Passover Cooking with Grandma Irma

Published on Wednesday, April 1, 2009, by Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith / Edit Post

Watch as Irma Zigas cooks with her grandson Caleb, preparing her own take on Passover brisket (here's her recipe). There’s love, there’s respect and teaching, there are disagreements over chopping onions—it’s family. Caleb and Irma aren’t kosher, and neither is this recipe, but it’s the one Irma’s been making since her anti-Vietnam, pro-women’s-rights activist days, when she needed to bring the family together but couldn’t spend hours in the kitchen.

You know her by many names: YaYa, Nana, Bubbe, Gangy, Grandma. Cooking with Grandma celebrates family traditions. If you would like to nominate a San Francisco–based grandma for our series, please email Blake Smith with your contact information.

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POST A COMMENT |21 Comments

COMMENT

  • Garlic 17, the bridge you see in the background of the photograph is the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

  • I thought caleb was Messi at first

  • I use a brisket with the fat cap still on because it is way more tender and moist. Flat briskets can get very dry. You need to cook a brisket slowly and for a long time otherwise it's like an old shoe. There also should be liquid in the pan so that it braises and there's a nice gravy (in my opinion). Irma's brisket is very simple (similar to my mom's) and I'm sure it's tasty.

  • Wait...into the oven went a tin foil wrapped brisket in a tin foil roasting pan, but out came a tin foil wrapped brisket in a orange ceramic pan...editing?

  • I wan to steal Caleb! ;)

  • canalesm, here's Irma's brisket recipe:

    http://www.chow.com/recipes/18967

    Hope that answers all your questions!

    Deborah from CHOW

  • How long do you leave the brisket in the oven?

  • Absolutely adorable, love the brisket and the banter! I want to steal Irma too!

  • What a great segment, and Grandma Irma is a gem. I know you know this, Caleb, but you're one lucky grandson!

  • can someone email me Valerie 's email...She put a post
    on about her Chicken Marbella but I need the recipe.
    Can anyone here help me obtain it?
    thanks
    Sydney

  • Absolutely charming!

  • She's delightful; the cranberry sauce, not so much! (Too sweet for my taste.)

  • Hi garlic17,

    Nope, it was Dolores Street in San Francisco! I like the idea that it resembled the TappenZee--makes the coasts seem closer together,

    Meredith of CHOW

  • Was that the TappanZee Bridge in Rockland County NY in the background??

  • Love Caleb, Love Grandma Irma, love the choice of music for this piece! A brisket with cranberry and tomato, well that's a new one on me!

    Cooking with Grandma has me missing my Grandma B!

  • wearybashful, here's the link to Irma's brisket recipe, which gives more specifics on cooking times:

    http://www.chow.com/recipes/18967

    Deborah, CHOW copy chief

  • Freakin' ADORABLE! You might just turn this vegetarian into a meat eater!!

  • Did they say how long they cooked it?
    I think a really long time in the oven is the key ingredient.

  • My favorite Chow segment ever. I want to steal Grandma Irma.

  • Love this segment. Please keep on bringing them!

  • What a gorgeous woman!!! Thanks for sharing this great moment!