Join us Rescued Recipes: A Special Dinner Event with Chef Alon Shaya and Holocaust survivor Steven Fenves for a unique dining experience in Las Vegas on November 14, 2024
Rescued Recipes, a collaboration between two-time JBFA-winning Chef Alon Shaya and his friend Steven Fenves, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor. Both will be visiting Las Vegas November 14 2024. This dinner series has visited L.A., New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, and more, and Chef Alon Shaya is key to bring this dinner to Las Vegas Vegas, where he has a residency, Safta 1964, at Wynn.
Shaya first came across Steven’s family’s recipe book in the archives of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and just had to reach out to Steven, the family’s last remaining survivor. During the pandemic, and hundreds of miles apart, they worked to recreate some recipes from the book, with Steven translating the Hungarian shorthand as Alon cooked through trial and error, sending each iteration to Steven and his family over dry ice!
Some of these dishes, Crispy Semolina Sticks with Mustard; Mushroom Paprikash with Sour Cream; Duck Liver Pate with Rye Crackers and Fig Jam are featured in the dinner series, which has raised over $750K to date for the Museum.
Just Imagine stepping back in time to savor the flavors of childhood, evoking fond memories that reconnect you to your homeland before it was lost to the Holocaust. Auschwitz survivor Steven Fenves, whose family was forced from their Subotica, Yugoslavia was home into a Jewish ghetto in 1944.
He donated his mother’s recipe book to the Museum. His family’s former cook had bravely rescued the book while neighbors looted their apartment. During this very extraordinary evening we will learn more about Steven, his family’s story, and how and why James Beard Award–winning Chef Alon Shaya recreated dishes inspired by Fenves recipes.
Now you take your seat at the table and Join us for a special evening on Thursday, November 14, 2024, 6:30 p.m. at a private residence (Additional location details will be provided after registration.) Tickets start at $1,000 per person and pre-registration is a must! At the dinner, guests will learn more about Steven and his family’s story and sample dishes prepared by Chef Alon Shaya inspired by the Fenves recipe book. Of course, Chef Alon and Steven will discuss the foods of a shared history and the meaningful recollections they represent.
The Fenyves family recipe book—which Steven and his sister, Estera, donated to the Museum—offers a glimpse into one family’s life before the Holocaust. It was handwritten by Steven’s mother, Klara Fenyves, who was killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The recipes include both family favorites and dishes made for special occasions.
Until now, the recipes were not accessible to the public before chef Alon Shaya discovered the book in the Museum’s collection. “As a chef, I want to cook food that has meaning and stories to it. I think that adds to what I love so much about food,” said the Israel-born, James Beard Award-winning chef. When Alon discovered that Steven volunteers at the Museum, he reached out to him. Steven translated 13 out of more than 140 recipes so the Alon could adapt them for today’s cooks.
Of pages of handwritten recipes, Steven singled out the recipe for walnut cream cake, which had been one of his favorite childhood desserts. Walnuts are a popular ingredient in Hungarian cooking, Alon said. Subotica, Steven’s hometown, was heavily influenced by Hungary for centuries. Today, Subotica sits on the Serbian side of the Serbo-Hungarian border. Before World War II and through the present day, many Subotica residents spoke Hungarian and identified with Hungarian culture.
“I found the process of grinding the walnuts through a food grinder very satisfying and it allowed an extremely consistent texture of the nuts within the cake and the icing,” Alon said. In the early and mid-20th century, he added, many home kitchens had a meat grinder that clamped to a work surface and was also used to grind nuts. He notes the recipe uses no wheat flour, making it usable for Passover and gluten-free.
What to create this historic recipe yourself? Here is the recipe!
Walnut Cream Cake Yields one 9”x5” cake
8 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
Zest of 2 lemons, divided
2 cups dark chocolate chips or chopped pieces, divided
5 cups walnut pieces or halves, divided
¾ cup almond flour
1 cup whole milk
12 ounces soft unsalted butter
1 ½ cups of powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 300F and toast the walnut pieces for 15 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Place ½ cup of toasted walnuts aside for garnish. Grind the remaining walnuts through a meat grinder so they are evenly ground and fluffy. You can also chop in a food processor or with a knife but make sure you get the mixture chopped fine and evenly. Set aside.
Prepare a 9”x5” loaf pan by lining it with buttered parchment. Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form then incorporate 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt. Remove the whipped egg whites from the stand mixer bowl and place into a separate bowl.
Then set it aside. Wash and dry the mixer bowl, place in the egg yolks with ½ cup of the granulated sugar and zest of one lemon. Whisk on high speed until pale in color and it has a light and fluffy texture. You will need to scrape a few times to make sure it’s evenly combined. Melt 1 cup of the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Pour the melted chocolate into the whipped yolk mixture and whisk well.
Now fold 1 cup of the ground walnuts as well as the almond flour into the yolk mixture. Make sure it is well combined, then add ⅓ of the whipped egg whites into the bowl. Lightly fold in being careful to keep as much of the air in the mixture as possible. Repeat two more times only folding in ⅓ of the whites at a time. Once fully incorporated, pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and bake for 40–45 minutes or until the cake has reached an internal temperature of 208F, or a butter knife comes out clean with no raw batter attached to the blade. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the pan then remove and place on wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Slice the cake into thirds along the length of loaf. Now, To make the filling- Place 2 cups of the ground walnuts, the milk and ¾ cup of granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in the remaining 1 cup of chocolate. Stir until well combined and let cool to room temperature.
Layer the cake by placing half of the filling on the first layer and half on the second layer. Top with the last slice of cake and place in the refrigerator for two hours to chill. Remove and trim the cake so it is a rectangle with straight edges.
Pro Tip: Keep the pieces you trimmed off for snacks.
Now it’s time to make the icing. In the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, place the softened butter, the powdered sugar, the vanilla, the remaining cup of ground walnuts, the zest of the remaining lemon, and the remaining teaspoon of salt. Whip on high speed until light and fluffy. You’ll have to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure it’s evenly combined. Ice the cake and garnish with toasted walnut halves. Best to serve at room temperature. Enjoy a piece of history! See you for an evening will be we will not forget!
For reservations visit https://events.ushmm.org/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x75982abcd
For more on visiting the museum and plan your own visit, https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/plan-your-visit
