Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

  2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 medium onion, sliced, or 8 small whole onions

  About ¾ cup boiling chicken broth or water

  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  About ¾ teaspoon table salt or 1½ teaspoons kosher salt

  About ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

  1. Pat the meat dry with paper towels. In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat. In batches, add the meat and brown on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per batch. Remove the meat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes, or the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.

  2. Add the broth and scrape the pan to loosen any browned bits. Add the lemon juice, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Return the meat to the pot.

  3. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook, turning the meat about every 20 to 30 minutes and adding a little more water when necessary, until the meat is very tender and the sauce thick, 2 to 2½ hours. Serve hot.

  Variation

  Sephardic Meat And Potatoes In Thick Sauce (Sofrito Batatas):

  Cut 4 to 8 medium potatoes into 1-inch cubes or ½-inch-thick wedges. Heat about 2 inches vegetable oil to 375°F, deep-fry the potatoes until golden brown (but not completely cooked through), about 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes. About 30 minutes before the meat is tender, add the potatoes.

  Sohan Asali

  Sohan asali is a honey-nut brittle.

  Origin: Persia

  In Farsi, sohan means "beautiful" and asal means "honey." Sohan asali is a specialty of Shiraz, where professional confectioners whip up large batches in copper kettles. This honey treat is similar to and most certainly the source of the Turkish Passover confection asashoo, which in turn is probably the source of the very similar Ashkenazic pletzlach and ingberlach. However, sohan asali is enhanced with saffron and rose water. Contemporary versions are sometimes coated in untraditional chocolate. In Persian culture, candy and the color yellow represent joy, and this treat incorporating both is served at festive occasions, such as Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and weddings.

  Persian Honey-Nut Brittle (Sohan Asali)

  about 50 pieces

  [PAREVE]

  2 cups (14 ounces) sugar

  ½ cup honey

  ½ cup vegetable oil

  ¼ cup water

  Pinch of salt

  ¾ teaspoon ground saffron or ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

  ½ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

  2 tablespoons rose water or hot water

  1 pound (about 4 cups) coarsely chopped or sliced or slivered toasted almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, or walnuts

  1. In a medium, heavy saucepan, stir the sugar, honey, oil, water, and salt over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stop stirring, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.

  2. Cover and cook for about 30 seconds to dissolve any sugar crystals. Uncover and boil gently, without stirring, until the syrup reaches the soft crack stage or registers 270°F on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, dissolve the saffron and, if using, cardamom in the rose water. Add to the syrup and stir for 3 minutes. Stir in the almonds.

  4. Pour onto an oiled large marble slab or large baking sheet and spread evenly to a ½-inch thickness. While still soft, cut into squares. Let cool until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

  Sour Cream

  In the time before pasteurization and refrigeration, milk spoiled rather quickly and, therefore, the predominant way of consuming dairy was in a fermented form, including cheese, butter, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, and sour cream. Originally, sour cream consisted of heavy cream left at room temperature until partially fermented; the acid produced by lactobacilli acted as a preservative, coagulated the proteins to a thick consistency, and imparted a slightly tangy flavor. Today, sour cream is made by adding a bacterial culture to unpasteurized cream and heating the cream to achieve the desired level of lactic acid. Then various additives are used, sometimes gelatin and rennet, to prevent separation and extend the shelf life; these additives can pose problems for kosher consumers. There is also a nonfermented version, labeled "acidified sour cream," made by coagulating the cream through the addition of an acid. The original type of sour cream has a mild tart flavor and a consistency somewhat thinner than that of modern commercial brands.

  Sour cream—smeteneh in Yiddish and tejföl in Hungarian—became the primary cultured milk product in Slavic regions, a role played by the similar clotted cream in England, quark in Germany, and crème fraîche in France. Sour cream is among the flavors associated with eastern European Jewry. Along with various other zoyers (sours), such as pickles and sauerkraut, sour cream enlivened an otherwise bland diet consisting primarily of starches. It also filled a crucial role in balanced nutrition, as it contained the major vitamins (A and D) lacking in the staple of the nineteenth-century eastern European diet, potatoes. During the intervening one hundred years after the popularization of the potato in eastern Europe and until World War II, many Jewish meals from the spring through autumn consisted of boiled potatoes and sour cream. In Ashkenazic baked goods, sour cream adds moisture, richness, and a tang. It tops blintzes, blinis, potato latkes, and pirogen and is mixed with pickled herring, salads, and chopped radishes. Sour cream is essential for Ashkenazic Passover and Shavuot meals and is served with potatoes, borscht, schav (sorrel soup), and vegetables.

  In the nineteenth century, eastern Europeans brought sour cream to America. In 1888, Lithuanian Jewish immigrants Isaac (1864—1945) and Joseph (1859—1930) Breakstone (originally Bregstein) opened a small shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side to sell traditional eastern European dairy products, most notably sour cream, for which the cream was incubated in ten-gallon containers. In 1896, Wolf Axelrod began selling sour cream and pot cheese from a store on Madison Street in New York's Lower East Side, then relocated to a larger facility in Brooklyn. He primarily sold his products wholesale and they were delivered by horse and wagon and cooled by blocks of ice. In those days before prepackaged foods, the products were spooned out of large barrels into various receptacles. The introduction of homogenization in 1919 led to a much more uniform texture. Eventually, manufacturers began packaging their sour cream in reusable glass jars. When innovations led to sour cream being prepackaged in small plastic containers and supermarkets introduced refrigerated cases, this Old World necessity became a standard of the mainstream American kitchen as well. Kraft purchased Breakstone's in 1928 and Axelrod's in 1932, becoming one of the largest sour cream producers in the world.

  Sour Salt

  Sour salt, melach limon in Hebrew, is not related to table salt and does not possess a salty flavor, but rather is crystallized citric acid obtained from citrus fruits and fermented molasses. Citric acid was first isolated in crystalline form in 1784. Before fresh lemons were readily available, beginning in the nineteenth century, northern European cooks and immigrants to America used these crystals, balanced with sugar, to create a sweet-and-sour flavor in their dishes, such as meatballs, stuffed cabbage, cabbage soups, and borscht. Unlike vinegar and lemon juice, which have their own distinctive flavor and odor, sour salt produces only a pure sour flavor and no odor. It also inhibits the browning affects of enzymes and oxidation in fruits. Sour salt is stronger than either vinegar or lemon juice, so cooks use it sparingly and add it to foods gradually until the desired level of sourness is reached. The large white crystals dissolve readily in liquids. Sour salt is available in most Jewish groceries, as well as in the Jewish section of many American supermarkets.

  Spaetzle

  Spaetzle is a small flour and egg dumpling.

  Origin: Southwestern Germany

  Other names: knöpfle, spatzen, spätzle.

  Spaetzle (meaning "little sparrow") originated in southwest Germany around the eighteenth century and soon spread to neig
hboring regions of Alsace and Austria. Spaetzle is traditionally made with a special spaetzle maker that looks like a grater with large holes, although the dough may also simply be pushed through a large-holed colander. Spaetzle can also be prepared in the same manner as the Hungarian galuska by cutting the dough and sliding it off of a board. Spaetzle is served with soups, stews, gravies, brisket, or sauerbraten.

  German Dumplings (Spaetzle)

  about 4 cups

  [PAREVE]

  2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

  2/3 cup water

  3 large eggs

  ½ teaspoon table salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  Dash of ground white pepper (optional)

  1. In a large bowl, beat together all the ingredients until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

  2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium.

  3. Place about 1/3 cup batter in a large colander with ¼-inch holes and press through the holes into the water. Stir gently and cook until the spaetzle rise to the top, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Repeat with the remaining batter.

  Spice

  Spices are aromatic seeds, barks, roots, and berries. Long before the first permanent settlements, people discovered that parts of some plants make food taste and smell better. Certain spices contain chemicals that activate neurons of the somatosensory system. Archeological digs point to either cumin or poppy seeds as possibly the first spice.

  Spices were no small matter in the ancient world, but considered among the most valued of possessions. A passage from the Book of Kings reflects their regard: "Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil [resin oil], and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures." Medieval European aristocrats secured their spices and other valuables in the towers of castles. Consequently, Ashkenazic spice boxes for Havdalah were traditionally shaped like the towers.

  In the ancient world, spices were utilized to flavor foods and wines and as medicines, perfumes, and mood enhancers. In the Temple, they were used in the ketoret hasamim (incense) and shemen hamischa (anointing oil). In Temple times, during the days preceding the Passover holiday, merchants could be heard throughout Jerusalem calling out, "Come and buy your spices for the commandment [of charoset]."

  Spices store well and are relatively light, so they were easily transported. Nonetheless, scarcity and long-distance transport meant that many spices were expensive and fought over. Spice trading was one of the primary movers of history, engendering wealth, exploration, and wars, particularly after the thirteenth century. As recorded in the Bible, donkey caravans and, then around 1000 BCE, camels, carried these goods from Arabia through Petra to the Levant and then to Egypt, and North Africa. In the middle of the first century CE, the Romans learned of the cycle of the monsoons. This enabled them to sail their ships from the Red Sea around the time of the summer solstice, reach the Malabar Coast of southwest India, and return in less than a year with large amounts of peppercorns, thus bypassing Arab traders. Around the same time, the Han dynasty of China imposed peace in central Asia, allowing the Chinese to control and secure the three-hundred-year-old land route from the Orient to the Mediterranean known as the Silk Road, on which Eastern goods were transported. Around the second century CE, Arabia became a major conduit of the spice trade between East and West, passing along routes through Syria or Egypt, and accruing great wealth in the process.

  After the fall of Rome, the European spice trade initially ceased and was further complicated by the Arab conquest of the vital port of Alexandria in 641, which left the spice trade in Muslim hands. In 973 CE, Ibrahim ibn Yaacub, a Moorish merchant visiting Mainz (a city along the Rhine River and a center of early Ashkenazic life), noted the presence of cloves, ginger, and pepper in the marketplace. He learned that these spices were supplied by Jewish merchants called Radhanites, who maintained international trade routes between the Christian and Islamic worlds. In the eighth and ninth centuries, "Jewish merchants" were rather recurrent figures at the courts of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. The Radhanites were first mentioned by name, and not simply as Jewish merchants, in the mid-ninth-century work The Book of Routes and Kingdoms by the postmaster of the caliph of Baghdad. From around 700 to 1000 CE, they completely controlled the East-West spice trade and were the only group accepted by both Christians and Muslims. All four of the Radhanite trade routes, by both land and sea, began in the West, either in Iberia or France, and ended in China or India. They brought swords, furs, and cloth from Europe to eastern Asia and returned westward with the luxurious items craved by Christians and Muslims, such as silk, perfumes, oils, gems, musk, aloe wood, camphor, cloves, ginger, and pepper. (They also brought westward what became known as Arabic numerals, as well as possibly the science of making paper.) It was by no coincidence that all the Radhanite trade routes passed through a series of Jewish communities. The shared language of Hebrew allowed communication, while religious contacts and a code of law provided essential access to cooperation and credit.

  The World of Spices. Many of the world's favorite spices come from a few plant families and a few locations, particularly southeast Asia and members of the Apiaceae family from the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia. Here are where many spices originated. 1 Cloves—Moluccas in the East Indies; 2 Mace—Moluccas (Indonesia); 3 Nutmeg—Moluccas (Indonesia); 4 Cinnamon—Sri Lanka; 5 Ginger—southeast Asia; 6 Turmeric—southeast Asia; 7 Cardamom—southern India; 8 Pepper—southern India; 9 Anise—Near East; 10 Asafetida—Near East; 11 Sesame—Near East; 12 Mahlab—western Asia; 13 Nigella—western Asia; 14 Sumac—western Asia; 15 Saffron—Asia Minor; 16 Caraway—western Asia and eastern Europe; 17 Coriander—Levant; 18 Cumin—Levant or northeast Africa; 19 Fenugreek—eastern Mediterranean; 20 Fennel—northeastern Mediterranean; 21 Mustard—southern Europe; 22 Dill seed—southern Russia; 23 Ajwain—northeast Africa; 24 Poppy seeds—southwest Europe; 25 Allspice—West Indies; 26 Chilies—South America; 27 Vanilla—Central America

  As a result of Radhanite trade, Asian spices were a part of upper-class European and Jewish cookery in the early medieval period. It was also probably the wealth generated by the Radhanites that helped spark the initial flourishing of the nascent Ashkenazic communities along the Rhine River toward the end of the tenth century. The Radhanites' monopoly of international trade continued until around 1000, when following the fall of the Tang dynasty, traffic along the Silk Road was interrupted.

  Following the disappearance of the Radhanites, Asian spices temporarily vanished from Europe until around the First Crusade and the rise of the Italian mercantile states, especially Venice, in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Meanwhile, medieval Arabs made liberal use of spices brought across the Arabian Sea. Marco Polo's accounts of Asian spices in the thirteenth century and then the appearance of the first European cookbooks since the one written by Apicius around 400 CE further enticed Europeans to foreign spices. For the ensuing several centuries, the European aristocracy and emerging bourgeoisie zealously indulged in spices. The masses made do with a few locally grown plants, notably mustard and poppy seeds.

  The desire to break the Venetian monopoly on the spice trade led Vasco da Gama in 1497 to sail around southern Africa and Columbus to venture westward at the exact time that the Jews were being expelled from Spain to find an all-water route to the Spice Islands. Many of these voyages or ships were manned by or sponsored by Conversos, including Rui de Brito Mendes, who backed one of the ships in da Gama's second voyage in 1502. Spice trading then shifted from Venice to Lisbon. The Portuguese monopoly was short-lived, for in the sixteenth century, the Dutch, noted for their sailing and business acuity, gained sway over the spice trade. The majority of Dutch spice importers were Sephardim. In turn, the British achieved dominance over India in 1616 and q
uickly took control.

  Eventually political intrigue led to a dispersal of spices. For example, the French smuggled cloves from their home in the Moluccas and successfully planted them on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Soon more cloves were being grown in other lands than in their native East Indies. This widening availability of spices and improved means of transportation caused a decrease in prices and a corresponding increase in general use. However, as spices grew more accessible and affordable, European overindulgence in spices waned and the moderate use of seasonings subsequently became the norm in European cooking.

  (See also Ajwain, Allspice, Anise, Asafetida, Baharat, Berbere, Caraway, Cardamom, Chili, Cinnamon/Cassia, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Dukkah, Fenugreek, Ginger, Hawaij, Mahlab, Mastic, Mustard, Nigella, Paprika, Peppercorn, Poppy Seed, Ras el Hanout, Saffron, Sesame, Sumac, Tabil, Vanilla and Za'atar (Hyssop))

  Spinach

  Spinach appeared rather late on the culinary scene. It was developed and first recorded in Sasanian Persia between 226 and 640 CE. Medieval Arab agronomists improved and spread spinach cultivation, and the vegetable was initially mentioned in the Mediterranean in the tenth century. Spinach was introduced to Europe by way of the Moors in the late eleventh century and quickly became a Sephardic favorite. Spinach arrived in Italy in the thirteenth century and the Italians subsequently popularized it in much of the northern Mediterranean.

  Spinach makes its appearance in early spring and is harvested into early summer, so it became a traditional Passover and Shavuot food. It does not fare well in the hot temperatures of summer, but after the nights begin to cool again in late August or early September, farmers plant the fall spinach crop, which matures in time for Rosh Hashanah.

  There are a number of different approaches to cooking and seasoning spinach. The French and Hungarians boil it very briefly over high heat to maintain the bright green color, then blend the leaves with butter, perhaps some meltable cheese or a cream sauce, and a few subtle seasonings. Persians cook spinach for a moderate time, then pair it with yogurt to make a smooth, creamy dish. Indians prefer to simmer the leaves slowly for an extended period, then counter the saucelike result with cubes of firm panir (fresh cheese), potatoes, or chickpeas, and plenty of spices, especially ginger and chilies. In India and the Middle East, spinach is frequently combined with legumes for complementary nutrition and textures. Arabs began to cook it with pine nuts and raisins (sabanigh bi snobar wa sbeeb), creating a dish that Sicilian Jews brought to northern Italy, where it became a specialty of the Roman and Venetian ghettos and was called spinaci pinoli e passerine. Sephardim use spinach interchangeably with chard in an extensive variety of recipes, including salads, stews, soups, patties, casseroles, omelets, pies, pastry fillings, and even a Sabbath soup using the spinach stalks.