The Making of ‘The Chutzpah!’ Cocktail

Naomi and Jon’s mixology laboratory. Photograph by Jon Wunder
Now that I’m writing for the Forward, my boyfriend, Jon, has been peppering me with questions about Judaism and the paper. It’s lovely to have such a supportive boyfriend, but it’s more than a little embarrassing to have to pull out my dog-eared copy of Blair and Engel to get him answers.
Last week I’d written about the duo’s “The Jewish Festival Cookbook,” and the Forward had adapted a holiday recipe from the book, pears poached in concord wine.
“Concord wine?” Jon questioned, looking over my shoulder as I tried surreptitiously to look up the history of Sukkot. “What’s that?”

What to do with that leftover Manischewitz: The Chutzpah! Image by Liza Schoenfein
“You know, it’s Manishewitz,” I replied, from actual personal knowledge.
“Oh it’s that sweet wine?” he asked. He’d never tried it. Why would he? He’s not Jewish. It’s not something we tend to have around — it wasn’t even in my house growing up, just at my bubbe’s. “So people drink it at the high holidays, then what? It just sits there?”
“I guess so,” I said. “It’s an acquired taste.”
Being the thoughtful fellow he always is, Jon suggested that in service of this column and its readers, we attempt to make a concord wine cocktail to help people put their leftover booze to work. And so, after much trial and error, I present to you, The Chutzpah!
Drink and enjoy. L’chaim!
Naomi Major is a writer living in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. You can find more of her writing at naomimajor.com.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.