Do you have a specific question about Sephardic food you’d like answered? Is there a recipe you can’t track down? Ask your question here and I’ll help you find the answer.
¿Tienes una pregunta sobre la cocina sefardita? ¿Buscas una receta sin encuentrarla? Preguntame aquí, asi que te puedo ayudar.
October 28, 2011 at 1:00 am
hello. I am also of Sephardic descent and my family was also living in Rhodes for centuries. I am currently a cook in a Spanish restaurant in Portland, Oregon and will be travelling to Spain for a few months to eat and explore. I am writing to see if perhaps we could be in an email dialogue about Spanish and Sephardic food and I would love to come to your restaurant.
Thank you,
Alicia
October 4, 2011 at 8:37 pm
my father would eat a appetizer which was raw fish with lemon squeezed onto it. I think it is called LAKADA, made from mackeral.
He would eat it with greek olives and bread
I am a Sephardic Jew who grew up in Brooklyn and now live in Kansas City and would like to know how my mother prepared this dish for my dad
Also
My Mom made TRIPE in a red sauce, do you have a receipe for that.
Many Thanks and Blessings
November 1, 2010 at 1:46 am
Janet, my mother, who was from Smyrna (Izmir) used to make a juice from dried melon seeds. She called it subiya (my phonetic spelling). Are you acquainted with it and if so, would you know how it is made? Thank you. Victor Hazan
November 1, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Victor – you’re describing pepitada, which is made by steeping melon seeds in water (at least a few hours to overnight), after which you strain it through cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve. Traditional flavorings, if you feel so inclined, include rosewater, honey, sugar or orange flower water. It’s a classic Sephardic beverage (You can read a little more about it in the on-line glossary I maintain at http://www.SephardicCooking.com). I’m intrigued by the word you use, since I’ve never seen pepitada referred to as anything other than pepitada. Right off the bat I’ve got a few theories, and would love to hear from anyone who’s familiar with this alternative name for pepitada.
November 1, 2010 at 11:41 pm
My dear Janet, thank you for the immediate and informative reply. My wife is a gifted (and celebrated) cook, but i miss my mother’s dishes so much. They tasted of my mother and it is she I miss. I would sign away 10 years of my life for a tray of her borekitas. I shall look up pepitatda and see whether i can come close to what she used to make. Best, Victor
November 2, 2010 at 1:40 am
Dear Victor – I tasted my great-grandmother’s biscochos only once that I can remember. I was no more than four years old, and they were heavenly. She died when I was nine, wrote nothing down, no one remembers her recipes and I didn’t attempt making them until I was well into my 40′s. Amazingly, on only the third attempt I got it right! I was overjoyed, and amazed that I could remember that singular, wonderful taste after so much time. Alas, I was also so excited that I left my scribbled notes for another day (too busy eating biscochos), and then couldn’t decipher them! But I’ll get them right again. As for your mother’s pepitada, the key will be to recall what kind of melons she used; the same flavor will be in the seeds (some people toast the seeds; we never did). And as for your wife, I suspect I should be asking you to extend her her my own sincere thanks for all I’ve learned from her
– JA
November 2, 2010 at 8:20 am
In Turkey we call it “Sübya”. But actually only Sephardic Jews from İzmir prepare it during summer time. Unfortunately I do not know the etymology of that word.
November 2, 2010 at 10:08 am
Thank you, Avraam! That’s enough for me to go on, and I will start digging… — JA
September 25, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Janet,
While getting a recipe of a fritada from my mother I was a bit confused. Fritada, almodrote and cuajado, they seem very similar. What are they actually. Is the difference only the way we cook it?
Thanks,
Avraam
October 21, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Basically, yes, Avraam that’s the difference. If you click on the glossary link in the right hand column (or go straight to http://www.sephardiccooking.com), you’ll find an entry about this in the glossary. You can look up either cuajado or fritada for an explanation. Almodrote is actually an arabic word in origin, whereas the other two are Spanish, but it refers to the same category of food.
December 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Hola, quisiera saber cómo se dice en inglés niños envueltos en hoja de parra.
gracias por su respuesta.
Saludos! valeria
December 14, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Valeria, en inglés se llaman ‘stuffed vine leaves’ o ‘stuffed grape leaves’ (hojas de parra rellenas), pero es un plato de origen turco/balcano, donde se llaman o ‘yaprak/yaprakes’ o ‘dolma/dolmades’. ‘Yaprak dolma’ significa literalmente ‘hoja de parra relleno’. La receta es aparecido a niños envueltos, en que lleva arroz, especias y carne picada (o cordero o ternera en la tradicion judia). Los griegos (y los armenios) hacen ‘dolmades’ que llevan arroz, piñones y hierbas aromaticas sin carne. – JA
October 21, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Hi Janet, thankyou so much for providing a reference and source, I am sephardic and I love reading about all this delicious food.
December 10, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Linda – thank you. Your blog is delightful and your bulemas look fantastic. As an aside, we are probably related through my great-grandmother, who was a Capelouto (sp?) from Rhodes. And if it’s the same Capelouto family, then you’ve got a lot of relatives in L.A. I’ll have to introduce you to! — JA
September 8, 2009 at 8:53 pm
You are very, very welcome, Jeff.
September 8, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Janet,,,,I just had to add a little more to my post…My grandmother always had good Jewish food for us kids..My uncle was Joe Behar, Head Chef de Cuisine for Hyatt; he used to give my grandmother bags of walnuts and she always made treats for us. I grew up with Spinacha, Biscochos, Bourekas, Bulemas, (spelling ?) and many other foods of unknown names….There was another post regarding Nona,,,I had a Big Nona, my greatgrandmother and little Noni, my grandmother. Both played major roles n my growth and taste for Saphardic cooking.
once again…thank you
September 8, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Janet,,,YOU are beautiful.. you hit the nail on the head the first time…Wow…Your discription is exactly what I was looking for!!!…LOL… I am soooooooo excited..Tishpishti….I only knew it as pish pish t…wow..dense, eggless oil dough you spread into a pan using your hands. ground walnuts flavored with any combination of spice and citrus, (orange), oily. My grandmother was from Istanbul, Turkey.
Thank you so very much for all of your assistance!!!!!!!
September 8, 2009 at 10:50 am
Jeff, no doubt you’re looking for Turkish walnut cake soaked in syrup. The difficulty with coming up with the right spelling of this one is because the word is Turkish; transliterating is subject to regionalisms, people’s accents, etc. As a result, you’ll find all kinds of variants, eg. tezpishti, tishpishti, tishpitti, and so forth. The list goes on.
Back to the cake itself, which is based on ground walnuts flavored with any combination of spice and citrus (most commonly cinnamon, clove, orange, lemon). It’s baked in a square cake pan, soaked in a honey or lemon syrup and cut into diamond shapes for serving.
I’ve seen dozens of approaches to making tishpishti, ranging from light as a feather, flourless sponge cakes made with many eggs (the technique of my great aunt, who came from Adalia) to a dense, eggless oil dough you spread into a pan using your hands. The technique your grandmother used will mostly depend upon where she came from. If you remember the density of her cake – sponge? compact? oily? crumbly? – you will be able to find the kind of recipe you’re looking for. And if you know specifically where she came from, I may be able to help you narrow down your search even further. I hope this has been useful. — JA
September 6, 2009 at 11:50 am
I do not know the correct spelling of this food but it sounds like, pisch pisch t or a friend said it was called pisch pisch teal. I love this food but have not been able to enjoy it since my grandmother passed away.