.”

Ok, menu problem solved, two new problems introduced. Was Gary asking me to invite twelve people to the Seder? Maybe more if these people have spouses or children? The Chutzpah! And no wet Matzo? Where was I supposed to get Kosher for Passover Matzo? So I had to call Gary to make sure we were on the same page.

“Hi Gary, it’s Eric. Gary, Do you know where to get Kosher for Passover Matzo in KL? I found Matzo, but it is not certified for Pesach”

“I sometimes have some shipped from Singapore or the US”

“Ok, well, all I can find anywhere is the uncertified Matzo. I think uncertified Matzo is better to have than a Seder with no Matzo at all.”

“Yes, you are right.”

“Ok, great, so we will have the Matzo I can find locally. Also Gary, we have a very small apartment and a very small kitchen. I don’t think it is possible for me to invite these other people on the list. Unfortunately, we jut don’t have the room for any more people.”

“OK, I understand”

“Maybe we can have a Seder at your place for the second night if you have a big enough place to host all of these people.  I’m even willing to cook.”

“OK, let’s do that. How can I turn down a chef from New York!”

I figured I could just do the same menu and get away with it without putting in too much extra work. And most likely if he invited all these people, it would probably be a crowd of ten or so which I could manage. All I needed was two big pots, one for soup and one for brisket. There is an IKEA in town and I knew I could find the equipment I needed without too much trouble or expense. Done!

On Saturday evening I got an email from Gary:

Eric,

Headcount for Tuesday is aprox 18 !(good nbr)!

I will see u Monday along w Jenny and Andre.

I have 4 boes of factory matzah in fedex from spore and will bring u 2 boxes along w hagadah and some Israeli trinkets !

Anything call !

Shalom,

Gary

Eighteen people?! And it looks like he is bringing two more to the first night? I quickly called Gary.

“Gary, I saw your email. Gary, there is no way I could possibly cook for eighteen people in my kitchen. I have two tiny electric burners, no oven. That’s it. Do you have a kitchen?”

“Yes, I have a kitchen, but I haven’t cooked anything in the 23 years I have been living here.”

“That’s ok, I am not asking you to cook, I can do it, but I need to use your kitchen. Do you have an oven?”

“Yes”

“OK, then if it’s alright with you, I will come over on Tuesday and cook for that evening’s Seder.”

“OK”

Another challenge tackled. Wait, what did I get myself into? Two Seders, nine people the first night, eighteen people the second night? And I don’t really have a kitchen? I think I need to call this whole thing off. Lauren and I can just have a private Passover, the two of us. I can make a small brisket and some soup and we will be fine.

“But Eric, you are doing a good deed! Obviously these people don’t have anywhere else to go. It is two days before Pesach and if they all wan to come, they must not have any other plans. It’s a mitzvah! You are going to make Passover possible for all of these people! And Rabbi Sebert will love this story!”

“Yeah, but this is a lot of work. And it’s only two days away. I don’t think I can pull it  off, all the shopping, prepping, cooking.”

“Well, part of what you are doing here is exploring if you want to switch gears and pursue a culinary career. This will be a great test.”

“Fine, tomorrow is going to be a long day. We need to get up early and start shopping. And we won’t have time for Dim Sum, so let’s go tonight.”

“Fine.”

We would need to go to at least three stores to get all the ingredients, first stop was Cold Storage for Matzo. Mission accomplished. Next stop, Hok Choon. Hok Choon has a butcher and he was the only one who carried Brisket, flown in from Australia. During my recon, I found fresh horseradish and most of the other things I would need there. As we pulled into the parking lot, something didn’t look right. Hok Choon is closed on Sundays?? Wow. Now what? OK, to the other Cold Storage near by, they have a butcher too and maybe we can get brisket there? Or something else? Or at least most of what I need? No brisket, but 850 Malaysian Ringit later we had a taxi full of groceries. Seventy eggs, a large leg of lamb, chicken thighs, chicken carcasses, vegetables, walnuts, cinnamon, apples, potatoes, mushrooms and almost everything else we needed.

I needed to get the chicken soup going. I was going to have to make two or three batches and there wasn’t going to be time on Monday to cook soup and brisket in my one large pot. Soup was on and following tradition we went around the corner for some pretty decent, thin crust pizza.  After pizza, we began prepping for the rest of the Seder. Grinding Matzo to make Matzo Meal for Matzo balls, peeling apples for Charoset, frying livers for chopped liver. Chopping up dozens of onions and sautéing. Boiling thirty eggs. Mixing batter for Matzo balls. Rearranging the apartment to accommodate nine people. Oy vey! We got to bed around 11.30pm, knowing there was a long, full day ahead.

    

As I approached Hok Choon on Monday morning, I knew there was going to be a problem. What do I do if they don’t have brisket or horseradish today? I’ll figure it out, but I’m running out of time. 10.5 hours until the guests arrive. Other than being closed on Sunday, Hok Choon doesn’t usually disappoint. I got two whole briskets and a nice horseradish root. Time to get home for some braising.

The day was hectic and I worked non-stop, but by the time Lauren got home at 5:15pm, I was pretty much finished. The guests were due to arrive at 7 and we had over an hour and a half to set the table and get the apartment ready.

At 6pm our buzzer rang and I was utterly confused.

“Your guest here.”

“Excuse me? Who is here?”

Some background conversation.

“Gary”

I turned to Lauren, “Gary is here. They are an hour early.”

Lauren looked at me in disbelief.

Then into the intercom, “OK, send them up.”

A minute later Gary was at our door with three people, not the two we were expecting. OK, Seder for ten, not nine. And they are an hour early. And we are nowhere near ready.

“Hi, you guys are early. Actually, an hour early.”

“Oh, yes, well, we thought maybe we could come over and help.”

We scurried around and continued getting ready around our early guests, while trying to keep up the conversation. Along with Gary arrived Andre, Jenny and Esther. Andre is a Chinese Malaysian, who came across a book on the 1967 War and was intrigued by the Jews. From there he kept reading and while he never officially converted, he is a practicing Jew. Bukhara keepah on his head and mezuzahs on his doorposts. Jenny, also Chinese Malaysian, works for Gary and from what I could tell, is also his partner. Esther is Burmese, works for Gary, and came along to help clean up.

The other guests arrived at 7 and we started with some chopped liver and eggs and onions hors d'oeuvres. The table was set, the Seder Plate was ready and after thirty minutes, we sat down to begin the Seder. Four out of our ten had never been to a Seder before and as I surveyed the crowd, I knew this was going to be a Passover we would always remember. Lauren, Gary, Sarah and I were from New York; Alle was from Argentina; Anna and Keya, Australia; Esther, Burma; Andre and Jenny, Malaysia. The Seder was great, everyone participated and the food was delicious. The Matzo Balls were light, but not too fluffy, the soup good and rich. The brisket was tender and flavorful, the potato pancakes not too greasy. And to my surprise, even the apple crisp, with a walnut and brown sugar crust came out better than I thought it would.

As our guests left, I handed Andre a huge IKEA bag filled with potatoes, apples, onions and every other dry good I would need to pull off Seder #2.