Only a few days till Rosh Hashanah, and the Jews of Mexico City are making honey cake, chocolate challah and rather more ethnic dishes such as gefilte fish à la Veracruzana (with onions, tomatoes and chillies) before the 10-day holiday kicks in.
"We start early, with a big family lunch before the first evening service," explains Daniel Ovadia, 31 years old and chef-proprietor of an international restaurant empire. "For us, the second day is actually the third day, and all the Jewish schools stay closed until after Yom Kippur."
There are nine Jewish schools in five blocks in Mr Ovadia's neighbourhood, Bosques de las Lomas, the upmarket northern suburb where most of the 55,000-strong community has relocated. "Mexican Jews like to live in the newest places," explains Mr Ovadia. "Bosques was where my mother went on school field trips, but when it opened up as a residential area, nearly everyone moved there."
Condesa, the neighbourhood where Mr Ovadia and his father were born and his grandparents settled, is now the city's hippest neighbourhood. Affluent young Jews are moving back, attracted by regentrified art deco buildings, including the Jewish-owned Condesa DF boutique hotel. The neighbourhood's five synagogues have remained active despite the exodus to the north.
