Tag Archives: Ottoman

October 9, 2009 · 1:12 am

Ashkenazi Mina, Anyone?

Dear Janet,

My grandparents Nissim, and Virginia, originally came from Istanbul, and the area in Bulgaria just over the Turkish border. I grew up eating borekas, spinach pies, haviar (tarama), biscochos, et al. But there is one dish my grandmother made that although I’ve researched everywhere haven’t found anything remotely similar. Unfortunately no one’s left alive who can even remember what it was called. The ingredients were ground liver, raw eggs, chopped walnuts, rye bread, and possibly chopped onions/celery. The raw ingredients were combined making a paste, which was then spread into a greased baking pan about 1/2 an inch thick, the top glazed with beaten egg, and baked. When cut and served it was quite firm, and dark brown on top. Have you ever heard of anything similar?

Thanks so much for all your hard work, it’s been an enjoyable read.

Alan

Wow.  When we talk about Jewish cooking being adaptive, I suspect this may be a prime – and very personal – example.  Off the top of my head, this sounds like a Sephardic rendition of a classic Ashkenazi dish from Eastern Europe:  chopped chicken liver.  Neither rye bread nor chopped chicken liver are part of Sephardic gastronomy.  Continue reading →

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August 11, 2009 · 12:00 am

Pepitada

 
PEPITADA (“peh-pi-TAH-dtha”) is a Ladino word indicating a beverage ‘made from fruit pip (seeds)’.  The “-ada” suffix is the equivalant of “-ade” in English, as in lemonade.  Pepitada is a milky-looking drink made by steeping crushed melon seeds in cold water, straining them and adding a little sugar and perhaps a few drops of orange flower essence, rosewater or honey (the secondary flavorings vary regionally throughout the Mediterranean).  You think the makers of Gatorade were innovators? Pepitada is a straightforward health tonic: easy on the stomach, refreshing and loaded with potassium, it replenishes electrolytes.  Pepitada is mostly associated with breaking fasts (perhaps especially the fast of Tisha b’Av, which falls in summer smack in the the middle of melon season) but is also an excellent means of coping with the intense heat of deep summer.

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March 8, 2009 · 6:14 pm

Mina

 
 

MINA (“MI-nä”) is an Ottoman Sephardic savory pie made from ground beef, onion and spring herbs, bound with eggs and sandwiched between layers of matza (moistened, of course).  In my experience it is a specialty of Rhodes, where it is a star of the Passover repertoire.  However, it is nearly identical to Algerian Sephardic méguena in all except its use of matza, which the Algerian recipe dispenses with altogether in the versions I am familiar with. (Algeria was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1536 to 1830 and had a substantial Jewish community).

There are vegetable minas as well; however, mina is not simply another kind of cuajado.  A true mina contains no cheese, and eggs serve to bind the filling without dominating its appearance or texture. 

As with mustachudos, mina offers another fine example of how symbolism is incorporated into Sephardic recipes, in this case repeating elements of the Seder plate: parsley and eggs to represent springtime and renewal and matza, of course, the unleavened bread of the Exodus that is eaten throughout the week-long holiday.  Mina is served cut in large squares, which bring to my mind the bricks of the Egyptian pyramids – in shape only, as a well-made mina is delicate, moist and intoxicatingly delicious!

 

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February 24, 2009 · 8:02 pm

Cuajado

CUAJADO (“cua-XA-do”) quiere decir tanto “coagulado” como “con grumos”, y describe una clase de sabrosos platos hechos al horno, que combinan queso fresco suave (como queso cottage o queso de Burgos) con otros quesos más o menos salados, muchos huevos, un poco de harina de matza (pan ácimo) para ligar la masa y cantidades copiosas de verduras frescas con alto contenido en agua: espinacas; calabacines; berenjenas; puerros; o tomates. Algunas recetas usan pan para ligar la masa y otras usan patatas, dependiendo de la verdura elegida y de la tradición particular o de la preferencia personal. La textura es suave pero no demasiado floja, algo así como un sabroso pudín de pan en el que resalta, no el pan, sino las verduras ralladas, cortadas a tiras o machacadas. El queso se usa de forma que confiera sabor sin dominar en la textura. Continue reading →

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