Although summer is still in full swing, apples come into the markets here in Israel before Rosh Hashanah. I love apples; they are probably my most favourite fruit, especially in fall and winter. Here are some apple recipes for your holiday table.
BAKED APPLE RELISH I found this recipe in a women’s magazine 40 years ago but it still makes a good accompaniment for chicken or meat.
6 small baking apples, core removed, scooped out insides leaving a shell, setting the scooped out insides in a bowl 2 tbsp butter or margarine 1 cup chopped onions 1 cup chopped tomatoes 1/4 cup raisins 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp dry mustard 4 tbsp red fruit preserves 4 tbsp cider vinegar 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Melt butter or margarine in a large frying pan. Add onion and sauté five minutes.
3. Add chopped apples, tomato, raisins, ginger, mustard, one tablespoon preserves, one tablespoon vinegar, and red pepper, if using. Cook five minutes or until mixture starts to thicken.
4. Spoon into hollowed out apples. Arrange apples in a shallow baking pan.
5. Add remaining preserves and vinegar to frying pan and heat a few minutes. Pour over apples.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes.
HONEY AND APPLE CAKE I found this recipe of an Israeli chef from a Bnei Brak bakery in a local newspaper. It makes two loaves.
4 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup oil 1 cup honey 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup strong fruit tea 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 2 to 3 green apples, cut into small cubes
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil two loaf pans.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar for two minutes in a mixer at medium speed. Add oil then honey and mix.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
4. Add to egg-sugar-oil-honey mixture. Mix until smooth.
5. Add tea and apples and mix.
6. Pour batter into two loaf pans. Bake for 40 minutes.
MY FAVOURITE MICROWAVE APPLE CHUTNEY I make this chutney for our favourite fish curry, but it can be used with other dishes as well. Makes two cups.
1/3 cup chopped lemon 1 chopped garlic clove 1 2/3 cups chopped apples 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup raisins 1 tbsp ground ginger dash chili powder 2/3 cup cider vinegar
1. Place all ingredients in a microwavable dish. Microwave four minutes.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Take a seasoned children’s book author like New York-based Jane Breskin Zalben – who has created more than 50 children’s books and is an abstract painter – and pair her with Mehrdohkt Amini, an illustrator of children’s books who lives in the United Kingdom, and the result is a charming book about interfaith friendship for 3-to-7-year-olds – and older readers.
In A Moon for Moe and Mo (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2018), Moses Feldman and Mohammed Hassan meet in a Flatbush, Brooklyn, grocery store, where the storeowner mistakenly takes them for twins since they both have curly dark hair, brown eyes and olive skin. They are shopping with their mothers for their up-and-coming holidays, with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of daylong fasts that marks the giving of the Qur’an to Muhammad, overlapping – something that happens only once every 30 years or so.
The two boys become friends, including going on a picnic, which brings their families together. That same evening in their homes, both boys see the first sliver of the new moon.
In an interview, Breskin Zalben said she was shopping with her granddaughter in a store in Brooklyn when she met an Arab mother with her child and the two children began to interact.
“After being invited to speak at many international schools, in counties where I visited mosques and old synagogues, doing this book was a natural outgrowth of those broadening journeys to other cultures,” she said.
Although Breskin Zalben was art director at Scriber Publishers and illustrated most of her other books, she knew that Amini was from Iran, saw her portfolio and wanted her to do the illustrations for this book. Amini has created beautiful acrylic, marker, ink and photo-collage artwork, which was then assembled digitally.
In the back of the book is information about Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan, notes from the author and illustrator and two recipes.
Said Breskin Zalben, “I am excited to share the diversity and the similarity of Moe and Mo…. I hope maybe this book, in any book’s small way, finds an audience. It was six years in the making and so much hard work and passion goes into every book.”
This is a very special book for children and their parents to read at Rosh Hashanah.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Who doesn’t look forward to summer’s bounty? Not only are fruits healthy – blueberries, for example, are low in calories but high in fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and have a high antioxidant capacity – and delicious on their own but they make for great desserts, salads and spreads. Here are some recipes for a few of my favourite fruits: blueberries, peaches and apricots.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a baking dish.
2. Combine blueberries, sugar, flour, grated lemon peel, nutmeg and margarine for base. Bake 10 minutes.
3. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg for cake.
4. In another bowl, cream margarine with sugar and eggs. Add vanilla and lemon peel.
5. Mix in dry ingredients with non-dairy creamer. Drop batter atop blueberry mixture. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm with pareve whipped cream or ice cream.
BLUEBERRRY YOGURT CAKE 1
1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 cup blueberry yogurt
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Cream butter or margarine and brown sugar.
3. Add egg and vanilla and blend.
4. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, alternately with yogurt.
5. Pour into a cake pan. Bake for 50 minutes.
BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE 2
1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine 3 eggs 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 cups blueberry yogurt 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cardamom
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Cream half cup sugar and butter or margarine. Add eggs.
3. Gradually add flour, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Stir in one cup blueberry yogurt. Add vanilla and cardamom. Pour half of batter into cake pan.
5. Spread remaining sugar and yogurt on the batter. Add rest of batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
SPICED PEACHES
4 cups sliced peaches 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp lemon juice 12 cinnamon sticks 2 tsp brandy
1. Place peaches, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and two cups water in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Cool and add brandy. Pour into a jar with a lid or a bowl.
WALDORF PEACH SALAD four servings
1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 cup sliced grapes 1/2 cup chopped apples 1/4 cup chopped nuts 4 sliced peaches 4 pieces Romaine lettuce 1 tbsp brown sugar
dressing: 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 cup whipped cream 1 tsp grated orange peel
1. In a bowl, combine celery, grapes, apples and nuts. Toss lightly.
2. Place a piece of lettuce on each salad plate with a sliced peach on top. Fill with a quarter of the salad.
3. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Refrigerate.
4. In a bowl or jar with a lid, combine mayonnaise, whipped cream and orange peel. Spoon over each peach salad serving.
PEACH UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
1 cup brown sugar 1 cup chopped nuts 2 cups chopped peaches 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 pound butter or margarine 1 egg 1 cup milk or non-dairy creamer or pareve almond milk 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Toss together one cup brown sugar, nuts and peaches. Sprinkle on the bottom of a cake pan.
3. In a bowl, cream one cup brown sugar and butter or margarine. Add egg, milk and vanilla and stir.
4. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend. Spoon into cake pan. Bake for one hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool before turning out onto a cake plate.
APRICOT JAM This is a Grace Parisi recipe taken from Food & Wine Magazine’s online recipe pages. It makes three half-pint jars.
2 pounds pitted apricots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1. In a nonreactive saucepan, toss the apricots with sugar and let stand, stirring until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about one hour.
2. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Simmer until the fruit is glassy and the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops, 20-25 minutes. Skim off scum that rises to the surface.
3. Spoon into three half-pint jars, leaving a quarter of an inch at top. Close and let jam cool to room temperature. Store in refrigerator for up to three months.
SPICED APRICOTS
2 cups apricots cut into halves 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp lemon juice 6 pieces stick cinnamon 1 tsp brandy
1. Place apricots, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon in a saucepan with a little water. Simmer until soft.
2. Add brandy and heat. Cool and spoon into a jar.
APRICOT BUTTER
five cups 2 pounds halved apricots 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cloves 1/4 tsp allspice 2 tsp lemon peel 1 tbsp lemon juice
1. Place apricots in a saucepan. Cook over low heat in their own juices until soft.
2. Puree in a blender and measure. Return to sauce pan, adding a quarter cup sugar for each cup of pulp.
3. Add cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon peel and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Spoon into jars, close and refrigerate.
APRICOT LEATHER
2 cups pitted apricots, cut into pieces 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 cup sugar
1. Preheat oven to 175-200°F.
2. Drop apricot pieces into a blender and puree. Add lemon juice and sugar.
3. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray. Spread pureed apricots evenly, quarter-inch thick on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in oven and keep door open. Bake until dry, three to six hours. Let cool.
4. Cut crosswise once, lengthwise three times, so you have six pieces.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and roll up.
Sybil Kaplanis a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
An illustration by Russian artist El Lissitzky in the book Had Gadya, 1919. (photo from getty.edu)
We sing them every year, but from where did Passover songs such as “Chad Gadya” originate?
“Chad Gadya” or “One Little Goat” is a playful cumulative song in Aramaic and Hebrew, sung at the end of the seder. According to Wikipedia, the melody may have its roots in medieval German folk music. It first appeared in a Haggadah printed in Prague in 1590, which makes it the most recent inclusion to the traditional Passover seder liturgy.
The Haggadah was a project that was initiated by the anshei Knesset Hagedola, the members of the Great Assembly, the supreme council of sages that ruled during Temple times in Jerusalem. They were the first to compile and canonize many of the texts that we have today. The Haggadah, however, was only started during that era – it was not completed until much later.
“Chad Gadya” also only found its way into the Haggadah at a much later date. This is because the song was written in Aramaic, which was the vernacular of the Jews of Babylon, and not in Hebrew – at least not in Hebrew for the most part. The slaughterer, angel of death and Holy One Blessed Be He in the song are referred to in Hebrew.
Some suggest that “Chad Gadya” was written by Rabbi Eliezer Rokeach in the 12th century.
According to some modern Jewish commentators, the song may be symbolic. One interpretation is that “Chad Gadya” is about the different nations that have conquered the Land of Israel: the kid (goat) symbolizes the Jewish people; the cat, Assyria; the dog, Babylon; the stick, Persia; the fire, Macedonia; the water, the Roman Empire; the ox, the Saracens; the slaughterer, the Crusaders; the angel of death, the Turks. At the end, God returns to send the Jews back to Israel. The recurring refrain of two zuzim is a reference to the two stone tablets given to Moses on Mount Sinai, or refer to Moses and Aaron.
Versions of the song exist in Ladino, Judeo-Italian and Judeo-Arabic.
***
We know that the “Avadim Hayinu” (“We Were Slaves”) section was written by Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol in the second century). It is an introduction to the formal narration of the Exodus from Egypt, based on the views of Samuel. Passages of unknown origin supplement the narration, stressing its importance.
***
“Echad Mi Yodea” (“Who Knows One”) is another cumulative riddle with versions in Hebrew and Yiddish. The song relates the 13 basics of Judaism. After relating God’s wonders and kindness and the events of the Exodus, it demonstrates how everything can and should relate to God.
According to Encyclopedia Judaica, this song is first found in Ashkenazi Haggadot of the 16th century. It is believed to have originated in Germany in the 15th century, possibly based on the German folk song “Guter freund ich frage dich,” which means “Good friend, I ask you.”
***
“Dayenu” is a Hebrew song, traditionally sung during Passover. The word itself essentially means, “It would have been enough for us.” Day is the Hebrew word for “enough” and the suffix enu means “our.”
This traditional up-beat Passover song is more than 1,000 years old. The earliest full text of the song occurs in the first medieval Haggadah, which is part of the ninth-century Seder Rav Amram.
The song goes through a series of gifts believed granted by God to the Israelites, such as Torah and Shabbat, proclaiming that any of them alone would have been sufficient. It is 15 verses long, sequentially recounting each divine intervention in the story of the Exodus. After each divine act, the chorus “[If God had done only this,] it would have been enough for us” is sung.
Canadian journalist, author and social activist Michele Landsberg wrote “The Women’s Dayenu”:
“If Eve had been created in the image of God and not as a helper to Adam, dayenu.
“If she had been created as Adam’s equal and not been considered a temptress, dayenu.
“If Lot’s wife had been honoured for compassion for looking back at the fate of her family in Sodom, and had not been punished for it, dayenu.
“If our mothers had been honoured for their daughters as well as for their sons, dayenu.
“If our fathers had not pitted our mothers against each other, like Abraham with Sarah and Hagar, or Jacob with Leah and Rachel, dayenu.
“If the just women in Egypt who caused our redemption had been given sufficient recognition, dayenu.
“If Miriam were given her seat with Moses and Aaron in our legacy, dayenu.
“If women had written the Haggadah and placed our mothers where they belong in history, dayenu.
“If every generation of women together with every generation of men would continue to go out of Egypt, dayenu.”
***
“Adir Hu” (“Mighty is He”) is a hymn naming the virtues of God in the order of the Hebrew alphabet, expressing hope that God will rebuild the Holy Temple speedily.
The tune of “Adir Hu” has undergone several variations over the years, but the origin is from the German minnesinger period. The earliest extant music for the song is from the 1644 Rittangel Haggadah, the second form was in the 1677 Haggadah Zevach Pesach, and the third version can be found in the 1769 Selig Haggadah. In the Selig Haggadah, “Adir Hu” is also referred to, in German, as “Baugesang” (the song of the rebuilding of the Temple).
There are 24 short, simple lines, each beginning with an attribute of God. Most of the virtues of God are adjectives – for instance, holy (kadosh) – however, a few are nouns, “Lord is He.”
There is also a feminist variant of the song by Rabbi Jill Hammer of the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, New York. In it, God is feminine (She) and, quoting Hammer, the song “emphasizes God’s sharing in human joys and griefs, and God’s ability to renew life through the strength of the earth.”
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Former Vancouverite Harvey Sandler opened Harvey’s Smokehouse in Jerusalem a few months ago. (photo by Barry A. Kaplan)
Kansas City, Mo., is my hometown. Well, Overland Park, Kan., is more accurate, but Kansas City, the home of barbeque, is just across the state line. For most Jews growing up in the area, however, there were no kosher restaurants, so barbeque wasn’t a part of their culinary experience. So, imagine my surprise when I wandered down a Jerusalem restaurant street, walked into Harvey’s Smokehouse and spied Kansas City barbeque on the menu.
Harvey Sandler has an interesting culinary history. A chef by trade, he comes from Vancouver. There, he owned kosher café and caterer Nava Creative Kosher Cuisine, at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, for five years. He sold Nava to current owner Susy Seigel when, in December 2009, he and his wife and four children made aliyah.
After getting settled in Israel, he became chef at Papagaio, where he stayed nine months. Then, living in Efrat, he opened a take-away place for a year. In 2011, he was interested in obtaining a larger place and found that Gabriel, on this same restaurant street, was for sale. He acquired it and ran Gabriel for six years. Late last year, he and a partner decided it was time for a change, so they closed Gabriel on Dec. 14, 2017.
“We had the space and realized the biggest trend in America today is barbeque. It is starting to come to Israel, but it didn’t exist in Jerusalem, and people wanted something different,” said Sandler. On Dec. 17 – yes, three days after Gabriel closed – Harvey’s Smokehouse opened.
Welcome to the only smokehouse in Jerusalem! The main room, with seating for eight, is long and narrow with a staircase to the left to an upstairs dining room that seats 40. A large mirror is on one wall. On another wall is a wonderful painting of a campfire done by Jerusalem artist Solomon Souza, a friend of the sous chef, who dazzled Machane Yehuda (the Jewish produce market) shoppers with his spray-painted artwork on the shutters of the vendors’ stalls.
In the main room, in addition to the three tables that can seat up to eight people, there is a bar with six bar stools and a window to the kitchen. The highlights of the décor are the Jerusalem stone wall on one side and the rendition of an angry bull done by Souza.
From the six offerings in the “Let’s Get Started” portion of the menu, we were treated as the restaurant’s guests to appetizer sizes of three: crunchy popcorn chicken (chicken tenders) was accompanied by sweet chili dip, chipotle aioli and barbeque sauce; Texas BBQ nachos, which were tiny corn tortillas topped with smoked beef shoulder, chipotle aioli, guacamole and pico de gallo; and burnt ends, carmelized brisket, Kansas City BBQ-style, with yam chips. All were absolutely fantastic, melt-in-your mouth and just a little bit spicy.
There were five selections under “Greens ’n’ Things,” which we did not sample, but the salads looked like they would be delicious.
In the “From our Traeger Smokers” section, there is a barbeque platter offered, as well as other choices. Here, diners choose the type of meat (priced per 100 grams) and one of seven sides. Included on the sides list are creamy coleslaw and corn bread. Cherrywood smoked lamb bacon is offered as an addition to your choice for an additional amount.
“From the Grill” comprises four options – including salmon and chateaubriand – with choices of hasselback potatoes or french fries, coleslaw, and chimichurri sauce.
There are also five handcrafted sandwiches from which to choose, all made with freshly baked frena bread.
We sampled a variety of Sandler’s choices for us: hickory-smoked brisket; cherrywood-smoked asado; chorizo; hickory-smoked pulled shoulder beef sliders; hasselback potato; dill pickles; corn bread with chili peppers and pecans; and barbeque sauce, Carolina gold sauce and chimichurri. These were so finger lickin’ good, I can’t even tell you!
If a few of these words are unfamiliar: Traeger is a well-known brand of smokers/grills; chipotle are Mexican dried jalapeno chilis; aioli is a Mediterranean garlic and oil sauce; pico de gallo is a salsa made of chopped tomatoes, onion, cilantro, chili pepper, salt and lime juice; frena is a traditional Moroccan bread, often baked in a tabun oven; chimichurri sauce comes from Argentina and Uruguay and is a sauce used for grilled meat, comprised of parsley, garlic, oil, oregano and white vinegar; chorizo is a Spanish sausage, often spicy; asado is a Brazilian Portuguese type of barbeque, roasted about two hours; and hasselback potatoes are sliced widthwise, leaving the bottom intact, brushed with oil and baked in a hot oven until the slices fan out.
And, what is Kansas City-style barbeque? It is slow-smoked meat, which originated in Kansas City, in the early 1900s. The meat is rubbed with spices, slowly smoked over a variety of woods and served with a tomato-based barbeque sauce. Typical side dishes are baked beans, french fries and coleslaw.
At Harvey’s Smokehouse, there is no dessert menu per se, but, on any given day, you might find a selection of apple pie, apple tart, halva parfait, chocolate mousse or chocolate soufflé.
If you’re going to Jerusalem and have a hankerin’ for barbeque, this is absolutely the place to come for a fun evening (especially if Harvey comes out of the kitchen to chat with you) and unique food new to Jerusalem. Make a reservation because this place is full every night!
Harvey’s Smokehouse is at 7 Shimon Ben Shetach (phone: 02-624-6444). It is open Sunday through Thursday, from noon to the last customer; and Saturday from 7:30 p.m. to last customer. Kosher supervision is under the Rabbanut Yerushalayim Mehuderet.
Sybil Kaplanis a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Purim is coming the evening of Feb. 28, and if your schedule doesn’t allow time for making hamantashen, try poppy seed cookies. The Yiddish word for poppy seed is mohn, which some say sounds like Haman. Another story says Esther kept kosher and ate as a vegetarian; her diet including seeds, nuts, legumes and poppy seeds, so many Jews serve these foods on Purim. Another tradition says Esther subsisted on poppy seeds during her three-day fast. Whatever the reason, here are a few recipes.
MOHN KICHLACH
1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tbsp water 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp almond extract 1/4 to 1/3 cup poppy seeds 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
In a bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg, water, vanilla and almond extract.
Mix in poppy seeds.
Add flour and baking powder and mix well.
Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes.
POPPY SEED COOKIES #1
1 cup poppy seeds 1/2 cup hot milk 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/4 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 1/2 cup raisins 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
Soak poppy seeds in milk.
In a mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugar.
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, raisins and, if using, chocolate. Add milk and poppy seeds and mix.
Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
POPPY SEED COOKIES #2
1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine 2/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla dash cinnamon 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup poppy seeds
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
In a bowl, combine oil, butter or margarine, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
Add flour and baking powder. Then add poppy seeds. If dough is pasty, add more flour until dough is easy to form into small balls.
Place balls on cookie sheet and flatten. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Sybil Kaplanis a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Tu b’Shevat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, begins at sunset Jan. 30. The Tu comes from the Hebrew letters tet and vav, which add up to 15, and the festival is also called the Holiday of the Trees and the Holiday of Fruit.
Tu b’Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah but in the Mishnah, the written combination of texts of Jewish oral traditions compiled in the third century CE. It is also mentioned in the Talmud, which is both the Mishnah and the Gemara, the elucidation of the Mishnah.
Beginning at the end of the 17th century, eating fruit became a custom associated with Tu b’Shevat, frequently the sheva minim, the seven fruits mentioned in Deuteronomy (Devarim), grown in Eretz Yisrael – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. It is also customary to eat nuts on the holiday. Here are some recipes to help you celebrate.
EASY ALMOND CAKE 8 servings
1 cup flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup soft margarine or 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 cup sugar 1 tsp almond extract 2 eggs 1/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer 2 tsp finely sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan or a square pan.
Stir together flour and baking soda.
In a mixer, beat margarine or oil, sugar, almond extract and eggs. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer and blend.
Pour into greased bake pan. Sprinkle top with almonds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
DATE NUT CAROB TORTE
1 cup chopped dates 1 cup ground nuts of your choice 1/4 cup carob powder 4 separated eggs 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, toss dates and nuts with carob powder.
Separate eggs, adding yolks to mixing bowl. Place whites in a separate bowl and beat with cream of tartar until they hold stiff peaks. Add to date-nuts-carob-egg yolk mixture and blend.
Spoon into greased cake pan and place in oven for 15 to 25 minutes. Test every five minutes with a pick inserted into the centre until it comes out clean.
BAKED FIGS 8 servings
24 dried figs, with a horizontal slit part of the way in each fig zest of 2 oranges, cut in strips 1 cup almonds 1 cup sweet wine
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Stuff each fig with one piece orange zest and one almond. Pack into a small baking dish that will hold them tightly in one layer.
Pour wine over figs. Place another glass baking dish on top to weigh them down and to get the figs flat and covered in wine. Remove that dish, and then place the first baking dish into a second dish, then put in the oven. Bake 20 minutes.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
The date palm Methuselah “is a big boy now.” (photo from Arava Institute)
When I contacted Dr. Elaine Solowey, a California-born botanist of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura, for an update on the date palm Methuselah, she said, “He is a big boy now. He has flowered several times and his pollen is good. I hope to have some good news about companions for him.”
In honour of Tu b’Shevat in 2011, I wrote about Methuselah for the Jewish Independent and other publications. What best symbolizes the holiday known in the Talmud as Rosh Hashanah l’Ilanot, the New Year of the Trees, more than dates?
For that 2011 article, I interviewed London-born Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Centre at Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, who is friends and colleagues with Solowey.
Sallon said that, in 2005, “we were interested in rejuvenating lost flora of Eretz Yisrael,” including the Judaean date. During a conversation with scientists about extracting DNA from ancient seeds, she wondered about the possibility of growing such seeds, and Masada came up.
In the early 1960s, during excavations of Masada – the fortress built by King Herod more than 2,000 years ago – archeologists Yigal Yadin and Ehud Netzer found date palm seeds. Under the custodianship of Netzer, the seeds were stored at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
At the Louis Borick Centre, Sallon directs research on complementary alternative and integrated medicine through the Middle Eastern Medicinal Plant Project. After studying medicines of Tibet, as an introduction to the ancient world of traditional medicine, the centre began to look at the medicinal plants of Eretz Yisrael, of which there are approximately 2,900 species. Sallon asked Netzer if she and her researchers could have a few seeds, and they were given five palm seeds, which Sallon took to Solowey.
Methuselah in 2005. (photo from Arava Institute)
Solowey took three of the ancient seeds and planted them in January 2005. Other seeds were sent to the University of Zurich, Switzerland, for radiocarbon dating and other testing. The date palm, which can be male or female, was domesticated more than 6,000 years ago, and is used for lung disease, colds, heart disease, hair growth and other things.
After eight weeks, in March 2005, one seed successfully germinated and was named Methuselah, after the biblical person who was said to have lived 969 years. Initially, the leaves had white spots because of a lack of chlorophyll. At 15 months, the seedling was transferred to a larger pot. After 26 months, the plant showed normal development, and Sallon said Methuselah is accepted by Guinness World Records as the oldest seed cultivated.
In 2011, I saw a photograph of Methuselah on a computer when its location was secret. At that time, it was two metres high (about six-and-a-half feet) and in a “protected quarantine site,” due to its scientific and financial value. In April of that year, a white flower appeared on the inner part of the tree, indicating that Methuselah was a male date palm. And, on Nov. 24, 2011, Methuselah was planted at Kibbutz Ketura.
Today, Methuselah has a permanent home at the Arava Institute research park on Kibbutz Ketura. As I wrote this update, there was hope for Methuselah to be bred with a female tree to produce the same date variety eaten commonly in ancient Judea, where it was valued as much for its flavour as for its medicinal properties.
Solowey continues to work with palms and has grown other date palms from ancient seeds found in archeological sites around the Dead Sea, as well.
“I’m trying to figure out how to plant an ancient date grove,” she said. And, if she can succeed in bringing forth a modern grove of ancient trees, it would provide unique insight into history. “We would know what kind of dates they ate in those days and what they were like,” she said. “That would be very exciting.”
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
“Maoz Tzur,” recording by Abraham Tzevi Idelsohn. (photo from Music in the Jewish Community of Palestine 1880-1948 by Yehoash Hirschberg)
What do we have every year at Chanukah but rarely think about in terms of their origins? The songs. In a Hadassah Magazine article of some years ago, Melanie Mitzman quotes Velvel Pasternak on this subject. He said Chanukah songs are no more than a century old because Chanukah is a post-biblical holiday.
Pasternak is a musicologist, conductor, arranger, producer and publisher specializing in Jewish music. He has been described as “an expert on the music of the Chassidic sect and probably the largest publisher of Jewish music anywhere, although he is quick to note that publishing Jewish music is a business that attracts few rivals.”
The founder of Tara Publications, Pasternak has been responsible for the publication of 26 recordings and more than 150 books of Jewish music since 1971, spanning the gamut of Israeli, Yiddish, Ladino, cantorial, Chassidic and Holocaust music.
Most Chanukah songs, he told Mitzman, have been adapted from old folk melodies, have more than one set of lyrics and/or have been translated from language to language.
“Maoz Tzur,” for example, is called “Rock of Ages” in English. As Ariela Pelaia explains on thoughtco.com, it was written sometime in the 13th century by someone named Mordechai, and is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut, written in Hebrew originally, about “Jewish deliverance from four ancient enemies, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman and Antiochus.” It is usually sung after lighting the chanukiyah. Its six stanzas correspond to five events of Jewish history and a hope for the future. Of its six stanzas, often only the first stanza is sung (or the first and fifth), as this is what directly pertains to Chanukah.
The authorship of the Yiddish song “Oy Chanukah,” or “Chanukah, Oh Chanukah,” in English, is unknown. According to the Freedman Jewish Music Archive at the University of Pennsylvania Library, alternate names of the Yiddish version of song have been recorded as “Khanike Days,” “Khanike Khag Yafe,” “Khanike Li Yesh,” “Latke Song (Khanike, Oy Khanike),” “Yemi Khanike” and “Chanike, Oy Chanike.” The standard transliteration of Chanukah in Yiddish, according to the YIVO system, is Khanike.
The Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg published two classical compositions that make extensive use of this tune: “Freylekhs” for solo piano by Hirsch Kopyt, published in 1912 but performed as early as 1909; and “Dance Improvisation” for violin and piano by Joseph Achron, published in 1914 (composed in December 1914 in Kharkov, Ukraine).
The lyrics of the Hebrew version, which has the same melody, were penned by Avraham Avronin. The words correspond roughly to the original (more so than the English version), with slight variations for rhyme and rhythm’s sake. Thus, the first line names the holiday; the second calls for joy and happiness (using two synonyms); in the third, the speakers say they’ll spin dreidels all night; in the fourth, they will eat latkes; in the fifth, the speaker calls everyone to light the Chanukah candles; the sixth mentions the prayer Al Hanissim (On the Miracles).
The only big change is in the last line. Whereas the original calls us to praise God for the miracles He performed, the Hebrew one praises the miracles and wonders performed by the Maccabees. This reflects the anti-religious attitude of early Zionism, evident in many other Israeli Chanukah songs. In Israel, it’s still a very popular song, but, since the country has a rich inventory of Chanukah repertoire, it is not as popular as the English or Yiddish versions in North America.
“I Have a Little Dreydl,” also known as the “Dreidel Song,” is very famous in the English-speaking world. It also has a Yiddish version. The Yiddish version is “Ich Bin a Kleyner Dreydl,” “I Am a Little Dreidel.” The lyrics are simple and are, not surprisingly, given its title, about making a dreidel and playing with it.
The writer of the English lyrics is Samuel S. Grossman and the composer is listed as Samuel E. Goldfarb. The Yiddish version apparently was both written and composed by Mikhl Gelbart, known as Ben Arn, the Son of Aaron. Therefore, there is a question about who composed this music, as the melody for both the Yiddish and the English versions are precisely the same and the meaning of the lyrics in both versions is largely the same. However, in English, the song is about a dreidel made out of clay, which would be hard to spin, whereas in the Yiddish, the four-sided spinning top is made out of blay, which is lead.
Another popular dreidel song is “Sevivon,” with sevivon, sivivon or s’vivon being Hebrew for dreidel, which is the Yiddish word for a spinning top. “Sevivon” is very popular in Israel and with others familiar with Hebrew.
“Al Hanasim” is another popular Hebrew song for Chanukah. It is taken from the liturgy, but it is also an Israeli folk dance. The song is about thanking God for saving the Jewish people. The most popular tune, however, is relatively recent, having been composed by Dov Frimer in 1975.
The Chanukah song “Mi Y’malel” opens with the line, “Who can retell the mighty feats of Israel,” which is a secular rewording of Psalms 106:2, which reads “Who can retell the mighty feats of God.”
“Ner Li” translates as “I Have a Candle.” This is a simple Hebrew Chanukah song that is more popular in Israel than in the Diaspora. The words are by Levin Kipnis and the music is by Daniel Samburski.
Kipnis also wrote the words for “Chanukah, Chanukah,” which is a traditional folk song originating in Israel. In a completely different vein, “Judas Maccabaeus” is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. During Chanukah, the melody for the oratorio’s “See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes” is used by Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities for the hymn Ein Keloheinu.
Last for this article, but certainly not the only remaining Chanukah song, is “Ocho Kandelikas.” This Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) song was written by Jewish-American composer Flory Jagodain in 1983, explains Pelaia. She adds that its lyrics describe “a child joyfully lighting the menorah candles,” saying that “beautiful Chanukah is here,” and describing all the wonderful things that will happen this time of year. The song counts out the eight candles for the eight days of Chanukah.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
Cookbook author Joan Nathan, left, with journalist Sybil Kaplan. (photo from Barry A. Kaplan)
Before I review King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking around the World by Joan Nathan (Knopf, 2017), I have to admit, I am prejudiced. I have known Joan for around 40 years, and every cookbook she writes is great. When she was in Israel recently, she agreed to appear at my English-speaking chapter of Hadassah Israel for a fundraiser. The program included my interviewing her, and her remarks are at the end of this article, after the recipes.
In King Solomon’s Table, Joan traces, through recipes and stories, the journey of many of the dishes that Jews eat, the people she has met over the years and the places she has visited. Alice Waters, well-known chef, food activist, owner and founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley and cookbook author, writes in the foreword: “Joan has become the most important preservationist of Jewish food traditions, researching and honouring the rich heritage that has connected people for millennia.”
Sri Lankan Breakfast Buns are among the global fare in King Solomon’s Table. (photo from joannathan.com)
Joan’s introduction is an amazing history of the roots of Jewish food. This is followed by “The Pantry,” a discussion of spices and other items. Then there are the chapters and recipes. Every recipe has a story, and there are 171 recipes in 12 chapters. One can find recipes from Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kurdistan, Libya, Lithuania, Mexico, North Africa, Persia, Poland, Rhodes, Romania, Russia, Siberia, Sicily, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, the United States, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The variety is vast, from Hungarian Apple Pancakes to Sri Lankan Breakfast Buns, from French Buttery Olive Biscuits to Greek Eggplant Salad to Uzbek Noodle Soup. There are all sorts of breads, and recipes using couscous and different types of pasta. There are 15 vegetable recipes, 15 fish recipes, 10 recipes for poultry and 14 meat recipes. And, of course, there are recipes for sweets – 23 of them, including Sephardic Almond Brittle, Israeli Quince Babka and Brazilian Cashew Nut Strudel.
Scattered throughout the book are essays and, after the acknowledgments is a bibliography and index.
When Joan guest blogged for the Jewish Book Council, soon after the publication of the cookbook, she wrote: “One of the ideas that I have wrestled with throughout my career is the question of what is ‘Jewish food.’ Working on my latest cookbook, King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking around the World, has at last answered that question for me.”
Here are a few of the recipes from this book.
SMOKY SHAKSHUKA The name shakshuka comes from an Arabic and Hebrew word meaning “all mixed up.” It is said the dish was made in North Africa, when the women were busy with a lover and then made a quick meal for their husbands; it was born in the mid-16th century. This recipe makes eight servings.
4 red bell peppers
1 (1 pound) eggplant
2 tbsp olive oil
3 lamb, beef or chicken chorizo, sliced in rounds (optional)
5 chopped garlic cloves
12 chopped tomatoes or 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
1 tbsp sugar or to taste
1 bunch chopped cilantro
8 large eggs
crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Cook the peppers and eggplant, pricking them first with a fork, turning occasionally with tongs until slightly soft and blackened, about 20 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add peppers and fry about three minutes then add chorizo, if using, and garlic and cook six to seven minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. When the mixture is thickened, add the smoked paprika, salt, pepper, sugar, eggplant and all but three tablespoons of the cilantro. Stir to combine, Add seasonings to taste and add a little water if the mixture is too thick.
4. With the back of a spoon, make eight shallow wells in the shakshuka. Gently crack the eggs into the wells, cover the pot and poach over medium-low heat for five to 10 minutes until egg whites are set. Serve sprinkled with remaining cilantro and, if you like, Bulgarian feta cheese.
PICKLED HERRING SPREAD (6-8 servings)
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp almonds
1/2 Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled and cored
1 large peeled hard-boiled egg
1 12-ounce jar marinated herring tidbits
1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
1. Pulse onion and almonds in food processor. Then add apple and egg to combine.
2. Pour off sauce and onions from marinated herring and add to food processor to chop. Place mixture in serving dish and sprinkle with dill to garnish.
LEEK AND MEAT PATTIES The original 100-year-old recipe from Macedonia was a holiday staple for Balkan Jews, which Joan tampered with a bit. This recipe makes 12 patties.
1 1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 chopped leeks
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 pounds chopped lamb, beef or boiled potatoes
3 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup matzah meal
1. Preheat oven to 425°F and rub a rimmed baking sheet with oil. Toss leeks with more oil, one teaspoon salt and pepper. Spread leeks in single layer and roast, tossing frequently until golden brown and crisp at edges, about 20 minutes. Cool.
2. Chop leeks and mix with meat or boiled potatoes, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, parsley, matzah meal and salt. Form into 12 patties. Heat a frying pan with a thin film of oil. Fry the patties until golden brown on each side, making sure they cook through. If using potatoes instead of meat, add a little Parmesan cheese for extra flavour.
***
An Interview with Joan Nathan in Jerusalem, June 15, 2017
SK: How did you decide to continue in food writing after you left Israel in the 1970s?
JN: We moved to the Boston area and I met with an editor at the Boston Globe. He asked me to write about food. I also had a scholarship to the Kennedy School at Harvard to do a master’s in public administration. I also met Dov Noy, z”l, the world’s renowned Jewish folklorist, who said, I’ll help you if you decide to write a cookbook, because he knew a lot about ethnic groups.
[At some point,] I told Julia Child’s editor I wanted to write a cookbook, but my father wanted me to go to Schocken Publishers.
[Schocken published The Jewish Holiday Kitchen in 1979, An American Folklife Cookbook in 1985, The Children’s Jewish Holiday Kitchen in 1988, The Jewish Holiday Baker in 1997 and Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook in 2004. Knopf published Jewish Cooking in America in 1994, The Foods of Israel Today in 2001, The New American Cooking in 2005, and Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France in 2010.]
SK: How long does it take you to write a cookbook?
JN: King Solomon’s Table took six years. On a trip to India, I saw a sign, “Since the time of Solomon,” and got the idea, although the [part of the title] … about my journeys everywhere was my editor’s idea.
SK: How did you acquire the recipes?
JN: I sent out to all the “tribes.”
[Joan digressed here to say that the three essentials for Jewish food are the dietary laws; that Jews went out to look, for example, for spices; and how Jews’ food is influenced by the food of the country in which they’re living.]
SK: Who does the various elements of a cookbook?
JN: I have people help me in testing and I do my research. In the process of putting together a book, professional photographs are essential today. For King Solomon’s Table, I knew where I would go in the world…. I would plan trips for 10 days and, when I returned, I got the material typed quickly. The whole book comes together with the introduction. Each of my books is like a big term paper.
Sybil Kaplanis a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.
