Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  In the early days of the state of Israel, watermelon was a refreshing sign of the arrival of summer—these fruits first appear in late May and the height of the season is in July and August. Unlike the large, oblong American varieties, Israeli avatiach are typically small and round and most are now seedless; seedless watermelons were invented by a Japanese scientist in 1939 and subsequently improved by Israeli agricultural scientists. As soon as the year's crop begins to ripen, the beloved green fruits appear in groceries, souks (marketplaces), and watermelon stands on nearly every corner throughout the country. Today, the raucous cries of sellers announcing "A-va-ti-ach, A-va-ti-ach" still ring through the land each summer, although trucks have replaced the horse-drawn wagons of yesteryear. People scramble from their houses to make sure of getting the best pick. Israelis really do not need much encouragement, for as the summer progresses and the weather grows more intense, watermelon remains a favorite Israeli way to deal with a sweltering day.

  Watermelon has long been ubiquitous at Israeli beaches and picnics. It is a popular flavor for popsicles and ices. The more recent pairing of cubes of salty Bulgarian feta cheese with sweet watermelon, a duo now popular as beach fare as well as at upscale cafes, is possibly the dish most emblematic of modern Israeli gastronomy.

  (See also Melon)

  Israeli Watermelon and Feta Salad (Avatiach Salat)

  3 to 4 servings

  [DAIRY]

  4 cups 1-inch watermelon cubes

  ¼ to ½ cup crumbled creamy feta cheese

  ¼ cup chopped red onion

  2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

  2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

  ¼ cup fresh lime juice

  In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Serve immediately.

  Wedding

  A Jewish wedding, in effect a legal contract, is a two-part process. Before the eleventh century, a Jewish couple, the chatan (groom) and kallah (bride), were betrothed in one ceremony, called erusin (bound) or kiddushin (set aside/sanctified). Even though they were not yet living together, in order to separate, they required a divorce. The gap of time allowed the couple to build a house, and to make or accumulate the goods necessary for a life together (in a time before department stores and gift registries). In conjunction with the betrothal, the families agreed on the financial conditions of the marriage and the ketubah (marriage contract) was signed. Erusin commenced when the groom gave the bride something of value, typically a ring, and the woman accepted it. Then, up to a year later, the couple performed the actual marriage ceremony, known as nissuin (elevation) or chupah (marriage canopy), and then began living together. Each of these occasions was accompanied by a festive meal. However, due to the increasing insecurity of life in medieval times, which all too frequently meant a quick relocation or other unexpected changes, by the eleventh century, the waiting period was abolished and the two ceremonies were adjoined. The change also meant one banquet instead of two, no small matter in economically pressed times. More recently, many of the customs accompanying a wedding, such as the dowry and trousseau, have been abandoned.

  A Yemenite Jewish bride dons an elaborate dress, a large silver necklace, and a jewel-encrusted headdress decorated with red and white carnations. On one side of the headress is sweet basil, symbolizing a life of joy, and on the other side rue, a malodorous plant used to ward off the evil eye. Weddings also feature traditional foods, symbolizing fertility and a life of beauty.

  After the two parts of the wedding were combined, communities developed other rituals to mark the engagement, commonly accompanied with a party. When a Syrian couple decides to wed, relatives of both families gather for a "coming together party" commonly referred to as a kinyan (Hebrew for "acquisition") or bozra (Arabic for "negotiating session"). Originally, this meeting provided an opportunity for the two families to agree on the terms and for the rabbi to legalize them by enacting the tenaim (conditions) between the fathers. Today, the couple generally uses the occasion to make the engagement official. The bride's family customarily prepares an elaborate repast for the occasion. Guests send white flowers for decorations and the crowd is entertained with a nobeh (special musical renderings) played on traditional Middle Eastern instruments, including a qanoon (zither), oud (lute), and dirbakkeh (a small drum).

  Sephardim from the Balkans and Turkey have a similar though less elaborate ceremony, sometimes called espoziria (engagement), in which the families meet and agree on financial terms. The hosts customarily offer an extensive assortment of treats, including a tavla de dulce (tray of sweets) featuring a large assortment of confections, dulce de kumquat (preserved whole kumquats), and various fruit preserves served in glass bowls. Also on the ornate tray are silver teaspoons and glasses of water. The guests sample a spoonful of dulce, then deposit the spoon in a glass of water. Turkish coffee accompanies the dulces.

  In Jewish tradition, almonds, which come in both bitter and sweet varieties, are a metaphor for marriage. In addition, Ecclesiastes uses the almond as a symbol of human life, and the numerical value of the Hebrew word for nut, egoz, is seventeen, the same value as tov (good). Therefore, almonds are common at the various Jewish engagement and wedding rites. Sephardim still offer Jordan almonds and almond paste confections at weddings and other life-cycle events.

  Among Ashkenazim, a separate ceremony called tenaim shidukin (conditions of engagement) was established for the families to announce the engagement and agree on their legally binding financial obligations. The terms in the tenaim, set in writing and enforced through various edicts and bans, included the date and place of the wedding, the dowry, and inheritance rights. Today, the tenaim, out of tradition, is usually signed at the wedding at the chatan's tish (groom's table), where the groom and various male family and friends gather before the wedding. Honey cake and schnapps are traditional at the chatan's tish. After the document is signed, the mothers of the bride and groom customarily break a plate (usually safely enclosed in a napkin), reflecting the severity of breaking this legal document, although no divorce is required, and also as a remembrance, even in a moment of joy, of the destruction of the Temple. The pieces, considered lucky, are customarily distributed to unmarried friends.

  When the tenaim were also adjoined to the wedding, a vacuum was left as to how to announce the engagement. To meet this need without officially having an "engagement party," the vort (verbal agreement) has become an increasingly popular custom in certain religious circles of the Ashkenazic community. Both families gather to meet each other, listen to friends describe the qualities of the bride and groom, and eat. Sometimes, as in a tenaim, the mothers break a plate, although nothing is yet legal.

  In Talmudic times, weddings were frequently held on Sunday and Wednesday, as the Jewish court met on Monday and Thursday and could deal swiftly with any points of contentions the next day. Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the new month) is considered especially favorable. Jewish weddings are traditionally not held on the Sabbath or festivals, due to the restrictions on work, travel, and making a contract. In addition, since the medieval period, weddings have also not been held during much of the seven-week Omer period between Passover and Shavuot and during the Three Weeks preceding the fast of Tisha b'Av.

  The traditional day for a Yemenite wedding was Thursday. The week preceding the nuptials was celebrated with feasting, as was the week afterward. On the Thursday before his wedding, the groom bathed and immersed himself in the mikvah (ritual bath). On Monday and Tuesday, henna was applied to the bride and the women in her family, then to the women in the groom's family, and finally to the groom. On Wednesday, the groom sent his gifts to the bride and the erusin ceremony was conducted that evening in the bride's home. On the following day, the nissuin was held at the groom's house.

  Initially, Ashkenazim typically held weddings on Friday afternoon, with the wedding feast simultaneously providing a Sabbath dinner for the family and the poor of the community. However, there was an episode in Kraków
in which Rabbi Moses Isserles (1520—1572), the most respected Ashkenazic rabbi of his era, was officiating at the wedding of an orphaned young woman whose brothers had failed to meet the expected dowry. By the time Isserles convinced the prospective groom to proceed with the wedding, the Sabbath had begun and he feared that if he waited until after the Sabbath, the groom's parents might talk him out of it. In order to avoid embarrassing the young woman and inflicting pain on the bride and groom, Isserles himself conducted the wedding on the Sabbath. This provoked an uproar in Europe and, to avoid any future such instances, weddings were subsequently avoided on Fridays.

  Thereafter, Tuesday—because in the biblical account of Creation, on the third day, the phrase "and God saw it was good" appears twice—became the auspicious day for Ashkenazic weddings. In America, Sunday emerged as a popular wedding day, simply because most people have the day off from work. In Israel, on the other hand, where Sunday is a typical work day, weddings are held any day of the week, usually in the evening after most people have concluded their workday.

  At Jewish weddings, auspicious signs (segulot) to protect the couple and to induce fertility are sought and ominous ones avoided. Sephardic brides wear jewelry and Mizrachi brides don plenty of it, while many Ashkenazic couples follow a custom of not wearing any jewelry. Middle Eastern Jewish women reflect their joy at a wedding or other celebration in the traditional Arabic manner, with high-pitched, extended ululations performed with the tongue.

  Until relatively recently, Jews did not marry in a synagogue. Ashkenazim held their weddings outdoors, perhaps outside the synagogue or in a courtyard, then moved elsewhere for the wedding feast. Among Sephardim, the wedding was traditionally held at the home of the groom's parents. The bride and her family would be escorted by a large procession accompanied with musicians, who in the eastern Mediterranean played Turkish or Greek music. Following the chupah, the couple would depart, as the guests threw almonds and coins as a sign of their wish for prosperity and plenty for the newlyweds. Afterward, the assemblage headed to the wedding feast.

  Today at a Jewish wedding, the erusin begins with a special blessing over marriage and ends with the groom giving the bride a ring. The nissuin consists of the recital of seven marital blessings (Sheva Berachot/Berachot Nissiun) and the breaking of a glass. In between, the ketubah is publicly read to mark a distinction between the two ceremonies. Both rituals take place under the chupah, a symbol of the home to be shared by the couple. As with most Jewish celebrations, wine is present, in fact, there are two cups, one for the kiddushin and a second one for the nissuin. The couple drinks from each of the two cups as a symbol of their joy and sanctification.

  Some Ashkenazic couples fast on the day of their wedding. Some Sephardim consider fasting at this time inappropriate, while others fast as do two male friends of the groom and two female friends of the bride. Some Sephardim break the fast with a light meal of symbolic foods—wine, matza, bitter herbs, apple, and honey. Among Ashkenazim, after the chupah, the couple breaks their fast in a formal period of seclusion in a room apart (yichud), which today is typically followed by an extended period of picture taking. Sephardim arrange the formal period of seclusion after the entire wedding.

  The wedding, as it has been since the onset of the religion, is an occasion for a special feast, accompanied with joyous singing, dancing, and music. Each community developed its own special weddings songs. The wedding seudah commences with the Hamotzi (benediction over bread), and wine or schnapps is typically plentiful. Since Talmudic times, chicken dishes have been traditional for weddings, a custom derived from a once common saying at marriage ceremonies, "Be fruitful and multiply like chickens." It was among eastern European Jews that chicken soup, also called golden yoych and goldzup (the gold refers to the globules of fat floating on top of the soup), was most appreciated. For many generations, bowls of golden chicken soup with noodles appeared at Ashkenazic weddings, and the soup is still often served today. The actual Ashkenazic meal consists of familiar Western fare, including chicken or beef, potatoes, and pickles. Today, it is common to precede the ceremony with a lavish smorgasbord featuring contemporary as well as traditional items, such as chopped liver, gefilte fish, smoked salmon, herring, knishes, and kugel.

  At a Sephardic wedding, the bride and groom traditionally eat from the same plate and drink from the same glass. A wedding is also the time for serving traditional Sephardic foods, as this fare is associated with the warmth of home and the bonds of family and community. Lamb is the traditional main dish. Sephardic and Mizrachi weddings, except for those in the couscous-loving Maghreb, always include rice, usually tinted yellow, the Middle Eastern color of happiness, and sometimes sweetened or enhanced with nuts or dried fruit. Among the prized dishes at Sephardic nuptials is arroz de bodas (wedding rice), yellow rice with grapes, scallions, and pine nuts, elaborately sculptured. Persians feature a shirin polow (sweet rice with cherries and other fruits) served with roast chicken. The Bene Israel of Mumbai accent their wedding rice with turmeric, almonds, raisins, fresh ginger, and notes of cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. Moroccans present a festive sweetened couscous (seffa) mounded in a pyramid shape, decorated with ground cinnamon, and garnished with almond-stuffed pitted dates.

  A Turkish Jewish wedding feast—weddings were customarily held on Friday afternoon—traditionally features seven courses. The first dish is sutlach, a rich, rose-flavored rice-flour pudding symbolizing a sweet life for the newlyweds. Next comes an ancient symbol of fertility, fish, followed by siete en boca (tiny sugar-coated almond pieces), ojaldres de carne (meat-filled phyllo triangles), and albondigas de meyoyo (calf's brain meatballs). The meneado (main course) is left to the discretion of the cook, but always contains almonds. The final dish, served only to the couple, is pigeon. Similarly, a Moroccan couple is served hamam del aroussa (the bride's pigeons), a pair of stuffed pigeons in an onion-honey sauce, pigeons being monogamous and prolific birds that, once mated, share their lives and parental duties. Yemenites typically feature fatoot, their special meat soup spiced with hawaij. For Sephardim and Mizrachim, sweet pastries and confections are a must, symbolizing a happy and joyous relationship.

  In Jewish tradition, shivat ye'mei hamishteh (seven days of partying) follow the wedding. During this week-long period when the newlyweds, a minyan (quorum of ten), and at least one person who did not attend the wedding are present for a meal, the Sheva Berachot are recited after the Birkhat Hamazon (Grace after Meals). There are no specific requirements for the food at these meals beyond bread and wine, but, whether homemade or catered, they are typically festive and special.

  (See also Aufruf/Arus, Seudah, and Swanne)

  Wheat

  Well before humankind discovered agriculture, primitive wheat and barley, spread by the wind, grew wild throughout much of the Fertile Crescent and was gathered by our nomadic ancestors. Over the course of time, several wild grasses spontaneously crossbred with various wild and domesticated wheats, yielding newer forms of wheat. All wheat falls into two basic categories: hulled wheat, such as einkorn, emmer, and spelt, in which the husks adhere to the seeds and the only way to remove them is by burning or pounding; and naked wheat or free-threshing wheat, notably durum and common wheat, in which the husks fall easily from the seeds. The earliest wheat but not an ancestor of modern wheat species, was einkorn (one-seed), a type in which the spikelets (flowers) typically produce one grain each. Besides a relatively low yield and a nearly negligible amount of gluten, einkorn is "hulled" wheat.

  Although the first farmers planted einkorn, which fares well in poor soil and is disease resistant, this cereal was impractical for wide-scale cultivation. Wheat species, however, crossbreed spontaneously as well as relatively frequently and easily in nature—there are now more than thirty thousand varieties of wheat. Therefore, einkorn's importance waned during the Bronze Age when more preferable wheat varieties became available. Einkorn is probably the shippon/shifon of the Talmud—one of the Five Species of grain capable of be
coming chametz. To further confuse matters, in modern Hebrew, shifon is rye.

  At some point in prehistory, a close relative of einkorn crossbred with another wild grass, yielding emmer, whose Latin name, Triticum, means "two-seed." Like einkorn, emmer is a hulled wheat and therefore difficult to thresh. The numerous biblical references to goren (threshing floor), including the site of the Temple itself, and threshing sledges, reflect the widespread use of hulled grains. Among emmer's advantages were its ability to grow in poor soils, its resistance to fungal diseases, and the simultaneous ripening of its spiklets, all of which made it a more practical crop for cultivation than other grains; in addition, it contained a higher level of gluten. Many varieties of wheat contain a large amount of two particular proteins—glutenin and gliadin; when these proteins come into contact with water, they combine with each other to form gluten, the viscid substance that gives flour the elasticity required for it to rise and keep its structure under heat. Thus bread made from emmer turns out lighter than that made from its early competitors, einkorn and barley, although it is less feathery than modern bread.

  Emmer, which was already the predominant wheat in predynastic Egypt, was probably the grains purchased in Egypt by Jacob's sons during the famine in Canaan and also used to make the matzas of the Exodus. Emmer is still grown by farmers in a few parts of the world, notably southeastern Europe; it is called farro in Italian.

  Spelt is another domesticated species of wheat, probably a descendant of emmer and a wild goat grass; like emmer, it is a hulled variety, and it is sometimes confused with emmer. Spelt was unknown in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Israel and therefore, despite many Bible translations, not the grain (Kussemet) saved along with free-threshing wheat (chittah) from the plague of hail in Egypt. In modern Hebrew, spelt is kusmin.

  These grains—einkorn, emmer, and two-row barley—along with four legumes—lentils, chickpeas, split peas, and bitter vetch—are considered the founder crops; they provided the protein and nutrition of early civilization. At first, people roasted the grains, as this was the easiest way to remove the kernel from the glumes. Then they discovered that they could pound the grains to loosen the husks. However, pounding not only required much labor, but also in the process broke many of the grains, rendering them less suited for long-term storage. Eventually, cooks began boiling barley, einkorn, and emmer kernels to make gruels, which in some areas would remain the staple of the diet well into modern times. When people accidentally dropped some of the porridge into campfires, they discovered that the flat mishaps—the first rudimentary breads—were tastier and far more portable than the gruel.