Silberman '13 awarded $25,000 grand prize in national cook-off

All five finalists were given one hour to prepare and present their original recipes in front of seven judges and an Upper West Side audience of family, friends, Jewish community members, media and Manischewitz employees. Entries were judged — in order of importance — on taste, ease of preparation, appearance, originality and creativity.

Silberman’s dish was an original “mod” matzo ball soup recipe — a twist on his grandmother’s chicken soup using his own matzo balls, which he has been making for his family for the past eight years. When presenting it to the judges, he emphasized how he updated a classic recipe “for the modern palette,” he said, making the matzo ball soup vegetarian and using cumin as the primary spice.

“It was so exciting,” Silberman said. “It was so fun to be there, cooking in front of people and seeing them enjoy my [dish]. Win or lose, I had such a great time there, and [winning] was just the icing on the cake.”

The contest — sponsored by Manischewitz, the nation’s largest manufacturer of kosher products — solicited easy-to-make recipes that incorporated its products. The Cook-Off was open to all “amateur cooking enthusiasts” within the United States and accepted entries until mid-January, according to Manischewitz’s website.

An independent panel of judges selected 15 semifinalists from all original entries, of which four became finalists. The fifth finalist, Silberman, was selected in February through online voting among five specially selected entries.

“It’s thrilling to be out there, in a sense,” Silberman said. “I’m not typically the one to gather everyone to look at what I’m doing, so it’s exciting that people everywhere [voted] for me.”

Silberman described the contest as “Iron Chef for Jewish Mothers.” Indeed he was the only male in his group of five semifinalists, and the only non-middle-aged participant among five finalists. Three of the finalists were women, and two of them were cooking competition veterans.

His grand prize is split between cooking appliances from Maytag — the contest’s sponsor — and cash money. He said he would likely give cooking stoves and ovens to not only his family at home, but also to an upcoming University chapter of the national organization Challah for Hunger, which needs its own oven to begin baking and donating, he said.

During the voting process last month, he promised his friends at the Center for Jewish Life and at Tower Club that he would cook matzo balls for them. He said he intends to do so in the next few weeks.

In general, Silberman said he has enjoyed sharing his culture and cooking with others. He is also pleased to take on a new role as an unofficial Manischewitz spokesperson, given that his family has been using the brand since he was very young.

“Matzo balls have always been a tradition for my family,” Silberman said. “It’s been fun introducing my culture to people who have never experienced it before.”