Mizrahi Jewish cuisine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Yemenite Jewish cuisine
)
Iraqi-Jewish cuisine, kubbeh matfuniya

Mizrahi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Arab countries. Mizrahi Jews have also been known as Oriental Jews (Mizrahi is Hebrew: Eastern or Oriental).

Jews of the Mizrahi communities cook foods that were and are popular in their home countries, while following the laws of

souq
.

Meat is ritually slaughtered in the

shechita process, and is soaked and salted. Meat dishes are a prominent feature of Shabbat
, festival, and celebratory meals.

Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils and burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.

History

Tahina
with lemon and garlic, a staple of Mizrahi Jewish cuisine as a dip or cooking sauce

Mizrahi Jews are the Jews of the Middle East, and points south and east, largely along the Mediterranean coastal areas and the Levant. In some countries, there was much mixing of populations after 1492 when the

Jews were expelled from Spain
.

Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews includes the cuisines of the Jews of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, Egypt, the Berber communities, Kurdistan, Eastern Caucasus and Georgia.

Some of these communities and cuisine styles overlap with Sephardic communities who fled to many Eastern, Middle-Eastern, and North African countries after the Spanish expulsion.

Coming from the Mediterranean and "sunny" climes, Mizrahi cuisine is often light, with an emphasis on 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. Pomegranate juice is a staple of Persian-Jewish cooking.

Kubbeh, a meat-stuffed bulgur dumpling, features in the cooking of many Mizrahi communities. It is served in the cooking broth, as a kind of soup.

Breads

Lahoh, a spongy, pancake-like bread that originated from Somalia and the Horn of Africa

Flatbreads of many varieties are central to middle eastern cooking. Various flatbreads such as pitas, laffa, malawah, and lavash are used instead of challah, which was only used by Ashkenazim of Europe, and in the Turban-shaped variety by Moroccan Jews. Lahoh is a flatbread of the Yemenite Jews with a spongy texture.[1]

Herbs, spices and seasoning blends

Couscous with vegetables and chickpeas

Mizrahi cuisine makes liberal use of cumin, pepper, sesame seeds, and various spices common to all Middle-Eastern cuisines.[2] Saffron, a staple of Sephardic cuisine, is also featured in certain Mizrahi dishes.

Many foods are flavored with seasoning blends or pastes, and light sauces.

Skhug, a hot pepper sauce, comes in red and green varieties. A diluted version of skhug is spooned over falafel. Hawaij
is a Yemenite spice mixture that comes into two varieties. One, a blend of powdered ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, is added to coffee and baked goods. The other, a blend of turmeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamom and cloves, is added to soup.

Pastes and sauces are very often served on the side in small dishes on the table during meals, to be added by each diner as desired. Certain spice combinations are characteristic of particular countries, such as coriander and cumin in Egyptian cuisine.[4]

The

souqs of the Middle East and North Africa sell ready-made spice blends sold in bulk, but traditionally, Mizrahi Jews bought fresh herbs and prepared their own blends at home to maintain kashrut, fearing insects in the blends sold in the open-air bazaar.[5]

Desserts

Kanafeh Nabulsieh from Nablus

Hot

Malabi
, a cold cornstarch pudding, is sprinkled with rosewater and red syrup.

Ikaddaif or

baklavah. It consists of shredded dough, which is wrapped around crushed nuts, baked and then soaked in syrup. It is common in various parts of the Middle East and is served at festive meals.[7]

Cooking techniques

As cooking on

chamin
(from the word kham, which means "hot").

In

dafina
. There are many varieties of hamin and dafina, as particularly local spices and ingredients are used, as well as the method of preparation. Some varieties are denser than others, and some use rice as a staple instead of the common root vegetables.

Bourekas are often served on Shabbat morning. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jachnun and kubbanah.

Shabbat and holiday cooking

Shabbat

Shabbat foods are often slow-cooked prior to Shabbat, and kept warm overnight once cooked, as cooking is forbidden on Shabbat by Jewish law. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jachnun and kubaneh. Mafrum is a stuffed vegetable dish traditionally eaten by Libyan Jews on Shabbat.[8]

Passover

Charoset

Mizrahi cuisine allows the use of kitniyot, which is forbidden amongst the Ashkenazim. Kitniyot are legumes and some grains, which include rice and a variety of beans and pulses.

Whereas charoset in Ashkenazi homes is a blend of chopped apples and nuts spiced with wine and cinnamon, Mizrahi charoset is often based on dried fruits, especially dates, and is much thicker in consistency.

Other Mizrahi Jewish dishes are tebit, a chicken and rice dish, and ingriyi, sweet and sour meat topped with aubergines, both from the cuisine of Iraqi Jews.

Rosh Hashanah

Makroudh are pastries stuffed with spiced dates and scented with orange-flower water prepared for Rosh Hashanah by Algerian Jews.

Slow-cooked vegetables stuffed with meat are a popular holiday dish. Moroccan Jews season the stuffing with cinnamon, turmeric, and nutmeg. Holiday meals start with at least a dozen small salads.[9]

Gallery

  • Moroccan pickled lemons
    Moroccan pickled lemons
  • A bowl of kubbeh adom, or red kubbeh in a beet broth
    A bowl of kubbeh adom, or red kubbeh in a beet broth
  • Kubaneh, traditional Yemenite Shabbat pull-apart bread
    Kubaneh, traditional Yemenite Shabbat pull-apart bread
  • Jachnun served with oven-baked egg, fresh grated tomato and zhug
    Jachnun served with oven-baked egg, fresh grated tomato and zhug
  • Makroudh covered in honey
    Makroudh covered in honey
  • Yaprak stuffed vine leaves
    Yaprak stuffed vine leaves

See also

References

  1. ^ See Kosher and Traditional Jewish Cooking: Authentic recipes from a classic culinary heritage: 150 delicious dishes shown in 250 stunning photographs, Marlena Spieler, Lorenz Books, UK 2008, p. 218
  2. ^ See The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Claudia Roden, Knopf 1996, p. 232
  3. ^ "A recipe for Yemenite hilbe". Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  4. ^ The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Claudia Roden, Knopf 1996, p. 232
  5. ^ See The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Claudia Roden, Knopf, 2006, pg 234
  6. ^ "Recipe for Persian halegh". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ See Kosher and Traditional Jewish Cooking: Authentic recipes from a classic culinary heritage: 150 delicious dishes shown in 250 stunning photographs, Marlena Spieler, Lorenz Books, UK 2008
  8. ^ "The Libyan Jewish Meat and Potato Recipe You Are Going to Crave This Winter | The Nosher". My Jewish Learning. 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  9. ^ "Rosh Hashana Recipes Routed Through Africa (Published 2010)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15.

External links