The Jewish connection

108 years on, Nahoum’s plum cakes and brownies are still unmatched

Walking through the narrow bylanes of New Market, the aroma of freshly baked cakes draws you to Shop No F-22. Founded in 1902 by Jewish confectioner Nahoum Israel Mordecai, Nahoum and Sons is something of a Kolkata institution. The 108-year-old confectionery is now run by his grandson David Nahoum.

While Flury’s, the iconic tea room on Park Street that even got a mention in the Bollywood film Parineeta, has undergone a snazzy and very pink makeover, Nahoum’s retains its unfussy look and simple wooden shelves displaying the goodies on offer. There’s still no air conditioning; four fans hanging from the white ceiling are all you get.

A photograph of Solomon Nahoum, elder brother of David with the bakery staff carrying trays of bakery products, adorns the wall. The wooden cash box at the counter is 80 years old. In an age where packaging is king, Nahoum’s holds on to its simple white cardboard boxes with old-fashioned blue lettering. But none of this seems to affect business. Even on a weekday afternoon, the place is bustling with people.

Over the years, Nahoum’s has become synonymous with Christmas: the end-of-the-year holiday season is just not complete without their rich plum cake. The walnut brownies, jam tarts, almond rings, pan cakes and rum balls are also big draws. Though the shop is fairly large by contemporary standards, it seems to shrink during festive seasons.

“We sell 95 per cent of our products every day and the owners have never entertained franchisee offers or any expansion plans. The business has been kept within the family to ensure sustained quality,” says Jagadish Haldar, the manager. “The customers too have been extremely loyal and have developed a special relationship with the shop over the years,” he adds.

Haldar’s association with Nahoum’s is more than 30 years old. The range of customers is also strikingly varied. “As a child, the brownie at Nahoum’s was one of my favourites. So many years down the line, the quality is unmatched and the special smell of the place not only invokes nostalgia, but also an assurance of warmth and congeniality,” says Debak Das, a 20-something loyal customer.

Nahoum’s also sells some traditional Jewish products like baklava, almond rings, cheese samosas and almond samosas. The Jewish population in the city is dwindling and Nahoum’s is perhaps the only Jewish enterprise still functioning.

But the future looks uncertain as septuagenarian David has just undergone knee transplantation and it is uncertain who will inherit the business.

On being asked to share the special recipe of the much-loved walnut brownies, Haldar smiles and says, “Chocolate, butter, eggs, flour mixed proportionately with years of goodwill and baked to satisfy the taste buds of our loyal customers.”

It’s what you call a secret recipe.

Where have all the Jews gone?

The Jews of Kolkata, it is said, only come together these days for funerals. It’s an indication of the fact that this once thriving population, which numbered around 5,000 before Independence, is now on the verge of extinction. Some, like 80-year-old Flower Silliman, put the figure of Jews in Kolkata at 30. Centuries ago, they came from as far as Syria, Iraq and Iran to trade with British India. The Jewish migration out of Kolkata, says Silliman, happened in three waves. The first was during World War II, when young Jewish girls were married to American soldiers stationed here, only to leave and never return. The next exodus came during Independence, and the third after Israel was founded. Today, the octogenarian Jews in Kolkata rarely meet. “There have been no marriages within the community in the last 60 years,” says Silliman. This once affluent trading community could well become extinct in Kolkata in a decade.