Passover Cooking with Grandma Irma

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

Cooking with Grandma Irma

By Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith

Watch as Irma Zigas cooks with her grandson Caleb, preparing her own take on Passover brisket. 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 Meredith Arthur with your contact information. Music courtesy of Meshugga Beach Party.

ALLCooking with Grandma
POST A COMMENT |17 Comments

COMMENT

  • 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!