by Gil Marks
To make kefir, the Caucasians historically placed milk and some kefir grains in a sack made from animal hide and usually hung it near the door, so that anyone entering, or leaving, the house would remember to prod the sack to mix the contents. As the kefir was removed from its container, fresh milk was added, and so the process of kefir making continued. If left for too long, the kefir turned too lumpy and sour. Kefir grains were regarded as part of the family's assets and passed on from one generation to the next.
Kefir has a refreshing, mild, slightly tart flavor reminiscent of buttermilk; the flavor varies according to the type of milk used, the grains, and the incubation period. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than that of yogurt, it is easier to digest. Kefir is a thin, drinkable product, and is not congealed like yogurt. In America, kefir is commonly flavored with sugar and fruit in a manner similar to yogurt. In Azerbayan, kefir is used along with fresh greens to make a favorite soup called dovga.
The massive Russian migration to Israel following the end of the Soviet Union led to the popularization of kefir in Israel. Ready-cultured kefir is now found in many stores, but quite a few Russian and Caucasian Jews make their own kefir at home. A number of Israelis even readily give away free kefir grains, encouraging recipients to share the grains with others, as kefir's popularity continues to grow in the country.
Keftaji
Keftaji is a stew of fresh vegetables in a tomato sauce, typically with a fried egg on top.
Origin: Tunisia
Keftaji, a Tunisian comfort food, reflects definite Ottoman and Sephardic influences. The vegetables are cooked separately, then married with a tomato sauce. The last Sephardic touch is a sunny-side-up fried egg. In Tunisia, keftaji is served as a main course, making use of high-quality homegrown produce. The mixture is also spooned over a Tunisian sausage called merguez, and over meatballs called kefta, which may be the source of its name. Keftaji is typically served with bread.
Tunisian Sautéed Vegetables (Keftaji)
4 servings
[DAIRY or PAREVE]
Tomato Sauce:
½ cup water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon ground coriander or cumin
About ½ teaspoon table salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
About ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
About 1½ teaspoons harissa (Northwest African Chili Paste (Harissa); optional)
Vegetables:
1 pound (5 small) potatoes, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
Salt
5 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 large red or yellow onion, halved and sliced
1 pound (3 medium) zucchini, sliced
10 ounces (2 medium) red or green bell peppers, seeded and sliced
Fried Eggs:
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine
2 teaspoons water
Pinch of salt
1. To make the tomato sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the water, tomato paste, coriander, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and, for a more fiery dish, the optional harissa.
2. To make the vegetables: Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add water to cover. Add 1¼ teaspoons salt for every quart of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook gently until tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain.
3. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the onion to a heated bowl and keep warm.
4. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet, then add the zucchini and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove the zucchini and add to the onion.
5. Add the bell peppers to the skillet and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the peppers and add to the zucchini and onion.
6. Add the potatoes to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Combine the potatoes with the zucchini, bell peppers, and onion; pour the tomato sauce over the top, and toss to coat. Keep warm.
7. To make the fried eggs: Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Heat a large skillet over low heat, about 5 minutes. Add the butter and wait until the foam subsides, about 1 minute, then swirl to coat the skillet. Gently slide the eggs into the pan. Drizzle the water around the outside edges of the eggs. Sprinkle with the salt. Cover and cook until the whites are set, about 2½ minutes for runny yolks, and 3½ minutes for firm yolks.
8. Serve immediately, topping each serving of vegetable stew with a fried egg.
Kefte
Kefte is a fried patty made from ground meat, chicken, fish, or vegetables, and sometimes simmered in a sauce.
Origin: Turkey
Other names: Balkans: kiofte; Greek: keftede, keftike; Hebrew: kefeftah; Romanian: chiftele, kiftaln.
Before the expulsion from Spain, Sephardim commonly prepared ground meat in the form of albondigas (meatballs) and rollos (meat loaves). Upon arriving in the Ottoman Empire, they adapted the concept and name of the Middle Eastern kufta (meatballs and patties), but added their own special touches, resulting in keftes. Typical of Sephardic cuisine, they can be all meat (keftes de carne) or, more frequently, favorite vegetables are commonly mixed with the meat. The patties can also consist entirely of vegetables, such as spinach (keftes de espinaca) and leeks (keftes de prasa). Ground poultry (keftes de gallina) or fish (keftes de peshkado) is also frequently substituted for the meat. Unlike round meatballs, the ingredients for keftes are formed into small, oval patties with tapered ends—they are essentially oval burgers or flattened meatballs. Kefte kebabs are ground meat on a skewer.
Keftes are often a tasty excuse to use up leftovers, such as cooked fish or mashed potatoes (keftes de patata). These patties, after browning, are frequently simmered in a lemon or tomato sauce, a practical way of preparing keftes well in advance, then rewarming them to serve. They are also dished up straight with lemon wedges or techina (sesame seed sauce) or as a sandwich in pita bread.
Sephardim serve keftes as an appetizer, side dish, or main course as both weekday fare and holiday food. Keftes, being fried, make an ideal Hanukkah food. Leek or spinach keftes, making use of seasonal produce, are traditional on Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
(See also Kebab and Kufta)
Sephardic Leek Patties (Keftes De Prasa)
about 16 patties
[PAREVE or MEAT]
2 pounds (6 medium) leeks (white and light green parts only), halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed
1 cup mashed potatoes, 1 pound ground lamb, or 1/3 cup ground walnuts
About ½ cup matza cake meal or bread crumbs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, mashed
About 1 teaspoon salt
About ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, chili flakes, or cayenne (optional)
About 2 cups olive or vegetable oil for frying
Lemon wedges (optional)
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the leeks, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and let cool. Squeeze out the excess liquid.
2. In a large bowl, combine the leeks, potatoes, and matza meal. Add the eggs, 1 tablespoon oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and, if using, nutmeg. If the mixture is too soft to form into patties, add a little more matza meal or form the loose mixture into clumps and dredge them in matza meal or bread crumbs and flatten. For each patty, shape about 1/3 cup leek mixture into an oval 2½ inches long, 1 inch-wide, and ½ inch thick, with tapered ends.
3. In a large skillet, heat about ½ inch oil over medium-high heat. In batches, fry the patties, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve
hot or at room temperature, accompanied, if desired, with the lemon wedges.
Keskasune
Keskasune is a couscous-shaped pasta.
Origin: Syria
Other names: keskasoon, pearl pasta.
The Turks and Arabs never developed the art of pasta shaping or saucing of the Italians. Their pasta generally came in only a few basic shapes, including the Syrian keskasune (from couscous), which is the equivalent of acini de pepe, the Italian pasta whose name means "peppercorn," connoting the shape of the small pasta pellets. Syrians serve pasta without a sauce; it is generally simply flavored with a little salt and maybe pepper or mixed with cheese, a vegetable, or meat. Browning the pasta pellets in oil before cooking helps to keep them firm and separate.
Keskasune with chickpeas is one of the most ancient of Middle Eastern pasta dishes, combining pasta pellets with the area's favorite legume—chickpeas. The result is filling, hearty fare that provides complementary nutrition. It is a traditional Rosh Hashanah dish, the round pasta and chickpeas representing life, fertility, and prosperity. A version topped with cheese, usually accompanied with yogurt, is popular for Thursday night dinner as well as for Saturday night dinner after the Sabbath, both of which are typically dairy meals.
Khachapuri
Khachapuri is a savory filled bread or pastry.
Origin: Georgia
The Persians, arriving from the East, introduced to Georgia various flatbreads as well as their clay oven (akin to the Indian tandoor) called a tone. For centuries, a favorite Georgian treat was to take plain flatbread (puri) hot from the oven and wrap it around a chunk of cheese, the combination of fresh bread and melting cheese proving irresistible. At some point, an inspired cook took this union a step further, baking the cheese inside the bread, thereby producing the Georgian national dish, khachapuri (khacho is a word for fresh cheese). Originally, khachapuri were baked on the inner walls of a tone or in an earthenware dish called a ketsi placed over coals in a fireplace. With the advent of the flat-bottomed oven, an array of thicker, larger, and more sophisticated versions developed.
The Georgian feast bread or pastry, khachapuri comes in several varieties—here, the square, layered achma. It is usally filled with cheese, but for meat meals, a bean or potato filling is substituted.
Various regions of the country also created different khachapuri pastries. There are now nearly a dozen different types, including round with cheese inside (imeruli), rectangular or square with layers (achma), diamond shaped with an egg floating in the center (acharuli), and even a version resembling a small pizza. The original khachapuri were made from bread dough, but other doughs, such as phyllo, puff pastry, and flaky pastry, were adapted to this dish.
The combination of Georgian cheeses most commonly used in khachapuri is suluguni (a slightly tangy string cheese, similar to mozzarella), imeruli (a slightly sour fresh cheese), and bryndza (similar to mild feta; it needs to be soaked in water first). Georgian Jews, unable to eat cheese breads at meat meals, introduced bean (lobiani) and potato (kartopiliani) fillings, which were adopted by their non-Jewish neighbors, although cheese remains the favorite khachapuri filling.
Today, khachapuri are sold at special cafés throughout Georgia and proficient home cooks prepare their own pastries for special occasions. No Georgian supra (feast) would be considered complete without khachapuri; smaller ones are perfect for hors d'oeuvres, larger ones for dinner. Khachapuri is typically served with local Georgian wine, which at feasts is traditionally offered in a horn rather than a glass—the horn cannot be set on a table and therefore must be drunk.
(See also Mchadi and Puri)
Georgian Cheese Bread (Imeruli Khachapuri)
4 to 6 servings
[DAIRY]
Pastry:
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon sunflower or vegetable oil
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
Filling:
5 ounces (1¼ cups) mozzarella, Gruyère, or Havarti cheese, grated
4 ounces (¾ cup) mild feta cheese, crumbled
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) farmer or pot cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ large egg, lightly beaten
About 1/8 teaspoon table salt or ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Egg wash (½ large egg beaten with ½ teaspoon water)
1. To make the pastry: In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the flour, then knead until smooth, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky, 5 to 8 minutes. Cover and let stand for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease the sheet.
3. To make the filling: Combine all the filling ingredients.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch round, ¼ inch thick. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Gather the edges together to meet in the center, then press down to expel any air. Pinch the edges to seal. Place, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the egg wash and poke a hole in the center to vent the steam.
5. Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm.
Khalia
Khalia is a beef soup and sauce with a tart and spicy flavor.
Origin: Georgia
Meat soups and stews constitute a major component of Georgian cuisine, including kaurma (spicy lamb), chanahi (lamb and eggplant cooked in pottery), kharcho (meat soup), and khalia (spicy beef). Khalia, inspired by the Persian palate, is prepared both as a thick sauce and as a soup. Its tartness comes from sour plums, tamarind, or pomegranates. Khalia with pomegranates is popular Rosh Hashanah fare. Some versions are thickened with ground walnuts.
Georgian Beef Soup with Pomegranate (Khalia)
5 to 6 servings
[MEAT]
2½ pounds beef chuck, brisket, or flanken, cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup sunflower or vegetable oil
3 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper or Italian frying pepper, seeded and chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon hot or sweet paprika
½ teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
½ teaspoon ground fenugreek
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 cups water, or 4 cups beef broth and 4 cups water
2 bay leaves
About 1½ teaspoons table salt or 1 tablespoon kosher salt
About ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup pomegranate juice
Pinch of sugar or honey, or to taste
Seeds of 1 pomegranate
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
1. Pat the beef dry with paper towels. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. In several batches, add the beef and brown on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per batch. Do not overcrowd the pan. Remove the beef.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the bell pepper, garlic, coriander, paprika, oregano, and fenugreek and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir until it darkens, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the water and stir to release any browned particles from the bottom. Return the beef and add the bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, occasionally skimming the scum from the surface, until the meat is tender, about 1½ hours for chuck, or about 2 hours for brisket or flanken.
4. Add the pomegranate juice and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes. The soup may be prepared up to this point, cooled, covered, refrigerated for up to 3 days, and reheated before serving.
5. Add the pomegranate seeds and,
if using, cilantro and/or parsley, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Kharcho
Kharcho is a rustic meat soup.
Origin: Georgia
The Georgian word kharch, from the verb kharen (to eat), encompasses nearly all articles of food, especially meat, but excluding bread. Thus kharchevnia is a place for eating (e.g. a restaurant) and kharcho a much-loved meat soup. Kharcho is to Georgia what borscht is across the Black Sea in Ukraine, the favorite soup and a mainstay of the diet.
Considered to be reinvigorating, kharcho is served to someone after an arduous undertaking as well as at celebrations. Typical of Georgian cuisine, kharcho is tangy and slightly spicy, with a pronounced fresh-herb flavor, although each region of the country has a different variation of seasonings. Beef is the predominant meat for this soup—the version with beef is technically called dzrokhie kharcho—but lamb is occasionally used (myasnoya kharcho). Some cooks add a little ground walnuts as a thickener, while others insist the soup should be light and delicate. Although Georgians generally use tklapi tkhlopi (sour plum leather—dried sheets of sour plum puree) as the souring agent, the more readily available tamarind concentrate or lemon juice may be substituted.
Georgian Beef Soup (Kharcho)
6 to 8 servings
[MEAT]
2 pounds beef or veal marrow bones, cut into 2-inch pieces
9 cups cold water
1½ pounds beef brisket or flanken or 3½ pounds beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, mashed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups (16 ounces) seeded and chopped tomatoes
¾ cup long-grain rice
1 sheet tkhlopi (sour plum leather), 3 tablespoons tkemali (plum sauce), 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate, or ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 whole fresh small hot chili or ½ to ¾ teaspoon red chili flakes
