Hi, Janet,Have you ever heard of rechikas? My grandmother (and later, my mother) made these little dry cookies, not very sweet at all, crunchy and absolutely DELICIOUS, especially when dunked in some Turkish coffee! OMG, I’m drooling. Please say you know what I’m talking about.Yael Eylat-Tanaka
Of course, Yael! Reshikas, or reshas, are exactly as you describe them. My first taste was a mesmerizing experience. I was very, very young – four, at most – and my mother brought home a bagful after a visit to my great grandma. My eyes popped, and I couldn’t stop eating them. Great grandma was already in her nineties, but she still made one mean cookie.
Reshikas are merely biscochos – shortbread cookies - that are twisted before shaping them into rings. Orange juice (not rind) blended into the dough is most likely the source of the subtle flavor you remember, and the crumbly texture comes from oil. Growing up in New York our oil of choice was Mazola corn oil – in the 1960′s we weren’t exactly spoiled for choice – but your grandmother surely used a mild-flavored olive oil. To jog your memory a little, here’s an old post with a photo.
