There is such a thing that traditionally linked to Bat or Bar Mitzvah ceremony as Seudat Mitzvah. It is a traditional meal that is prescribed by commandments as obligatory.
But it is only obligatory in fulfilling it, without saying, what must be eaten during it, how many guests should be invited, what entertaining program shall be realized, in what place, and what time of the day it must be conducted. The only in common thing that must be really followed is that all food on this meal must be kosher.
Not only Bat or Bar Mitzvah has the commandment of the obligatory meal – several other celebratory ceremonies also have it: brit milah, wedding, Purim, and siyum amongst the other occasions.
In this article, we are telling more about Bar Mitzvah food ideas for Seudat Mitzvah so to ease the preparation of you for the event.
Food ideas
The idea of having an obligatory meal when a boy is 13 have originated, as it seems, from Abraham, whose deeds are described in Torah (he have organized a meal to celebrate the Yitzhak’s (Isaac’s) excommunication from bad inclinations). Guests that gather on the festive meal, bring their gifts along: as a rule, ‘wise’ presents like books and ‘sweet’ ones like candies. Bar/Bat Mitzvah can eat those candies at a meal but not obliged to (and can take them home to eat later or to treat his/her relatives and friends).
The amount of food can be different, the same as the number of guests, and the food types too. Below, we give some interesting culinary ideas you might want to implement.
Tuna with marmalade
It’s a wonderful cold snack with a delicate piquant taste, easy to prepare even at home conditions.
You will need:
- 2 kg of tomatoes
- 1 kg of sugar
- 500 g of blue fin tuna fillets (of premium class)
- 1 large package of rucola lettuce
For the sauce:
- 200 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice
- 100 g of powdered sugar
- 10 g of coriander seeds.
Cut the tomatoes in a saucepan in a small amount of water, put through a sieve to leave no skin and seeds, boil down the juice to a volume of 2-3 glasses, add sugar and cook until the sugar fully dissolves and the mass becomes of the medium thickening. Cool down. Soak tuna, chopped into small pieces, in sauce.
For the sauce: pour the orange juice into the heated saucepan, add the coriander and sugar powder, not stopping to stir – receiving thus a fine thickener. Cool it. Give a light fry to pieces of tuna in sauce, cool down. Put a piece of marmalade at the bottom of the vessel, put the rucola on top of it and put a piece of tuna inside, delving a little.
Hot snack: Silvery muksun with teriyaki sauce
The fillet of fish (for as many servings as needed) put in thin layers together with stewed sweet pepper and chopped shallots (sweet onions). Salt, pepper, spices are added to the taste. Roll the fish fillet together with the vegetables neatly into a roll, bake in the oven. In addition to fish, you can bake tomatoes and/or potatoes – they will be a delicious supplement to a hot snack (and will absorb some fish taste and smell, becoming even tastier). But even without them, those nice fish rolls will be a delicious and original dish on their own.
Strawberry soup as the dessert – for kids and adults
Add about 4-6 tablespoons of sugar per 1 kg of strawberries. You are advised to take about 100 ml of fresh orange juice for extra taste, and use 100-150 ml of fresh passion fruit juice for decoration. Wash berries, slightly dry them, remove the stems, and make a mash. Add the powdered sugar and mix it. Dilute puree with orange juice, pour in glasses, decorate with berries at your discretion and passion fruit juice.
Potato in Moroccan style
This dish may not be equally well for all congregations – so cook it if you consider it suitable.
- Cut 2 kg of potatoes into thin slices.
- Fry fresh mushrooms with onions to receive approximately 1 kg of the ready mixture – to have that, take about 2 kg of mushrooms and 1 kg of onions and fry until the extra water evaporates.
- Put potatoes in a thin layer on a greased baking tray. Salt it and sprinkle with saffron. Top with the mushroom-onion fried mixture. Spray some olive oil. Repeat the entire procedure again (making layers) until ingredients end. Put basil, rosemary, cilantro, or pepper on the top of your top layer at your taste.
- Put foil on top of the tray and insert into preheated oven. Bake at 150-200 degrees until potatoes become soft and the strong pleasant smell is emanated.
Bar Mitzvah flowers
It is a good choice to arrange flowers to your Bar or Bat Mitzvah. You can put them on tables and adorn the hall as well. Unlike a wedding, you will need fewer flowers to decorate – at least because every guest won’t need to bring a flower along as a bud into an upper pocket or a wrist adornment.
There are no strict rules in what colors to mix and what smell to strive to. Just consider the fact that flowers’ smell does not have to interfere with the smell of food and drinks – or otherwise, not all guests will understand that odd mixture.
What kind of flowers to select for indoor adorning? Avoid lavender, daisies, lilies, and snowdrops – as they have a strong odor.
Roses with moderate and humble smell are good. Hydrangea is mixed with almost everything. Dendrobium Orchids, Anthurium give no smell but add a lot of beauty.
For supremacy of color, try to select purple Vanda Orchids – they are astounding with white and rosy colors of the ambiance or other flowers, becoming an interesting spot of blossoming luxury. Pincushion Proteas in mixture with something more moderate in color will be an original decision, while Summer Cymbidium (from New Zealand) will become a restrained solution if you don’t want to accentuate on the brightness of colors during your meal.
For the outdoor decoration, small pines and junipers (as well as other conifers) in high pots will give a fantastic look.
Bar Mitzvah disco
When the official meal with people of all ages has passed its climax and your children slowly become bored, it is right about time to let them all to a disco. To do that, you can arrange one in the separate hall of the same restaurant you do your meal or to give them the freedom to visit some other place, for adults, for instance. It is an often-used decision for the same day or the next one(s) – as Bar/Bat Mitzvah with friends will finally be able to release all the tension of the latest days that overwhelm him or her. Disco dancing is the best way to release the pressure wisely and harmlessly.
Instead of afterword
What else, besides candies and speeches of blessing you can present to the hero of the day (or nice food if you are the parent)? Something valuable like money 0 but not just any. Give them as the first installment for his/her first own independent visit to Jerusalem. Or to the place, he/she dreams to visit – nobody has canceled Rome, Paris or Seychelles.
