Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  Pigeon

  Technically, the English terms dove and pigeon can be used interchangeably for any of the roughly three hundred members of the Columbidae family. However, the word dove is generally applied to smaller and sleeker species with graceful necks and pointed tails, while the word pigeon more specifically refers to larger and stockier birds with rounded tails. In any case, doves and pigeons are very close relatives with dramatically contrasting reputations: The dove is esteemed as a symbol of peace and beauty, while today the pigeon is currently considered at best a pest.

  The turtledove is the most common dove species in Israel, as well as the most melodious. Like the ancient Israelites, modern Israelis treasure the annual arrival of the turtledove in April through mid-May to begin the mating season, which is initiated with a period of courtship and nest building in scattered trees and shrubs, primarily in the northern and central parts of the country. For a time, the land fills with the male's distinctive mating call, "tirrr, tirrr," the source of this bird's onomatopoeic Hebrew name tur. Thus Song of Songs included this natural phenomenon among the welcomed heralds of spring: "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come; and the voice of the tur [turtledove] is heard in our land." Breeding season ends in mid-September and by October the flocks, having molted, return south for the winter.

  Unlike the migratory turtledove, its close relative the rock pigeon, also called the rock dove, became a permanent resident of many parts of the Mediterranean region, including Israel. As its name indicates, rock pigeons in the wild make their nests in rock clefts and caves. Various biblical references reflected this proclivity, including Song of Songs: "O my pigeon, you are in the clefts of the rock, in the hidden places of the cliff." The rock pigeon's Hebrew name, yonah, also the name of a prophet (Jonah), probably derives from the word anah (mourn), referring to its plaintive, mournful cooing.

  The Columbidae family serves as the prototype for kosher birds, exhibiting all four of the signs of kosher fowl developed by the Sages—it is not dorais (a bird of prey), while it has an etzbah yetairah (extra toe), zefek (crop), and korkebano neeklaf (peelable gizzard). Pigeons and doves were the only birds sanctioned for use as offerings in the Temple.

  Turtledoves remain devoted to each other for life and mourn when their partner disappears. Rock pigeons mate for life too, but may take a new partner if one dies. The rock pigeon, whose fixed habits allowed them to readily adapt to captivity, became the first domesticated avian species. The domestication of the turtledove eventually followed, although the bird was never as useful or prevalent as its cousin. The dependable yonah was the bird utilized by Noah after the Flood. Significantly, the raven, the first bird sent out of the ark by Noah, is a scavenger and carrion eater in marked contrast to the vegetarian pigeon.

  Egyptians, who were possibly the first to domesticate pigeons, appreciated them not only for their meat but also for their beauty and utility. By the Fourth Dynasty, in at least 2500 BCE, dovecotes ("arubbah" in Isaiah) appeared throughout Egypt on the rooftops of many homes or sometimes as separate structures, providing pigeons a solid surface reminiscent of a cliff. Even the pharaoh maintained dovecotes for his prized royal birds. The Great Harris Papyrus, a record of donations to the temples by Ramses III (reigned c. 1182—1151 BCE), included a mention of 57,810 pigeons as well as 25,020 waterfowl. Meanwhile, pigeons appear to have been simultaneously domesticated in several other locations, including Sumeria and Canaan, becoming an integral part of each area's culture. In the Fertile Crescent, the dove became the symbol of beauty and fertility. Pigeons remained the predominant fowl in ancient Israel until the end of the Second Commonwealth.

  Nevertheless, those who raised poultry faced the problem that birds living in close proximity to each other in large flocks tend to contract and spread various diseases, which can wipe out most of or all of the animals. A large space is required for raising pigeons in any number, to allow each pair plenty of room. Thus in biblical times even rock pigeons, although cleaner and easier to domesticate and raise than other birds, were still relatively expensive and certainly not a regular part of the diet.

  As feral pigeons increasingly occupied the sprawling urban areas of Europe and America, most westerners began to consider them more of a nuisance than a delicacy. Other birds, most notably chicken, geese, and later turkey, gradually supplanted them. For all intents and purposes, pigeon disappeared from the Ashkenazic culinary repertoire, and chicken became the principal fowl. Pigeon remained one of the primary birds of Sephardim and Mizrachim, who enjoyed it stuffed and roasted or featured it in favorite dishes, including the original Moroccan pastilla/basteya (pigeon pie), based on an Iberian pigeon pie. Turkish and Moroccan Jews traditionally featured pigeon as the final part of the wedding feast, served only to the couple. Yemenites retained a particular fondness for roasted pigeon, although it was served infrequently. The English substituted the word squab so that more people would eat one of these birds. Today, most American and European domesticated pigeons are bred for show and racing, not food.

  (See also Bird)

  Pilau/Pilaf

  Pilau is a dish of rice and meat cooked together.

  Origin: Southern India

  Other names: Afghanistan: palau; Azerbaijan: p'lav, plov; Britain: pilau; Iran: polo, polow; India: pilau, pulaw, pulav; Iraq: plaaw, timman; Kurdistan: pilaw, polaw; Turkey: pilav; United States: pilaf, pilau; Uzbekistan: palov, plov.

  The vast majority of Asian, African, and European countries have a dish of rice and meat cooked together. This is not a natural pairing, as rice and meat have very different cooking times and techniques. Considering the similarity in the names of this widespread phenomenon, a single source appears to be the inspiration for all these dishes. Many people believe the dish originated in Persia or possibly Mongolia. Etymological, literary, and cultural evidence, however, point to a southern Indian origin.

  Rice has served as the mainstay of the diet of southern India since around 2000 BCE. In Tamil, a language from southern India, the word pulai means "meat/raw flesh," which gave rise to the term pulavu, meaning "smell of meat" as well as "meat with rice." Sangam writings, the earliest Tamil literature, dating between 300 BCE and 200 CE contain several mentions of pulavu, centuries before any variation of the term appeared elsewhere.

  When pulavu spread north in India, the name became shortened in Hindi to pulav, a one-pot meal probably prepared by simmering cubes of meat in water with spices until nearly tender, then adding the rice to finish cooking. Later, in India in the fifth century BCE, two religions emphasizing vegetarianism were founded. Buddhism and Jainism, and gradually over the centuries the practice of vegetarianism spread throughout most of the country. Rice-with-meat dishes were forgotten by a sizable segment of the population.

  In 515 BCE, Darius, emperor of the expanding Persian Empire, established a sea route to India and consolidated control over the Indus River valley, now northwestern India and Pakistan. The Persians also discovered and brought back rice and, by the fourth century BCE, had already introduced large-scale rice cultivation to central Asia. At this point, rice entered Mizrachi cooking, remaining a staple for the ensuing two and a half millennia. Rice reached Israel shortly thereafter, during the early Second Temple period, but there is no mention of a pilaf-type dish in early rabbinic literature.

  The dish then traveled westward along the Silk Road to central Asia, where a form of it was adopted in every country. In Uzbekistan, it was called plov. The various forms of pulav in central Asia reflect their usefulness among nomads, shepherds, warriors, and travelers on the Silk Road; they could stop to cook a pot of pulav over an open fire, using some easily transportable ingredients, including rice, onions, various root vegetables, and whatever meat was available. According to legend, Alexander the Great was served plov after capturing the city of Maracanda (now called Samarkand) and in the eastern Persian province of Bactrin (in modern Afghanistan), which would date the dish in the region to at least 329 BCE.

&
nbsp; By the time of the Arab conquest of Persia in 656 CE, rice was well established as a basic of Persian and central Asian cuisine. By the fifteenth century, Persians had developed a more refined form of the dish, called polow, in which meats and/or vegetables were mixed into the rice, or more frequently, layered with the rice and then steamed. Polow is an art form in Iran—cooks strive to produce light, fluffy grains while retaining the natural flavor.

  The Mughals, a Mongol-Turkic group from central Asia, were Sunni Muslims who favored the Persian culture and loved eating meat. Although their Indian subjects practiced different religions and spoke different languages, the official state religion became Islam and the official language became Urdu, which drew much of its vocabulary from Persian. Subsequently pulaw, with its chunks of mutton, was viewed in India as a Muslim dish.

  The Ottoman Turks, at some point during their passage through central Asia, probably encountered the rice and meat dish there, which they pronounced pilav. In any case, pilav subsequently became a basic of the Turkish kitchen, part of everyday cooking as well as a ubiquitous dish at special occasions. A pilav can star as the main course of a meal or appear as a side dish for kebabs, sulu yemek ("foods with water," denoting various stews), and other meat dishes. At a feast, the pilav is traditionally served last, piled on a large platter, from which everyone is expected to partake. Turkish cooks' culinary skills are reflected in the quality of their pilavs.

  The predominant varieties of rice in Turkey are medium-grain and short-grain. For pilav, Turks prefer medium-grain rice varieties, notably Baldo (longer and flatter than most medium-grain varieties, and originally from Italy) and the native Osmancik. They also import a rice from Egypt called "pilav rice" or "Egyptian rice." Because of the extra starch in medium-grain rice, the grains normally stick together when cooked, a state undesirable for pilavs. Consequently, a slightly different cooking technique evolved—no one knows who developed it—of first briefly sautéing (kavurma "roasted") the grain in hot fat before adding the liquid, a process that helps to keep the kernels separate and also gives them more flavor. Frying the rice in oil is a Jewish practice, as it allows the dish to be served at a meat meal; the Turks and Arabs typically use clarified butter (suzme yag). After cooking, pilav is always left to steam (demlemek), covered, for at least ten minutes—some cooks steam it for up to one hour—to achieve the desired consistency: The rice should be moist, tender, and separate (tane tane, "grain by grain"); it should never be dry, sticky, or mushy (lapa).

  The Turks developed a myriad of variations of the dish, including sade pilav (plain rice), nohutlu pilav (rice with chickpeas), patlicanli pilav (rice with eggplant), dereotlu ve naneli pilav (rice with dill and mint), and the venerable etli pilav (rice with meat). Vegetables, dried fruit, and nuts, along with herbs and seasonings, provide both textural and flavor contrast. A pilav made with chicken broth will have more flavor than one made with water. Saffron and turmeric impart a yellow color; the version with these spices is popular for the Sabbath. Ic pilav (rice with pine nuts or almonds, dried currants, and cinnamon or allspice) is the most common type in America. Turks use it, sometimes with ground meat mixed in, to stuff dolma (various vegetables, such as eggplants, peppers, and grape leaves) and poultry.

  The Turks passed pilav on to their former territories in the Balkans and North Africa. In Italy, it gave rise to risotto. It probably was the inspiration for the Spanish paella.

  When Sephardim, whose favorite grain already was rice, arrived in western Asia following the expulsion from Spain in 1492, they readily adopted the Turkish-style of pilav. However, following the Arabic manner, many Sephardim simply call it riz, or in the Spanish manner, arroz, rather than pilav. Syrian and Egyptian Jews emulate the Turkish style of first frying the rice in oil before adding the liquid, although Syrians simmer it covered like the Turks, while Egyptians cook the rice uncovered. Pilav became daily as well as festive fare among Jews from the Maghreb to the Balkans. Each Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Jewish community adopted the local rice varieties as well as the local methods of preparing it.

  The dish continued to spread, moving into Europe. In southeastern Europe, the dish generally retained the name pilav. The French, like many Europeans, learned of it from the Ottomans; the French word for it, pilaf, was first recorded in 1654, although the dish may have arrived there several centuries earlier. Another French term for these rice dishes is riz à la turque.

  The first record of the word in English appeared in 1609 in Travels of Certaine Englishmen into Africa, Asia, etc. by William Biddulph (London). He wrote, "The most common [Turkish] dish is Pilaw... made of Rice and small morsels of Mutton boiled therein." Meanwhile, the British East India Company arrived in 1600, gradually wrenching control of the subcontinent from the Mughals. The British initially called the dish palow and, by the time they annexed the country in 1858, it was pilau. In due course, the British increasingly tended to think of their pilau back home as Indian rather than Turkish. By the time of Charles Dickens's All the Year Round (London, 1872), the British spelling had been more or less standardized as pilau.

  In 1787, Thomas Jefferson smuggled rice seed out of Italy to propagate rice paddies in North America. This was thought to be a Patna variety. South Carolina proceeded to lead the country in rice production for the ensuing century. It was there that the rice and meat dish called pilau first arrived, possibly brought by African slaves (who learned of it from the Arabs) or perhaps the original Huguenots who settled the South Carolina Coast, some of whom were Conversos brought the Sephardic pilau. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling, included her observations about the dish in Cross Creek Cookery (1942), her pioneering book with a gastronomical/historical/cultural approach to cooking. She wrote, "We pronounce the word 'pur-loo.' It is any dish of meat and rice cooked together. No Florida church supper, no large rural gathering, is without it. It is blessed among dishes for such a purpose, or for a large family, for meat goes farther in a pilau than prepared in any other way." Europeans brought the French Turkish-inspired dish called pilaf to the United States as well, although in America it was typically made without meat.

  Middle Eastern Jews who immigrated to Calcutta following the British takeover brought with them their rice dishes and adopted the local name, pilau. The Jewish-style pilau, possibly influenced by the early Syrian immigrants, is prepared following the Turkish method of first frying the rice in fat before simmering it in a liquid, rather than the Moghul stewing method or the Persian steaming technique. In Jewish households in Calcutta, pilau, garnished with raisins and nuts, is ubiquitous Friday night fare as well as common on various special occasions. A variation made with fried fish is popular for Sabbath and weekday dining.

  (See also Chelow/Polow, Palau, Plov, and Rice)

  Calcutta Rice Pilaf (Pilau)

  6 to 8 servings

  [PAREVE or DAIRY]

  ¼ cup vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)

  3 to 4 green cardamom pods, crushed

  1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon

  3 to 4 whole cloves

  1½ teaspoons cumin seeds

  1 large onion or 10 scallions (white part only), chopped

  1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

  1 to 3 small green chilies, seeded and minced

  1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

  1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  2 cups basmati, Patna, or other long-grain rice (not converted)

  1 cup (4 ounces) green peas, green beans, cauliflower florets, or chopped carrots, or any combination (optional)

  3½ cups vegetable broth or water

  About 1½ teaspoons table salt or 2½ teaspoons kosher salt

  About ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

  ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  ½ cup toasted almonds for garnish (optional)

  ½ cup raisins for garnish (optional)

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and cumin seeds and sauté unti
l the cinnamon opens and the cloves begin to pop, about 1 minute. Add the onion, ginger, chilies, garlic, and turmeric and sauté until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir until opaque, about 3 minutes. For a vegetable pilau, stir in the optional vegetables.

  2. Add the broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 18 minutes. Do not uncover during cooking. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in the parsley. If using, garnish with the almonds and/or raisins. Serve warm.

  Pine Nut

  Of the more than one hundred species of pine trees in the world, only about a dozen produce edible seeds in their cones—many others have a turpentine taste, while most are too small to be useful. The three most prevalent seeds are the stone pine/umbrella pine from the Mediterranean, the Chinese pine, and a native American variety, rarely available outside of the American Southwest, called Indian nut or piñon. The cones are harvested by hand from November to February, dried in the sun, and cracked and sometimes heated to release the nuts; the external hard cover of the seeds is then removed. The labor-intensive nature of this process accounts for the high price of commercial pine nuts.