(Castellano abajo)
You think you know what Sephardic food is? Guess again. And again. And again. Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Egypt, Britain, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania… The gastronomic heritage of these countries and so many others has been impacted by or had an inflluence on Sephardic cooking, a centuries-old, international cuisine with its roots in the Jewish traditions of pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal.
So, how do you distinguish a cuisine that shares its history with so many others? Since the 14th century, wherever in the world the Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) people migrated their cooking adapted over time to the techniques, tastes and ingredients found in new lands, while always remaining true to ancient cultural traditions – including specific cooking techniques, dietary laws and symbolic shapes & ingredients - and Iberian culinary heritage in general.
So many different flavors and textures! Throughout the Mediterranean and well beyond, five centuries of Sephardic influence have formed uniquely distinct approaches to shared traditional recipes, all of them equally tantalizing.
Once you know what to look for, you’ll begin to recognize Sephardic food in places you might never have imagined. Widely assimilated, yet retaining fundamental characteristics in its many guises, it is the original “Mediterranean fusion” cuisine.
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¿Crees que sabes lo que es la comida sefardí? Piénsalo de nuevo. Otra vez. ¡Y otra más! Turquía, Marruecos, Túnez, Grecia, Egipto, Gran Bretaña, Holanda, Italia, Méjico, Hungría, Lituania… La herencia gastronómica de estos países y de otros muchos se ha visto marcada por o ha influido de alguna forma en la cocina sefardí, una cocina internacional con siglos de antigüedad, cuyas raíces se hallan en las tradiciones judías anteriores a la Inquisición en España y Portugal.
Así pues, ¿cómo distinguir una cocina que comparte su historia con tantas otras? Desde el siglo XIV, allá donde el pueblo sefardí (judeoespañol) emigraba, su cocina se adaptaba con el tiempo a las técnicas, a los gustos y a los ingredientes que encontraban en las nuevas tierras, mientras permanecía siempre fiel tanto a las antiguas tradiciones culturales – incluyendo técnicas de cocina específicas, leyes dietéticas y formas e ingredientes simbólicos – como a la herencia culinaria ibérica en general.
¡Cuántos sabores y texturas diferentes! A través del Mediterráneo y más allá, cinco siglos de influencia sefardí han dado forma a acercamientos únicos a recetas tradicionales compartidas – todas ellas igualmente tentadoras.
Una vez que sepas lo que buscar, empezarás a reconocer la comida sefardí en lugares que nunca hubieras imaginado. Ampliamente asimilada, aunque manteniendo características fundamentales en sus diferentes formas, se trata de la primera cocina mediterránea de fusión.
(Traducción por Neme Servan)
September 19, 2011 at 7:04 pm
This past week Time (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2093164,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly) posted an article about the popularity of Chinese food in the American-Jewish community. Sadly the author states, “We like it more than our own cuisine — and who could blame us?” One side of my family is sfardi, so my concept of Jewish food is rather broad. The author needs to read through your web site so he too can be blessed with the wonders of sfardi cuisine!
June 12, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Hi my name is Raquel Treves i live in Mexico city. All my ancestors came here from Turkey, Greece and Italy. I grew with all this flavors you describe mmm yummy. I´m a chef and right now I´m giving a course about Sepharadic food at my local synagogue. I have some recipes from my grandma, who was an amazing cook, and if you ever need something in particular i´ll be glad to share.
Your site is really nice by the way.
December 16, 2009 at 7:40 pm
My father was an Ottoman Turk, my mother a Sephardic Jew from Istanbul. We immigrated here to the US a half-century ago and now I’m writing a book about our family with a cookbook embedded in it. Thanks for your lovely website. It confirms so many of the recipes I know and the family traditions, as well. Happy cooking.
Oh!. PS – Thanks for the term “Judeo-Spanish!” I’ve been fishing for the right word for weeks!
December 16, 2009 at 10:07 pm
It’s my pleasure, Beyhan. So many people have written to tell me elements of their own Sephardic upbringing or family histories. We share so much common experience (uniquely Ottoman Sephardic at that) and this is our story to tell. I hope more readers will be encouraged to do as you are doing; ours is a beautiful legacy that bears preserving, sharing and celebrating! Thanks for your comments, and best of luck with your book. –JA