Akasha’s Passover

Akasha Richmond owns Akasha restaurant in Culver City. She hosts a Passover seder every year, run by her friend Albert Spevak.

Her menu includes:

Tuscan Style Chopped Liver, Moroccan Eggplant & Roasted Tomato

Traditional Seder Plates: Beet Horseradish/Charoset with Dates & Walnuts, Hard Cooked Local Farm Eggs/Sea Salt Water

First Course: Sephardic Style Gefilte Fish/Tomato-Shallot Sauce, Wild Arugula & Radish Salad/Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Second Course: Matzo Ball Soup, Weiser Farms Carrots & Fresh Herbs

Third Course: Braised Chicken with Kennedy Farms Dried Plums & Apricots, Sephardic Potato & Leek Fritters, Rapini with Preserved Meyer Lemon

Dessert: Lemon Pistachio Cakes/Lemon Curd/Candied Kumquats, Chocolate Meringues/Almond Macaroons, Chocolate Chunk Brownies/Pudwill Farms Berries, Chocolate Covered Matzo Toffee Crunch

Akasha's Moroccan Fish Balls (Photo: Ed Caraeff)

Moroccan Gefilte Fish with Tomato Shallot Sauce

Fish Balls

1 1/2 lb skinned whitefish fillets or a mixture of pike and carp

1 small onion, grated

1 large egg

1/3 cup matzo meal

2 tsps ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp finely grated ginger

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Tomato-Shallot Sauce

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 can (14.5-oz) whole tomatoes in juice, pureed (or 1 lb fresh plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled seeded and pureed)

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 tsps sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

2 cups water

Chop the fish in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Remove to a bowl; mix in the onion, egg, matzo meal, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, salt, pepper and cilantro. Mix well, cover and refrigerate while you make the sauce.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and water. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Take lumps of the fish mixture the size of walnuts and roll into balls. Place one by one into the sauce and add additional water if needed just to cover the balls. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, turning over once. Chill. Serve with horseradish and lemon wedges.

Makes about 20 balls.