Sephardic Jewish cuisine

File:MatfuniyaS.jpg

Iraqi Jewish cuisine: Kubbeh matfuniya

The cuisine of the Sephardi Jews is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of Spain, the Mediterranean, Turkey and Arab countries. Jews in the Diaspora, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim, cooked foods that were popular in their countries of residence, adapting them to the requirements of kashrut. Their choice of foods was also determined by economic factors, with many of the dishes based on inexpensive and readily available ingredients. Meat had to be slaughtered in keeping with Jewish dietary laws, and then soaked and salted. Hence it was reserved for holidays and special occasions. Many Sephardi dishes use ground meat. Milk and meat products could not be mixed or served at the same meal. Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils and burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.

History

Technically, Sephardi Jews are the Jews of Spain and Portugal who were expelled in 1492. In recent decades, it has become politically correct to differentiate between this community and other non-Ashkenazi Jews. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews are called "Sephardim" and the Jews of Mediterranean and Arab countries are called "Mizrahim." In this sense, "Sephardi cuisine" would refer only to the culinary traditions of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry.

Both the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula and the Jews of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, Egypt and Iran adapted local dishes to the constraints of the kosher kitchen. Since the establishment of a Jewish state and the convergence of Jews from all the globe in Israel, these local cuisines, with all their differences, have come to represent the collection of culinary traditions broadly known as "Sephardi cuisine."

For a broader view of Jewish cookery, see Jewish cuisine.

Sephardi and Ashkenazi cuisine: similarities

Like Jewish cuisine everywhere, Sephardi cuisine was influenced by the laws of kashrut and the observance of Jewish holidays, with its array of symbolic foods. Although Jews were dispersed throughout the world, all Jewish communities abided by a core of religious law that was universal: They kept kosher, observed Shabbat and celebrated Jewish holidays. Like Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews maintained the separation between meat and milk, ate only kosher meat, and developed cooking techniques that allowed them to eat a hot meal on Shabbat. They ate a pre-fast meal before Yom Kippur, foods fried in oil on Hanukkah and matzah on Passover. But it was the local culture of the lands where they lived that shaped the finer details.

Fishballs in a sauce of lemon, egg , and saffron.

Sephardi and Ashkenazi cuisine: differences

Coming from the Mediterranean and "sunny" climes, Sephardi cuisine is lighter in character than Ashkenazi cuisine, with an emphasis on salads, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, olive oil, lentils, fresh and dried fruits, herbs and nuts, and chickpeas. Meat dishes often make use of lamb or ground beef. Fresh lemon juice is added to many soups and sauces. Many meat and rice dishes incorporate dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins. Pine nuts are used as a garnish. Pomegranate juice is a staple of Persian Jewish cooking. Kubbeh, a meat-stuffed burghul dumpling, features in the cooking of many Sephardi communities. It is served in the cooking broth, as a kind of soup.

Fish and Meat

On Shabbat, the Jews of North Africa serve chreime, fish in a spicy tomato sauce.

Herbs and Spices

Cumin, coriander and tumeric are very common in Sephardi cooking. Cardamom ("hel") is used to flavor coffee. Chopped fresh coriander and parsley are popular garnishes. Chopped mint is added to salads and cooked dishes, and fresh mint leaves ("nana") are served in tea. Cinnamon is sometimes used as a meat seasoning, especially in dishes made with ground meat. Hilbe, a paste made from fenugreek seeds and hot pepper, is added to many traditional Yemenite dishes. Skhug, a hot pepper sauce, comes in two varieties, red and green. A diluted version of skhug is spooned over felafel. Hawaj is a Yemenite spice mixture that comes into two varieties. One, a blend of powdered ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, is added to coffee and baked goods. The other, a blend of tumeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamon and cloves, is added to soup.

Desserts and Beverages

Tiny cups of Turkish coffee, sometimes spiced with cardamom, are often served at the end of a festive meal, accompanied by small portions of baklawa or other pastries dipped in syrup or honey. Hot sahlab, a liquidy cornstarch pudding originally flavored with orchid powder (today invariably replaced by artificial flavorings), is served in cups as a winter drink, garnished with cinnamon, nuts, coconut and raisins. Arak is the preferred alcoholic beverage. Rosewater is a common ingredient in cakes and desserts. Malabi, a cold cornstarch pudding, is sprinkled with rosewater and red syrup.

Pickles and Condiments

Olives and pickled vegetables, such as cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, are a standard accompaniment to meals. Amba is a pickled mango sauce. Small pickled lemons are a Moroccan Jewish delicacy.

Cooking techniques

As cooking on Shabbat is prohibited, Sephardi Jews, like their Ashkenazi counterparts, developed slow-cooked foods that would simmer on a low flame overnight and be ready for eating the next day.The Sephardi version of cholent is called "chamin" (from the word "cham," which means "hot"). The potatoes and barley used in Ashkenazi cholent are replaced by rice and hard boiled eggs. Burekas are often served on Shabbat morning. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jahnun and kubbanah.

Passover

Sephardi and Ashkenazi cooking differs subtantially on Passover. One of the food categories forbidden to Ashkenazi Jews on the holiday is kitniyot, which includes rice and a variety of beans and pulses. As these foods are staples of the Sephardi diet, Sephardi rabbis ruled that their consumption is permissible. This has major implications for cooking, as many of the oils used in modern kitchens are derived from kitniyot (soybean, corn, sunflower and rapeseed).

Sephardi Jews prepare charoset, one of the symbolic foods eaten at the Passover seder, from different ingredients. Whereas charoset in Ashkenazi homes is a blend of chopped apples and nuts spiced with wine and cinammon, Sephardi charoset is based on dates and is much thicker in consistency.

Special dishes

• Jachnun
• Chreime
• Bourekas
• Hamindos
• Chamin
• Halva
• Pescado frito
• Sofrito
• Kubbeh Hamusta
• Kubbeh Matfuniya
• Yaprah
• Kubbaneh
• Lahokh
• Skhug
• Hilbe
• Apio
• Moroccan cigars
• Gondi
• Tabbouleh
• Malawah
• Couscous
• Tagine
• Albondigas
• Ful
• Malabi
• Sahlab
• Baklawa
• Shakshuka
• Matbucha
• Moussaka
• Sambusak

References

• “The Sephardic kitchen", Rabbi Robert Sternberg, Ed. Zendrera Zariquiey, 1998
• “My prescriptions of the Sephardic kitchen”, Mimí Abecasis de Castiel, Ed. Area of Culture of the City council of Malaga. 2002
• “Recipe book of the Sephardic kitchen”. Ed Red Juderías (2001)
• “The pleasures of my Jewish kitchen in the Sephardic tradition”, Rivka Cohen, ed. Parsifal
• “The Sephardic kitchen: the cultural wealth of the healthful kitchen of the Mediterranean Jews”, Robert Sternberg, prologue of Luis Bassat and translation Elena Gaminde. Barcelona: Zendrera Zariquiey. 2004
• “Sephardic Flavors”, Goldstein, Joyce.
• “The Jewish kitchen. Sephardi laws, customs… and some prescriptions”, Uriel Macías Kapón.