Category Archives: Recipes / Recetas
Q & A: Medieval Catalan Jewish Food (more familiar than you might imagine)
I just discovered, through DNA testing, that my ancestors lived in Girona. They left when the Alhambra Decree was issued. Do you have any recipes of Jewish specialties from Girona? Thank you. Ronit Sure, Ronit! It may well be you … Continue reading
Filed under History / Historia, Q & A / Preguntas, Recipes / Recetas
Agrestada v.1: Cooked lemon mayonnaise
Contrasts of flavor, color and texture are an integral part of Sephardic gastronomic tradition – of others, too, of course, though by no means all (where I live, the food is mostly mushy, bland and tending toward weirdness), and to … Continue reading
Filed under Recipes / Recetas
Perfect fried potatoes. Really. (Hanukah fish & chips, part 2)
Ours wasn’t much of a potato household. We were – are – Ottoman Sephardim, into lots of rice and a little bit of pasta, and potatoes were a New World discovery that took hold more in northern Europe than in the northern Mediterranean. As far … Continue reading
Filed under Holidays / Fiestas Judias, Recipes / Recetas
Some overly pedantic instructions for frying fish (Hanukah fish & chips, part 1)
Anyone who’s read anything about Sephardic food must surely know by now that fish and chips made their way to England via the Portuguese Jews (who, by the way, were for the most part of Spanish descent). Fish has always … Continue reading
Filed under Holidays / Fiestas Judias, Recipes / Recetas
Sephardic sashimi, with a twist
“My father would eat an appetizer which was raw fish with lemon squeezed onto it. I think it is called LAKADA, made from mackerel. He would eat it with greek olives and bread. I am a Sephardic Jew who grew … Continue reading
This Rosh Hashana, make beets, not enemies
The symbolic foods of Rosh Hashana are chosen for specific attributes or for their Hebrew names, which sound like the words naming qualities or states of being that we hope to attain in the new year. When you delve into … Continue reading
Filed under Holidays / Fiestas Judias, Recipes / Recetas
Sharope: white spoon sweet (Q & A)
Hello, Janet, Have you ever heard the word “sharope”? When I was a child, my grandmother who was Turkish would make a sweet, white paste which she kneaded on the tile floor. We would then snip off pieces and eat … Continue reading
Filed under Glossary / Glosario, Q & A / Preguntas, Recipes / Recetas
Sephardic food is simply exotic
Years ago my brother-in-law, who is a tall, blue-eyed, blond-haired WASP from Ohio, told my sister, who is a tall, brown-eyed, olive-skinned Jew from New York, that when he first laid eyes on her he was struck by her exotic looks. “Exotic!!?” she … Continue reading
Filed under History / Historia, Recipes / Recetas
