KOLKATA: Nahoum & Sons, the iconic bakery operating out of New Market in the heart of Kolkata for the past 122 years, has decided to remove chicken items from its menu. The change was driven by the unavailability of a kosher butcher, as the shop reverted to its Jewish roots.
The shop, established in 1902 by Nahoum Israel Mordecai, a Baghdadi Jew, will also close on Saturdays to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
The decision, influenced by the passing of the bakery’s kosher chicken supplier last year, reflected the challenges faced by Kolkata’s dwindling Jewish community. Without a kosher butcher, fourth-generation owner Adam Nahoum opted to cease sale of chicken products. The shop continues to offer popular items like fish pantheras and egg chops.
General manager Jagadish Chandra Haldar, who has been with Nahoum & Sons for 49 years, said the directive to stop selling chicken items and to close on Jewish holidays came from Adam in Jan. “Thereafter we stopped making chicken items. We continue to sell the much-in-demand fish pantheras and egg chops,” Haldar added.
Adam, a physician in Jerusalem, has maintained close ties with the shop, visiting Kolkata twice a year. His father Issac died last year.
Initially, the shop was closed on Saturdays. However, for several decades, it observed Sunday as its closure day, aligning with other shops in New Market. It has now reverted to closing on Saturdays and opening on Sundays from 9.30am-1pm, coinciding with the hours when some sections of the market are operational.
It will also close on Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
As a family-run business, it was their prerogative to set the rules, another employee said. “We simply follow instructions. Perhaps, previous family members who managed the business were not as religiously inclined,” he said.
According to Jael Silliman, an author documenting Kolkata’s Jewish community, practicing kosher in the city became increasingly difficult after the mid-1980s as the Jewish population declined.
The shop, established in 1902 by Nahoum Israel Mordecai, a Baghdadi Jew, will also close on Saturdays to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
The decision, influenced by the passing of the bakery’s kosher chicken supplier last year, reflected the challenges faced by Kolkata’s dwindling Jewish community. Without a kosher butcher, fourth-generation owner Adam Nahoum opted to cease sale of chicken products. The shop continues to offer popular items like fish pantheras and egg chops.
General manager Jagadish Chandra Haldar, who has been with Nahoum & Sons for 49 years, said the directive to stop selling chicken items and to close on Jewish holidays came from Adam in Jan. “Thereafter we stopped making chicken items. We continue to sell the much-in-demand fish pantheras and egg chops,” Haldar added.
Adam, a physician in Jerusalem, has maintained close ties with the shop, visiting Kolkata twice a year. His father Issac died last year.
Initially, the shop was closed on Saturdays. However, for several decades, it observed Sunday as its closure day, aligning with other shops in New Market. It has now reverted to closing on Saturdays and opening on Sundays from 9.30am-1pm, coinciding with the hours when some sections of the market are operational.
It will also close on Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
As a family-run business, it was their prerogative to set the rules, another employee said. “We simply follow instructions. Perhaps, previous family members who managed the business were not as religiously inclined,” he said.
According to Jael Silliman, an author documenting Kolkata’s Jewish community, practicing kosher in the city became increasingly difficult after the mid-1980s as the Jewish population declined.