Sephardic Jewish cuisine
Sephardic Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the
Those of this
Cuisine of the Sephardi Jews also includes the cuisine of those who became the
, and from these places elsewhere.Mizrahi Jews, being the pre-existing Jews of the Greater Middle East (of non-Spanish and non-Portuguese origin), are sometimes called Sephardim in a broader sense due to their style of liturgy. Although there is some overlap in populations due to the Sephardic Diaspora, Sephardic Jews also settled in many other countries outside the Greater Middle East as well.
As such, this article deals only with the cuisine of the Jewish populations with ancestral origins in the
As with other
Animals deemed permissible as a source of meat had to be slaughtered in keeping with shechita, or Jewish ritual slaughter, which requires soaking and salting to remove blood. Hence, meat was often reserved for holidays and special occasions. Many Sephardi dishes use ground meat. Milk and meat products could not be mixed or served at the same meal.
Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils, and bulgur/burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.
History
Sephardi Jews are the Jews of Spain, who were expelled or forced to convert to Christianity in 1492. Many of those expelled settled in North-African Berber and Arabic-speaking countries, such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, becoming the North African Sephardim. Those who settled in Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, Syria, the Lebanon and the Holy Land became the Eastern Sephardim. The Western Sephardim, also known more ambiguously as the
While the pre-existing Jews of the countries in which they settled (in the Greater Middle East, for example, are called
Since the establishment of a Jewish state and the convergence of Jews from all the globe in Israel, these local cuisines, with all their differences, have come to represent the collection of culinary traditions broadly known as Sephardi cuisine.[
In 1654, 23 Sephardic Jews arrived in
Cuisine basics
Sephardi cuisine emphasizes salads, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, olive oil, lentils, fresh and dried fruits, herbs and nuts, and chickpeas. Meat dishes often make use of lamb or ground beef.
Fresh lemon juice is added to many soups and sauces. Many meat and rice dishes incorporate dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins. Pine nuts are used as a garnish.
Herbs and spices
In the early days, Sephardic cuisine was influenced by the local cuisines of Spain and Portugal, both under Catholic and Islamic regimes. A particular affinity to exotic foods from outside of Spain became apparent under Muslim rule, as evidenced even today with ingredients brought in by the Muslims.[4]
Desserts and beverages
Tiny cups of
Pickles and condiments
Olives and pickled vegetables, such as cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower, are a standard accompaniment to meals.
Shabbat and holiday dishes
Shabbat
On
As cooking on Shabbat is prohibited, Sephardi Jews, like their Ashkenazi counterparts, developed slow-cooked foods that would simmer on a low flame overnight and be ready for eating the next day.
One slow-cooked food was
Shavfka is another Sephardi dish that has an Ashkenazi counterpart, namely kugel. Bourekas and bulemas are often served on Shabbat morning. Pestelas, sesame-seed topped pastry filled with pine nuts, meat and onion, are also traditional.[6][7]
Passover
Sephardi and Ashkenazi cooking differs substantially on Passover due to rabbinic rulings that allow the consumption of kitniyot, a category which is forbidden to Ashkenazi Jews. Sephardi Jews prepare charoset, one of the symbolic foods eaten at the Passover seder, from different ingredients. Whereas charoset in Ashkenazi homes is a blend of chopped apples and nuts spiced with wine and cinnamon, Sephardi charoset is based on raisins or dates and is generally much thicker in consistency.
Mina (known as scacchi in Italy) is a Passover meat or vegetable pie made with a matzo crust.
Rosh Hashana
At the beginning of the evening meals of
Typical foods, often served on a large platter called a yehi ratson platter, include:
- Apples dipped in honey, or baked or sometimes in the form of a compote called mansanada
- Dates
- Pomegranates, or black-eyed peas
- Pumpkin, in the form of savory pumpkin-filled pastries called rodanchas
- Leeks, in the form of fritters called keftedes de prasa
- Beets, usually peeled and baked
- Head of a fish, usually a fish course with a whole fish, head intact
It is also common to symbolize a year filled with blessings by eating foods with stuffing on Rosh Hashana such as a stuffed, roasted bird or a variety of stuffed vegetables called legumbres yaprakes.[10]
Yom Kippur
Customs for the first food eaten after the Yom Kippur fast differ. Iranian Jews often eat a mixture of shredded apples mixed with rose water called faloodeh seeb. Syrian and Iraqi Jews eat round sesame crackers that look like mini-bagels. Turkish and Greek Jews sip a sweet drink made from melon seeds.[11]
Hanukkah
Sephardic Hanukkah dishes include cassola (sweet cheese pancakes), bimuelos (puffed fritters with an orange glaze), keftes de espinaka (spinach patties), keftes de prasa (leek patties) and shamlias (fried pastry frills).
Other specialities
- Almadrote—an oil, garlic and cheese sauce served with eggplant casserole
- Baba ghanoush—mashed cooked eggplant, olive oil, lemon juice, various seasonings, and sometimes tahini
- Baklava—a layered dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey
- Börekitas—small borekas with eggplant, spinach and cheese[12]
- durum wheat semolinatraditionally served with stew spooned on top
- Falafel—a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both
- Fazuelos—fried dough formed into a spiral shape
- Ful—a stew of cooked fava beans served with vegetable oil, cumin, and optionally with chopped parsley, garlic, onion, lemon juice, chili pepper and other vegetable, herb and spice ingredients
- Haminados—hard-boiled eggs braised over many hours, turning brown in the course of all-night cooking
- Halvah—a sweet sesame-based confection
- Hummus—a Middle-Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic
- Kibbeh—dishes usually made by pounding bulgur wheat together with meat into a fine paste and forming it into balls with toasted pine nuts and spices
- Ma'amoul—shortbread pastries filled with dates or nuts
- Malabi—a milk pudding whose basic ingredients are rice, sugar, rice flour and milk
- Matbucha—cooked tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper
- Moroccan cigars—ground beef wrapped in dough
- Moussaka—an eggplant- and/or potato-based dish, often including ground meat
- Pastel di carne con masa fina[13]
- Pescado frito—a traditional Shabbat fish dish (usually cod) for 16th-century Andalusian Jews of Spain and Portugal
- Sabich—a sandwich of pita or laffa bread stuffed with fried eggplant, hard-boiled eggs, salat katzutz, parsley, amba and tahini
- Sahlab—a hot milk-based winter drink with a pudding-like consistency, possibly containing powder from near-extinct orchids, sometimes garnished with nuts and cinnamon
- Sarma—blanched cabbage leaves wrapped around minced meat and simmered in tomato sauce
- Shakshuka—eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic, commonly spiced with cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg
- Skhug—a hot sauce originating in Yemen
- Sofrito—a meat (lamb, beef, chicken) stew sautéed with potatoes, garlic, turmeric, and cardamom
- Tabbouleh—vegetarian salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper
- Tagine—a slow-cooked savory stew, typically made with sliced meat, poultry or fish together with vegetables or fruit
- Tunisian mulukhiyah—a thick beef stew
- Yaprak—stuffed grape leaves[14]
- Panjas - A passover dish from the Levant region that consist on lemon-garlic flavored patties wrapped around gundelia stems.
- Pipitada - A drink consist of fermented dried melon seeds with the addition of sugar and orange blossom water, served for Yom Kippur.
See also
- Jewish cuisine
- Cuisine of the Ashkenazi Jews
- Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews
- Spanish cuisine
- Portuguese cuisine
References
- ISBN 9781118792070.
- ^ "Ashkenazi Jews Embrace Sephardic Fare - My Jewish Learning". myjewishlearning.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ISBN 9780199734962.
- ^ a b Gitlitz and Davidson, pg. 5
- ^ "Dafina - My Jewish Learning". myjewishlearning.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Encyclopedia Judaica: Jewish Foods". Archived from the original on 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ISBN 978-0-367-47012-8.
- ^ "Gems in Israel: Sabich – The Alternate Israeli Fast Food". Archived from the original on 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ISBN 978-0544187504. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Sternberg, pp 320-321
- ^ "International Yom Kippur break-fast dishes". www.jewishworldreview.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Börekitas with Charred Eggplant, Spinach and Feta, and Potato and Cheese". 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Pastel de Carne con Masa".
- ISBN 9780470943540. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Google Books.
Further reading
- Cooper, John, Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food, Jason Aronson Inc., New Jersey, 1993, ISBN 0-87668-316-2
- Gitlitz, David M. and Davidson, Dr. Linda Kay, A Drizzle of Honey : The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-312-19860-4
- Goldstein, Joyce and Da Costa, Beatriz, Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, Chronicle Books, 2000, ISBN 0-8118-2662-7
- Marks, Gil, Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Hoboken NJ, 2010, ISBN 0-470-39130-8
- Miner, Vivianne Alchech, and Krinn, Linda, From My Grandmother’s Kitchen: A Sephardic Cookbook, Gainesville, FL, Triad Publishing Company, 1984, ISBN 0-937404-23-3
- Roden, Claudia, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Knopf, New York, 2003, ISBN 0-394-53258-9
- Sternberg, Robert, The Sephardic Kitchen: The Healthful Food and Rich Culture of the Mediterranean Jews, HarperCollins, 1996, ISBN 0-06-017691-1
- Jawhara Piñer, Hélène, Sephardi: Cooking the History. Recipes of the Jews of Spain and the Diaspora from the 13th Century to Today, Cherry Orchard Books, Boston, 2021, ISBN 978-1-64469-531-9