Sephardic Jewish cuisine

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Iraqi Jewish cuisine: Kubbeh matfuniya

The cuisine of the Sephardi Jews is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of Spain, Portugal, 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, many of whom settled in Turkey and the Balkans. In recent decades, it has become politically correct to differentiate between this community and other non-Ashkenazi Jews. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews and Ladino-speaking Balkan, Greek and Turkish Jews are, by this convention, called "Sephardim", while the remaining Jews of Mediterranean and Arab countries are called "Mizrahim." In this sense, "Sephardi cuisine" would refer only to the culinary traditions of the first group.

Both the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula and the Jews of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, Egypt, India 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 Judaism spread throughout the world, most 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.

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 bulgur 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, cilantro, and turmeric are very common in Sephardi cooking. Cardamom ("hel") is used to flavor coffee. Chopped fresh cilantro 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. Hawaij 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 turmeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamom 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

Moroccan pickled lemons

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. Bourekas are often served on Shabbat morning. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jahnun and kubbanah.

Passover

Sephardi and Ashkenazi cooking differs substantially 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.

Other Sephardi Jewish dishes are tibet, a chicken and rice dish, ingri, veal topped with aubergines, and mina (known as scacchi in Italy), a type of meat or vegetable pie made with a matzo crust.

Special dishes

• Albondigas
• Baba ghanoush
• Baklawa
• Bourekas
• Chamin
• Chreime
• Couscous
• Falafel
• Fazuelos
• Ful
• Gondi
• Hamindos
• Halva
• Hilbe
• Hummus
• Jachnun
• Kadaif
• Kibbeh
• Kubbaneh
• Kubbeh Hamusta
• Kubbeh Matfuniya
• Lahokh
• Malaby
• Malawah
• Ma'moul
• Matbucha
• Moroccan cigars
• Moussaka
• Mufleta
• Pescado frito
• Sabich
• Sahlab
• Sambusak
• Shakshuka
• Skhug
• Sofrito
• Stuffed cabbage
• Tabbouleh
• Tagine
• Yaprah

External sources

• Overview of Sephardic cuisine

http://www.aromasofaleppo.com/index2.html_Sephardic_cooking_of_Aleppo,Syria

Bibliography

• “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.