Comments for SEPHARDIC FOOD

Comment on Chocolate counts. by janet

janet — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:28:31 +0000

Chocolate & Jesuits? Care to elaborate, Mark? I think Rabbi Prinz is right about the spread of chocolate (unavoidable pun) worldwide through Sephardic trade hubs – Amsterdam, London, etc. Not just as traders, either. Jews were so prominent as confectioners in pre-Expulsion Spain that 1st & 2nd generation children of conversos were banned from the (luxury) trade, which became the dominion of Spanish convents. Still, the rabbi may have used the word “Sephardic” a bit loosely. Not all conversos were automatically crypto-Jews, and the word is about identity, not blood lines. Without having read the book, it’s hard to comment further.

Comment on Chocolate counts. by Mark L

Mark L — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:20:30 +0000

Hmm. Of course Sephardim were the great traders of the Atlantic world, but I always associated chocolate more with the Jesuits. I’ll have to get that book (and get the ‘whole picture’ of the links between Sephardim and chocolate!)

Comment on Q&A / PREGUNTAME by Jennifer Abadi

Jennifer Abadi — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:52:21 +0000

Hi Janet, Jennifer Abadi again! The “Clarashi” egg-lemon sauce that I learned about was from a Syrian-Turkish Sefarad from Mexico. I am trying to get an answer from her regarding the name of the dish, but I am not sure that she would know. If the name does not have Spanish roots then my guess is that it could perhaps be an Arabic root. I guess I will have to look further!

Comment on Q&A / PREGUNTAME by janet

janet — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:48:23 +0000

I’m not familiar with the word clarashi. Could it be Persian? You haven’t identified the recording you worked from, so I’m in the dark… People think of egg lemon sauce as Greek, but as you pointed out it’s used in the Judeo-Arabic world. It appears in Italian cookery, too – as a finishing sauce on lamb, which may have come either from Jewish tradition or from the Italians’ own long history in the Middle East.

Comment on Q&A / PREGUNTAME by Jennifer Abad

Jennifer Abad — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:34:12 +0000

Thank you so much for responding to my question about various Sephardic dishes in Mexico. The sauce that I was talking about is actually called “Clarashi” (I finally figured out what she was saying on the recording but because it was so loud in the background I sent you the wrong name originally.) Is this something that you have heard of? The woman described it to me as a sauce that had eggs and lemons, which reminds me of the Greek Avgolemono or the Syrian/Arabic Beddah b’Lemmunah. I just wonder if you know what Clarashi may mean, and from which language?