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On March 22, Alicia Simpson is turning the traditional Passover seder on its head with a multicultural celebration of community and culture at Ry’s Table in southwest Atlanta.
Simpson, who is Black and Jewish, is the founder and executive director of Pea Pod Nutrition and Lactation Support in Decatur. Passionate about food and community, her experiences with Jews of Color and other inclusion groups at her synagogue have encouraged Simpson to explore Passover traditions within Mexican, Ethiopian, and Spanish origins. The foods are a far cry from the Americanized Passover dishes like matzah ball soup mix from a box and jarred gefilte fish in jelly.
A native Californian, Simpson plays with flavors and textures at the seder table, while telling the Passover story: Jews escaped from a cruel pharaoh ruler in ancient Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and spent 40 years wandering in the desert.
This year, Passover begins at sundown on April 1. For eight days, observers of the holiday refrain from eating foods with leavening including wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt.
“We’ve never done the same seder menu twice,” Simpson said, adding that her previous Passover menus featured Mexican and Thai dishes as well as soul food.
“I realized other people are doing that because it’s their culture, and I would love to learn more about those cultural traditions,” Simpson said of this year’s Passover event. “I want to find out what they love and what makes their [seder] different.
Her curiosity sparked the idea for “A Place at the Table,” a multicultural pre-Passover celebration and potluck for Atlanta’s Jews of Color and their families. She’s holding the event at Ry’s Table, a Jewish and woman-owned garden-to-table supper club and urban homestead in southwest Atlanta near West End.
Families will bring a seder dish that reflects their cultural background or family story to help drive conversations about traditions. “You learn so much of the culture of someone’s family through their seder,” Simpson said.
After the Passover event, attendees will receive a professionally printed cookbook, including the recipes from the seder.
Simpson says Atlanta features a vibrant community of Jewish people of color, well supported by the broader Jewish community. To assist Simpson in her endeavor, The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is contributing a grant to make the March 22 Passover event free to attend.
“We’re seen,” she said. “Being lifted up by the larger Jewish community makes the experience even more rich because we get to have a sharing of cultures and sharing of ideals. It’s a really beautiful to find connection and ritual together. I love it.”
Simpson’s contribution to the seder will be a vegan, Mexican, kosher-for-Passover tray of enchiladas made from corn tortillas stuffed with potatoes and vegetables. During the eight-day observance of Passover, Simpson makes fresh batches of salsas and moles to “up the flavor on everything,” and incorporates alternative grains in her cooking, like amaranth and quinoa.
“The most annoying part of any dietitian is we will make sure that every meal is completely balanced. We will make sure that there are lots of veggies on the table. We will be trying to show off something new that’s really healthy,” Simpson said. “We like to show our guests, ‘This healthy food could be the most amazing thing you’ve ever had.’”
Simpson jokes that eating bland and boring Passover food is what drew her to research Passover traditions from other countries. She figured there had to be a better way to enjoy food during the holiday.
“Every year when someone’s like, ‘I’m making a matzo pizza,’ I feel like we lost the plot. Just accept this time for what it is. We are in reflection right now. We are travelers,” Simpson said. “I’ve had enough sad [seders] … the meaning of this is not lost on me. I feel the suffering. I feel connected to my people.”