Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

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 →