Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  The custard was originally baked without a crust. To prevent it from sticking to the baking pan, some flour was mixed with oil and the thick spinach and egg mixture gratin was spread over the top and baked. The flour mixture eventually evolved into a tart crust and the savory custard filling into a sweetened custard (inchusa de leche). Some versions have a single crust, while others have an upper and lower crust.

  Pareve fillings appropriate for a meat meal also emerged, notably fruit (inchusa de fruta), especially apricots, sour cherries, and grapes.

  Injera

  Injera is a soft, chewy, very thin, sourdough pancake bread made from the grain teff.

  Origin: Ethiopia

  Other names: engera.

  The most common grain in the Ethiopian highlands is the indigenous teff, literally "lost" in Amharic, referring to the tiny size of the grains, the smallest in the world and all too easily lost. For more than three thousand years, Ethiopians have ground teff to make various porridges, kita (unleavened pancakes), and especially injera, their main bread.

  Teff or tef, also called lovegrass in English and tahf in Arabic, is an ancient annual summer cereal grass native to Ethiopia, where it has long been the staple and still accounts for about 31 percent of the country's farmland. Today, the grain is also grown in India, Australia, and Canada, and since the 1980s, a small amount has been produced in the United States. There are around 250 species of teff with three main types: ivory, brown, and dark red. The brown has slightly more flavor than the ivory, but ivory is the most difficult to grow and has become the preferred and most expensive type. Red teff, on the other hand, is the least desirable and least expensive, although it has the highest level of iron and white the lowest. Teff and teff flour are available at Ethiopian markets and health food stores, but are frequently adulterated with other grains.

  Teff is the only grain that, like grapes, has symbiotic yeast. Thus water is mixed into the ground teff (with no added yeast) and the batter is left standing for two to four days until naturally fermented, a method that imparts a sour flavor and also leads to the formation of holes on the top of the bread during cooking. To help speed up the fermentation process, Ethiopians sometimes add a small amount of reserved ersho, the clear yellow liquid that accumulates on the surface of fermented teff dough, but not yeast, which changes the flavor. In Israel and America, however, many Ethiopians have adapted the recipe to use yeast and some or all wheat flour. Ethiopians consider injera made without teff to be merely a pancake.

  Injera, never eaten without other foods, has long served as the bulk of the Ethiopian diet and a major part of every meal. The thin injera batter is poured in a circular motion from the outside to the center onto a round clay griddle (meted) and then a lid is set over the top to produce a spongy bread, thicker than a typical crepe, but thinner than an American griddle cake. A little ground fenugreek is typically added to the batter for a softer texture and shinier appearance. In a cooking process similar to that of griddle cakes, tiny bubbles produced by carbon dioxide appear on the top as the batter cooks, indicating the degree of doneness. Injera are only cooked on the bottom, never inverted; the spongy top cooked by indirect heat and not browned or crisped. They are usually made in large batches and stored in a woven basket (messob) for up to three days.

  When served, several injera are stacked on a communal plate and the meat or legume stew (wot or alicha) is then spooned on top of it. Each person pulls off pieces of the injera to scoop up some of the wot, then folds the bread around the filling to eat it. Flatware is unnecessary. The tangy flavor of the injera complements and enhances the spicy stew. After all the wot is finished, the remainder of the stack of injera, now soaked with gravy, is eaten. At the end of vegetarian meals, some injera is usually served with iab (soft cheese).

  (See also Alicha, Iab, and Wot)

  Ethiopian Pancake Bread (Injera)

  about 14 breads

  [PAREVE]

  You will need to let the batter sit for 2 to 3 days before using. Have the utensils ready and clean to avoid adding bacteria.

  About 4½ cups lukewarm water (80° to 90°F)

  3 cups (13 ounces) organic teff flour, preferably freshly ground

  About 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt (optional)

  1. In at least a 3-quart ceramic or glass bowl or container and using a large wooden spoon or your hand, stir the water into the teff flour to produce a smooth consistency like that of pancake batter. Make sure the utensils are very clean to avoid adding any unwanted bacteria. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature until the batter bubbles and emits a sour odor, 48 to 72 hours. When the batter is ready, if not using immediately, stir in ½ teaspoon salt and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day, then return to room temperature before cooking. Carefully pour off any dark liquid that rises to the surface. If using, stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.

  2. Heat a 10- to 12-inch skillet, preferably one with a nonstick surface, over medium-low heat. If your skillet does not have a nonstick surface, lightly oil it.

  3. Using a 4-ounce ladle, pour ½ cup batter into one side of the skillet and quickly rotate the pan so the batter covers the surface in a layer about 1/8 inch thick. For smaller injera, use about ¼ cup batter in an 8-inch skillet or 1/3 cup in a 9-inch skillet.

  4. Cover and cook until the top is spongy and dotted with tiny air bubbles and the edges just begin to curl, about 1½ to 2 minutes. The bottom will be firm but not browned. Do not turn over, as injera is only cooked on one side.

  5. Using a spatula or your fingers, carefully lift the injera out of the pan. Place the bread on a kitchen towel or plate and let cool. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, stacking the cooled injera.

  Israel

  By the beginning of the first millennium CE, Jews constitiuted 10% of the entire population of the Roman Empire, most of them in Israel. After several revolts, particularly 132—135 CE, masses were killed and an expulsion of Jews followed. Only a small group of Jews remained in the land that the Romans renamed Palestine.

  Israel in the late nineteenth century was a neglected backwater of the Ottoman Empire, a harsh landscape part of it arid and much of it consisting of swamps ridden with malaria-spreading mosquitoes. When Mark Twain toured the Holy Land, as recorded in Innocents Abroad (1869), he noted his movement through the north: "We traversed some miles of desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent, mournful expanse, wherein we saw only three persons."

  Under the Ottoman Empire, Israel consisted of five sanjaks (subdivisions): Acco, Nablus, Jerusalem, Maan, and Hauran. The latter two, on the east bank of the Jordan River, were given by the British in 1946 to Abdullah, who became king, and his new country was renamed Jordan. Parts of the remaining area to the west were gradually transformed by the cooperative efforts of scattered Jewish communities, kibbutzim (collective communities), and moshavim (cooperative settlements).

  Machaneh Yehudah Market in Jerusalem began in the 1870s as a gathering place for cart vendors and continues to thrive.

  Before the late nineteenth century, most of the area's Jews were Mizrachim and Sephardim. Then between 1882 and 1903, the existing Jewish communities were overwhelmed by about thirty thousand eastern Europeans escaping oppression and pogroms, known as the First Aliyah. Most of these early European arrivals were socialists who rejected traditional Jewish and European practices. Also arriving at that time were five thousand Jews from Yemen, thousands from Uzbekistan and Iraq (including Kurds), and smaller numbers from other Asian locales most of whom maintained their religious practices. The Second Aliyah, between 1904 and 1914, brought forty thousand eastern Europeans, and another forty thousand Europeans Jews arrived between 1919 and 1923 in the Third Aliyah. The 1930s saw a quarter of a million Jews arrive. Beginning in 1939 and through World War II, the British prohibited Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine, although thousands of Jews managed to sneak into the country. When independence was
claimed on May 14, 1948, Holocaust survivors could seek refuge in Israel. After 1948, as Arab nationalism devastated many of the Jewish communities of Asia and North Africa, exiles from those far-flung Jewish communities streamed to the new Jewish state. The new state was a blend of citizens from nearly every country in the world and from every stripe of religosity and politics. Some Israelis rejected anything smacking of religion, however, most non- religious Israelis maintained a respect and affection for Jewish traditions.

  Ethnic groups tend to cling to their traditional foods, one of the last remaining vestiges of their former life and identity, but over time, and due to necessity, they begin to adapt, their children even more so. For Middle Eastern Jews in Israel, the process was relatively easy, as the ingredients and dishes in the Levant were similar to those of their native lands, although they did have to endure the patronizing attitude of Europeans to their food. Ashkenazim, on the other hand, as they flowed into the land from which their ancestors had been ejected two millennia ago, had to adjust to a very different climate and food culture, one emphasizing vegetables, legumes, fresh herbs, spices, and olive oil. Few aspects of Israeli society have changed more in the country's history than its food, at least for a sizable segment of the population.

  Some Yemenites found a livelihood selling a local food, falafel, which they stuffed into a local bread, pita, with a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, a combination that went on to become the Israeli national food. From the communal dining halls of the early kibbutzim emerged a new way of eating and thinking about food, one inspired by biblical Israel and based on the modern Levant. The usually spartan kibbutz, where work started at daybreak or earlier, was the source of the archetypical Israeli breakfast and dinner. Famished, the kibbutzniks swarmed into the communal dining room at seven in the morning and then again later at night, piling their plates from a buffet of fresh bread, cucumber and tomato salads, assorted produce, eggs, cheese, leben (coagulated low-fat milk), and olives. Soon Israeli homes across the country imitated this menu. Later, the Israeli hotel breakfast emerged as a lavish expansion of the basic kibbutz fare.

  Kibbutzim and moshavim marketed the fruits of their labor through the cooperative Tnuva, which soon had so much produce, it began exporting and canning some of it. Farmers raised turkeys and chicken instead of cattle, and Israelis substituted these for traditional meats, such as the veal in schnitzel. The first Israeli cookbook, How to Cook in Palestine, was published by WIZO (Women's International Zionist Organization) in Hebrew, German, and English in 1936. The author, Dr. Erna Meyer, told her readers, "We housewives must make an attempt to free our kitchens from European customs, which are not appropriate to Palestine." Meyer appealed to westerners to adopt into their diet local foods available in abundance such as zucchini, eggplant, okra, and olives, and, eventually, most did. However, due to the sheer number of Ashkenazim in Israel, some of their food traditions endured. Consequently, a typical Israeli Sabbath dinner now consists of foods from numerous cultures: to start, perhaps a Moroccan fish dish, which is followed by an Ashkenazic or Kurdish chicken soup along with Middle Eastern hummus and eggplant salad, then possibly a main dish of chicken schnitzel or even Moroccan couscous.

  Shopping was originally done only in a souk (Arabic for marketplace), such as Jerusalem's still-thriving Machaneh Yehudah. Initially consisting of vendors selling produce from carts, this market was formed in the 1870s to meet the needs of the increasing number of Jews residing outside Jerusalem's Old City. The first stalls arrived in 1908 when the adjacent new Etz Chaim yeshiva built some stands to provide income for the organization. The stalls and small stores of Machaneh Yehudah quickly expanded, stretching for several blocks, as Jerusalemites from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds, in particular Kurds, opened shops. In 1920, Tel Aviv's Souk Hacarmel opened to allow families to sell their produce in the new city. Machaneh Yehudah was renovated toward the end of the twentieth century and Souk Hacarmel as well. Today, both still consist of small shops, some now upscale, offering a vast array of fresh produce, meats, fish, cheeses, baked goods, spices, nuts, and confections, as well as coffee shops.

  The late 1940s to late 1950s, when the population of Israel more than tripled with the arrival of refugees from Europe and Arab countries, was a period of tzena (austerity), with scarcity and government regulations. People made do with limited food choices, among them bread, pasta, eggplant (as a meat substitute), and leben. The new Ministry of Absorption taught the diverse housewives from across the globe to prepare new, simple, and healthy recipes, including hummus, eggplant salad, chicken schnitzel, and salads made from cucumbers and tomatoes, which were plentiful. Although many Israelis did not eat kosher, David Ben-Gurion agreed, for a sense of unity and accessibility, to place all public food, including that served by government organizations, hospitals, and the army, under rabbinical supervision. There were few ethnic restaurants in which to experience other culinary cultures and those restaurants that did exist were principally patronized by tourists. At that time, for Israelis eating out meant grabbing an inexpensive and filling falafel or perhaps shawarma.

  Integral to Israeli cuisine are an array of Middle Eastern dips and spreads, including baba ghanouj (Lebanese eggplant with tahini), matbucha (Moroccan stewed tomato and pepper salad), muhammara (Turkish red pepper relish), and, most important of all, hummus (mashed chickpeas with tahini). All of these as well as several other types of dips are sold in every grocery store, large or small. Typical Israelis keep at least one container of a dip/spread in their refrigerator at all times for guests or a snack, which is always accompanied by pita and perhaps some more exotic types of breads and crackers.

  By the early 1960s, the economy had grown and the range of foods along with it. Israeli food still consisted primarily of a simple selection of local commercial packaged goods and produce sold from a cramped mahkolet (small market). The late 1960s and early 1970s was a turning point in the Israeli culture and economy, as foreign influences began to seep in and incomes began to rise. In the course of only a decade, the country evolved from an underdeveloped nation to a marketing-oriented economy. Israel's first supermarket and currently the largest chain, Shufrasol (later Supersol), opened in 1958. After the 1967 war, the concept of supermarkets began to spread and in many areas, they largely replaced the neighborhood mahkolet. Today, customers can choose from a vast assortment of goods, both foreign and domestic, in massive supermarkets, and even many mahkolets offer a selection of upscale imports.

  Not only did eating-in change, so too did dining out, perhaps even more dramatically. In the early 1970s, dining out in Israel all too frequently meant grills called steakiya; these eateries selling very tough meat at budget prices were a synthesis of Middle Eastern and European influences. Israel grills cooking up tough meat continued, meat quality improved and there was soon an array of high-quality restaurants and ethnic eateries as well.

  In the 1980s, some Israeli chefs began merging haute cuisine with local ingredients, while others began fusing Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine with international influences, attempting to create a genuine Israeli cuisine. After experimenting with butter and cream, many chefs found they preferred olive oil, lemon juice, and native ingredients. Instead of the French tarragon and lavender, they preferred the local za'atar and cumin. At the same time, high-quality wines began flowing from the Golan Heights Winery, while small producers introduced boutique cheeses. With the general rise in income and lifting of travel taxes, many Israelis traveled abroad, while many soldiers, following their mandatory two-year service, took a long trek through the exotic locales of Asia and South America. These travelers returned with an expanded culinary vocabulary, and some became chefs or opened restaurants. By the end of the twentieth century, Israeli cooking had evolved, becoming more cosmopolitan while also embracing a seemingly paradoxical emphasis on traditional ethnic cuisines.

  Unfortunately, not all of these changes were for the best. Health and, all too often, flavor seemed to be lost in muc
h of contemporary Israeli dining. At home, most Israelis, who no longer put in long hours in the fields but led increasingly busy lives, increasingly substituted corn flakes and coffee for breakfast. The environment was all too often neglected by farming and food processing practices.

  Now in the new millenium, a growing number of Israeli boutique food businesses stress quality and craftsmanship over quantity and expediency. Individuals, communities, and organizations across the country have begun to emphasize sustainable food production and consumption. They are leading the call for using the freshest and most flavorful natural ingredients possible, with the maximum regard for the environment, local economy, and health. An increasing number of Israelis support organic agriculture, the slow food and artisanal food movements, CSAs (community-supported agriculture), and food co-ops; there are also trends toward permaculture and eco-living. In addition, Israeli food companies have progressed significantly in the past few years, turning out products capable of attracting American and European taste buds, along with those seeking exotic fare.

  Over the decades, immigrants came to Israel from as far away as India and Ethiopia (the biblical "Hodu ahd Kush"). As a result, the Israeli population hails from more than seventy countries and, not surprisingly, has a diverse and constantly changing cuisine. As Jews have done since the onset of the Diaspora more than twenty-five hundred years ago, Israelis have transformed the fare at hand to their tastes and circumstances, creating the ultimate fusion cuisine.

  Israeli Salad (Salat Katzutz)

  Israeli salad is a mixture of finely chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, and sometimes other vegetables, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

  Origin: Middle East

  Other names: salat aravi, salat chai, salat katzutz, salat turka, salat yerakot.

  The arrival in the Mediterranean of the Indian cucumber and much later the South American tomato completely transformed the fresh salad from a dish consisting principally of leafy greens to a mixture that frequently did not include any herbage. In the late nineteenth century, Jewish immigrants to the Levant found locally grown Kirby cucumbers and tomatoes in popular salads, such as the Turkish coban salatsi (shepherd's salad), a tasty combination dressed with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and a touch of salt. It soon became a ubiquitous dish in the communal dining halls of kibbutzim. During the decade-long period of the tzena (austerity) following independence in 1948, the salad made from the plentiful cucumbers and tomatoes became a staple of the diet throughout the country.