Rack of lamb, matzo ball soup: Hospitals serve patients traditional meals, comfort at holidays

The hospital is one of the last places Suzanne Feiner wanted to be last week. But when chef Marc Bauer rolled a Passover meal of lamb chops, green beans and roasted red potatoes into her Syosset Hospital room, she felt special.

“I have so much gratitude for the care I have gotten, and the food is really to die for,” Feiner, 71, said with a laugh.

Bauer responded, “It’s food that allows you … to feel better.”

“It does,” said Feiner, who lives in Woodbury and has been in the hospital since last Monday night.

Feiner, who describes herself as spiritual and Jewish, is among many patients at Long Island hospitals who are being served special meals during Passover, Ramadan and Easter. And by serving the meals during the three Abrahamic holidays, hospital officials said that they hope to provide spiritual and bodily care for patients who might not be able to celebrate as they traditionally would because they’re hospitalized.

“Food is something that makes people naturally happy, and it's naturally satisfying,” said Dr. Randolph DiLorenzo, medical director of Northwell Health’s Syosset Hospital. “So, anything we can do to recreate their home environment and things that they like, it's the best thing we can do.”

Classic dishes for Easter, which is on Sunday, can include a rack of lamb, asparagus, ham and potatoes. Matzo ball soup and gefilte fish are among the go-to foods during Passover, which lasts from April 5 through April 13, with seders on the 5th and 6th.

At Stony Brook University Hospital, patients were able to request special Passover trays that included traditional foods such as matzo, grape juice, macaroons, bitter herbs and eggs.

The hospital’s dietary team worked with Rabbi Joseph Topek to make sure the foods followed tradition but also were appropriate for their medical needs, said Nicole Rossol, chief patient experience officer at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Palm crosses were available on Palm Sunday as well as meatless meals on Good Friday. Patients, their families and staff members can attend Easter Mass at the hospital, and meals will include some holiday favorites, as long as they are allowed under the patient’s dietary requirements.

Rossol said this is the first year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that the hospital can offer this variety of holiday services.

“It’s really nice to be able to celebrate and provide spiritual care in a way we haven't been able to in the last few years,” she said.

Hospitals in the Catholic Health system organized special Passover and Easter meals and activities for patients.

Roasted leg of lamb with cranberry pan gravy, mashed potatoes and baby carrots are on the menu at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip. The Easter Bunny visited patients, who had a chance to color eggs on Friday and can participate in an egg hunt on Sunday morning. All young patients will wake up to Easter baskets at their bedside.

The Easter Bunny also hopped over to see patients at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson in advance of the holiday. Both hospitals also offered roasted leg of lamb for Easter dinner with small foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies. Patients celebrating Passover were offered kosher meals, matzo and macaroons.

Dr. Aaron Glatt, who is chair of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside and a rabbi, said patients who request Passover meals will have chicken and vegetables, with dairy products served separately.

At Northwell Health, providing delicious food goes beyond the holidays and toward combating low expectations for hospital food, said Sven Gierlinger, senior vice president and chief experience officer at the health system.

Years ago, he said, the food served at their hospitals was described as “bland,” “unappetizing” and a demerit from their medical care, Gierlinger said. Today, after investing in fresh ingredients and chefs, the food is highly ranked.

“It's not just about that the food tasted great … there's [also] a strong connection to the healing aspects of their care,” he said.

In the kitchen at Syosset Hospital, Bauer chopped vegetables, made stew and cooked pork for an osso buco dish for the Easter dinner.

When asked what was the biggest take-away from serving the meals, Bauer, a French master chef, said it was the patients’ smiles when they get their food.

“Many of them are sometimes in pain,” Bauer said, “and we give them a little comfort and 15 minutes of good time.”