Congregation Ahavas Yisroel in Edison was the scene of frenzied food preparation and spirited spectators on Saturday night, February 25, as three two-person teams each took a batch of surprise ingredients and created savory dishes while dozens cheered them on.

The ‘Kosher Chopped’ event was organized by Ahavas Yisroel Sisterhood leaders Sara Culang, Mara Margolin, and Barbara Ungar Frisch, with help from the shul’s rav, Rabbi Gedaliah Jaffe, who enlisted Toby Moses, a New Jersey cooking expert, to oversee the competition. Rabbi Jaffe greeted the crowd that night, joking that he graciously bowed out of being one of the competing cooks because with his expertise at making scrambled eggs, he would have been sure to win.

Toby Moses runs a popular culinary track for high school students at the Frisch Yeshiva in Paramus, which last semester attracted 24 students. Her mini-culinary school teaches knife skills, food pairings, and what she terms ‘college dorm cooking’ techniques and dishes. She regularly conducts “Chopped” and “Iron Chef” competitions among the students at the Frisch Yeshiva.

The competing cooking teams at AY’s event—Rivka Grossman and Miriam Gross, Cindy Berger and her son Yosef Berger (visiting from Israel, where he is a chayal boded), and Lawrence Margolin and Rabbi Nathan Langer—all rose to the challenge and produced creative, tasty dishes. The two local judges selected as winners Lawrence Margolin and Rabbi Nathan Langer, for their main dish—sweet chili schnitzel breaded with crispy fried onions, topped with a fried egg, and their two side dishes—al dente gnocchi in a strawberry balsamic glaze and sautéed yellow squash with radish, onion, basil and garlic. Congratulations to all the participants!

By Harry Glazer