The Sweet Table : Holidays: Sunday evening marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year festival celebrated by Jews throughout the world.

Unlike Passover, where bitter foods are prepared in commemoration of hard times, the Rosh Hashanah table is laden with delicacies representing optimism for a sweet future. No sour or bitter dishes have a place on this joyous table--not even, according to tradition, nuts, because they might have some tartness to them. Instead, dishes abound with honey, raisins, sweet carrots and apples--all seasonal reminders of hope for the coming year.

Rosh Hashanah is a time for self-examination and the commencement of the period of repentance before the day of divine judgment, which follows 10 days later on Yom Kippur, Oct. 4. The shofar, a ram’s horn whose tradition in Jewish history stems from the time when God permitted Abraham to substitute a ram for Isaac as a sacrifice, is sounded on Rosh Hashanah. Blowing the ram’s horn is a symbol of the complete faith of Abraham.

My father’s family, of German-Jewish heritage, had its own symbolic foods for this festival, many of which had been with our family in Bavaria for centuries. My mother, born in this country, learned these recipes from my father’s sister, my Aunt Lisl. The meal that I remember as a child did not include such Eastern European favorites as gefilte fish, tzimmes (sweet carrot casserole) or honey cake. Instead, we ate sweet-and-sour salmon, apple streusel, zwetschgenkuchen (plum pie) and other dishes.

At our home today, we have a mixture of both traditions as well as new ones learned through the years. After the traditional Hebrew blessings over candles and wine, our meal commences with prayer over a round challah, the sweet bread representing the double portion of manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness during their flight from Egypt. For Rosh Hashanah it is circular, for a complete year.

After the blessing over the challah is recited, an apple is dipped in honey and a blessing is said asking for a sweet and good year. Fish at Rosh Hashanah and on Friday night represents immortality, fertility and the special relationship between the Jewish people and the Torah. As a child, I remember we often had sweet-and-sour salmon, a rendition of the carp my father had every Friday night and at all holidays in Germany. At my home we make gefilte fish twice a year, for Rosh Hashanah and Passover.

Next on the menu comes chicken soup with either round dumplings made from flour and egg ( nockerl ) or matzo balls, which my children love. For the meal before the fast of Yom Kippur, my family now eats kreplach in the chicken soup, the tortellini-like pasta traditionally eaten by eastern European Jews.

In Germany, the main course would have been roast goose with cabbage salad, potatoes and carrots. From this first young goose of the season, my grandmother would begin saving the schmaltz , or fat, for cooking oil until Passover. (Goose fat was especially useful at Hanukkah to fry the potato pancakes.) In this country my family has substituted honey-orange chicken served with seasonal vegetables including, of course, carrots. At Rosh Hashanah, carrots (in German, mohrruben ; in Yiddish, meren ) have the symbolic meaning “to increase or multiply.”

To authenticate the dishes handed down from Bavaria, I was fortunate to find the well-worn book of favorite recipes my grandmother compiled as a young bride almost a hundred years ago. They have stood the test of time, and I hope that this year you too will enjoy trying some of them.

SWEET-AND-SOUR SALMON

1 (3 1/2-pound) salmon, pike, trout, carp or haddock

Salt

1 quart water or enough to cover fish

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1 lemon, sliced and seeded

1 medium onion, sliced in rings

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1/2 cup raisins

5 whole cloves

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

4 to 5 gingersnaps or lebkuchen

Clean, slice horizontally in half lengthwise and salt entire fish. Let stand overnight, refrigerated, or for several hours.

Boil together water, vinegar, lemon, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, raisins, 1 tablespoon salt and cloves. Add fish to liquid and let simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add brown sugar and gingersnaps (to add color to sauce). Simmer 10 to 15 minutes more or until fish is cooked. (Fish should be firm and flesh should leave bones.) Remove fish from liquid. Debone, then reassemble fish on platter.

Boil liquid 15 minutes longer or until reduced by half. Let cool. Strain, reserving onions and raisins. Pour liquid over fish. Garnish with reserved raisins and onion rings. Refrigerate until sauce jells. Serve as appetizer next day.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

381 calories; 502 mg sodium; 95 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 35 grams protein; 0.3 gram fiber.

HONEY-ORANGE CHICKEN

2 eggs

2 teaspoons cool water

1 cup bread crumbs or matzo meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 (3-pound) fryer chickens, cut up

1/4 cup oil

1 cup hot water

1/4 cup honey

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons grated ginger root or 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste

Beat eggs with 2 teaspoons water in bowl.

Mix bread crumbs with salt and pepper in separate bowl. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then in bread crumbs.

Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add chicken in batches and brown on all sides. Place on paper towels to drain.

Combine 1 cup hot water with honey and orange juice. Place chicken in ovenproof casserole. Pour honey mixture over top. Sprinkle with ginger root. Cover and bake, basting occasionally, at 325 degrees until done, 45 minutes. Serve with rice and tossed green salad.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:

710 calories; 577 mg sodium; 244 mg cholesterol; 42 grams fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 48 grams protein; 0.14 gram fiber.

AUNT LISL’S APPLE STREUSEL

6 apples (about 3 pounds), peeled, cored and sliced

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup orange juice

1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup margarine or butter

Place apples in large bowl along with granulated sugar, cinnamon and orange juice. Mix lightly. Place apples in greased 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Combine flour and baking powder. Mix together brown sugar and egg. Stir in flour mixture. Add margarine and rub with fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until apples are tender and crust is brown, 45 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

417 calories; 177 mg sodium; 35 mg cholesterol; 9 grams fat; 84 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 1.27 gram fiber.