by Gil Marks
Arak
Today, throughout the Mediterranean region, the most popular liqueurs are licorice-flavored ones, called anisette and pastis in France, ouzo and mastika in Greece, anesone in Italy, ojén in Spain, raki in Turkey, and arak in Arabic.
A rudimentary process of distillation was invented in Persia more than twenty-five hundred years ago, an extremely difficult method resulting in rather rare, expensive, and often crude spirits. Many of the first liqueurs were made by steeping anise seeds, sometimes along with other spices and herbs, in a spirit. This process changed dramatically with the advent of the alembic still invented by the Arab scholar Jabir ibn Hayyn in 800 CE; his innovation produced plentiful, economical, and high-quality spirits. Since Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, Arabs used the process primarily for floral waters. It was most probably Middle Eastern Jews who first developed liqueurs, most notably an anise-flavored distilled spirit called arak (originally the name of fermented date juice).
For most of history, arak was a homemade product, called arak baladi, often made from home-grown grapes or other fruit. Typically, distillers worked in the fall, making use of the seasonal grape crop. Today, some Jewish families continue to maintain a home still, distilling arak from either grapes or grain, sometimes because they prefer the quality of their own spirits and, in the case of those who keep kosher, because many commercial brands contain grape juice, which requires kosher supervision.
Arak is unsweetened and clear; the lack of coloring is because the essential oils in anise dissolve in alcohol, not in water. Consequently, when sufficient water is mixed into arak, some of the anise oils in the water transform into tiny white crystals, which turn the liqueur translucent white. If the water is not completely mixed in, the result will be layers of white and clear liquid. Arak is most commonly served with water and many like to add ice as well. The ice is always added after the water, as otherwise it creates a skin on the surface.
Today, arak remains a favorite spirit of Jews from the Mediterranean, an important part of mezzes (appetizer assortments), desayunos (brunches), and celebrations. Arak is typically consumed with food to curb its intoxicating effects.
Aranygaluska
Aranygaluska is a cinnamon pull-apart coffee cake.
Origin: Hungary
Other names: golden dumpling cake, Hungarian coffee cake, monkey bread.
The name of this widely popular Hungarian coffee cake means "golden dumpling," reflecting that it is made out of small balls of yeast dough rolled in butter, coated with cinnamon-sugar and frequently chopped nuts, and stacked in a deep pan to bake. Diners pull individual balls of dough from the loaf or cut the cake into wedges. Some cooks make a double recipe of dough, using half for the cinnamon coffee cake and the other half for kuchen-buchen (cocoa-dipped coffee cake).
Throughout most of history, loaves or rolls of bread were baked free-form on the floor or walls of an oven. Consequently, the concept of rolling small pieces of bread dough in butter and baking them close together in a single pan goes back only to the nineteenth century. Some suggest this technique might have originated with those cooking in a Dutch oven, a covered pot with feet set over a fire with hot coals underneath and on top.
Aranygaluska was mentioned in Hungarian literature by the 1880s. By the mid-twentieth century, assorted Hungarian and Hungarian Jewish bakeries in America proudly featured aranygaluska. In 1972, a Betty Crocker cookbook included a recipe for "Hungarian Coffee Cake" consisting of balls of sweet dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar and baked in a tube pan. As the Hungarian coffee cake spread into mainstream America, it was confused with the similar monkey bread, in which the dough is not dipped into cinnamon or sugar, and the names became interchangeable, with monkey bread becoming the more common term.
Argan Oil
The thorny evergreen argan (argania) or ironwood tree, which is indigenous to southwestern Morocco and a small part of Algeria, bears almond-like nuts containing an oil rich in naturally occurring antioxidants and flavonoids; this oil is used in cosmetics, medicine, and cooking. The durable wood is resistant to termites and used for carved items and household utensils. The trees were nearly lost when an international monetary organization recommended cutting them down and replanting with citrus trees. However, during a prolonged drought in the Atlas Mountains in the 1990s, the argan trees were the only ones to survive.
In many parts of Morocco, argan oil plays a similar role to that of olive oil in much of the rest of the Mediterranean. The oil has a long shelf life and high smoking point. Its unique, subtle, nutty flavor and rich, velvety texture is traditional in many Moroccan salads (especially orange salads), soups, tagines, and various vegetable dishes; it is also used simply as a dip for bread. Argan oil is usually paired with lemon juice, which enhances its distinctive flavor. Amelou is a Moroccan mixture of ground almonds, argan oil, and honey served at breakfast as a dip for bread. Imported argan oil, unrefined and cold-pressed, is available from specialty stores and distributors. A mixture of half olive oil and half peanut oil can be substituted, although the taste is not exactly the same.
The oil pressed from the nuts of the argan tree has been used by Morooccan cooks for centuries.
Previously, the argan tree would not grow outside of its home area. However, after twenty years of effort, Dr. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute, an expert on desert agriculture, finally adapted the tree to flourish in southern Israel. Argan oil is beginning to flow from Israel—good news for Moroccans in Israel who have for decades paid high prices for imported oil.
Arook
Arook is a fried ball made of ground chicken, turkey, or fish mixed with cooked rice.
Origin: India
Other names: arooq.
Iraqis make little balls of ground lamb, pine nuts, scallions, cilantro, and parsley encased in a shell of ground rice, called arooq bil riz. The name may come from the Arabic word for the common plum, al-barqooq (also the source of the English word apricot), which these meatballs resemble. Jewish immigrants to Calcutta adapted the dish using chicken and fish and local seasonings, usually omitting the rice shell—including rice into the mixture. These balls are typically served as an appetizer or, with rice, lentils, and chutneys, as a main course, or in pita bread.
Arrope
Arrope is a syrup made from raisins and water.
Origin: Spain
Other names: French: sirop de raisin; Spanish: jarabe, jarope.
When the Bible mentions devash (honey), it almost always refers to a dark, viscous liquid made by cooking down fruit juice, most notably dates, figs, and grapes. The Persians called these fruit honeys robb/rubb, later becoming ar-rubb in classic Arabic. Robb differs from another Persian fruit concentrate, sharab (the source of the English word syrup), which contains added sugar. The Moors brought ar-rubb to Iberia where it became a beloved component of the cooking, serving as a dip for bread and diluted in water for a refreshing beverage. Popular Spanish syrups include arrope de meil (honey syrup), arrope de mora (mulberry syrup), and arrope de mosto (grape must syrup). Grape syrup was traditionally made at harvest time, the juice cooked for hours until thick, dark, and about one-fourth the original volume. However, pasa (raisins) were more accessible in the spring, leading to the favorite Passover syrup, arrope de pasa.
On Passover, arrope is a popular Sephardic treat served with bimuelos de massa (matza pancakes) and revanadas de parida (fried matzas, literally "toast of the new mother"). Some Sephardim use arrope mixed with nuts for charoset.
Sephardic Raisin Syrup (Arrope/Arrope De Pasa)
about 3 cups
[PAREVE]
1 pound (3 cups) dark raisins
6 cups water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1. In a large, heavy pot, soak the raisins in the water until plump, at least 15 minutes.
2. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 2 hours.
3. Strain the fruit and cooking liquid t
hrough a fine-mesh sieve or food mill, pushing through the pulp and discarding the skins. Add the lemon juice.
4. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until syrupy, about 30 minutes. Pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.
Arroz
Arroz, the Ladino word for rice, also designates a specific dish of rice with tomatoes.
Origin: Turkey, Greece
Other names: arroz kon tomata.
The Moors introduced rice to Spain in the eighth century and it quickly became an integral part of Se- phardic cuisine. In the sixteenth century, Sephardim in Turkey, Greece, and Rhodes added the tomato, recently arrived from America, to their rice dishes. Whereas yellow rice (arroz kon azafran and arroz de Sabato) was customary for the Sabbath and special events, rice cooked with tomato sauce was found at many weekday meals as well as some special occasions, such as Rosh Hashanah dinner and during Passover. Every Turkish and Greek cook has a recipe for red rice, most preferring it to plain white rice, called arroz blanco. In some households, arroz is served at both lunch and dinner.
The widespread American dish called Spanish rice, reddened with tomatoes, was ironically completely unknown in Spain. It is actually akin to the classic Sephardic dish arroz. Sarah Rorer, the most famous American cooking teacher of her time, in Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book (Philadelphia, 1902), included in her section "A Group of Jewish Recipes" a recipe for "Spanish Rice" made with tomatoes, chicken, onion, and red bell pepper.
(See also Rice and Rice Pudding)
Sephardic Red Rice (Arroz/Arroz Con Tomata)
6 to 8 servings
[PAREVE]
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped (optional)
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed under cold water and drained
3 cups boiling water
1 cup tomato sauce, tomato puree, or tomato salsa
About 1½ teaspoons table salt or 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
About ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
About 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. If using, add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the rice and sauté until opaque, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the water, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and, if using, sugar. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Or cover and bake in a 350°F oven for about 50 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve warm.
Artichoke
The Levant is home to numerous wild thistles, most of which historically were considered a nuisance and set ablaze by farmers to open room for desirable plants. Among the few utile thistles were the cardoon and its close relative and probably descendant, the artichoke, the unopened flower bud of a tall, perennial eastern Mediterranean native. Unlike cardoons, which can still be found in the wild, artichokes are exclusively cultivated, leading many authorities to question their origins. They, however, certainly predate the Muslim period, as these vegetables are found throughout early rabbinic literature.
The Talmud and Midrash explain that the biblical kotz v'dardar (thorns and thistle) mentioned before Adam and Eve left Eden referred to cardoons and artichokes. Other rabbinical references also reflect the ancient Jewish culinary use of these plants. The Mishnah states that, unlike other thorny plants, kinras (artichokes) have gastronomic significance. The Talmud ruled that "one may trim the artichoke and akaviyot [cardoons] on a festival" for cooking, even though they require a significant amount of preparation. The Talmud even noted a special unit of measurement for artichokes, kundasa.
During the medieval period, the artichoke was held in particularly high esteem on the Arab side of the Mediterranean, where agronomists developed new and improved varieties. The Moors began cultivating this thistle in Spain, possibly as early as 800, but definitely by the eleventh century, and it subsequently became a much-beloved element of Sephardic cuisine, leading to the development of a sufficient number of recipes to fill a book unto itself. The English use of the Arabic-derived name artichoke from al-kharshuf (thorns of the ground), leading to the French artichauts, rather than the Latin cynara (certainly related to the Hebrew kinras), reflects the Arabic influence on the role of artichokes in medieval Europe.
Artichokes also became early on a favorite of Italian Jews. Non-Jewish Italians, at first, spoke disparagingly of the artichoke, referring to it as "the Jewish vegetable." Eventually, its regard spread from the Italian ghettos, particularly among the Medicis of Florence. It was Catherine de Médicis who popularized this vegetable in France following her marriage to Henry II. By the late sixteenth century, this once-reviled thistle constituted an important part of Mediterranean cuisine.
Almost all American-grown artichokes are of the Green Globe variety, an Italian cultivar. There are, however, more than fifty varieties, including Provençal petit violet and verts de Florence, both of which can be eaten untrimmed when young.
Sunchokes or Jerusalem artichokes are not artichokes and have nothing to do with the Holy Land. This native North American tuber, a member of the sunflower family, has lumpy knobs, a brownish skin, and a white, slightly sweet flavor. The name appears to be a mistranslation of the Italian word for sunflower, girasole, which sounds like Gerusalemme (Jerusalem).
Sephardim usually cook younger artichokes whole and use more mature globes, when the leaves are no longer edible, to make artichoke bottoms. Whole artichokes are commonly stuffed or fried. Artichoke bottoms and hearts are marinated, cooked with other vegetables, or added to salads, casseroles, omelets, and rice dishes. The two favorite Sephardic ways of preparing artichoke hearts are in lemon sauce and tomato sauce. Either dish, sometimes with fava beans or peas, is a common springtime Friday night favorite. Since artichokes make their first appearance of the year in the early spring, they are a common Passover food among Sephardim and Italians. Artichokes—either keenras or, from the Arabic, charshof in Hebrew—are very popular in modern Israel.
(See also Cardoon)
Arugula
A member of the mustard family, arugula was popular in salads as far back as ancient Rome where it was considered an aphrodisiac. Also called roquette and rocket, it has only been widely cultivated in the twentieth century. It is probably the wild plant oroth mentioned in the book of Kings. The Talmud recorded it as gargir, a food and medicine. Amram Gaon, in the original version of the Haggadah, recommended arugula as being among the five greens suitable for the karpas of the Seder.
Asabia
Asabia is a tube-shaped phyllo pastry filled with nuts, meat, potatoes, or pudding.
Origin: Middle East
Other names: asabia el aroos, assabih, assba; Maghrebi Arabic: cigare, garro, sigare; Spanish: dedo.
Asabia (akin to the Hebrew etzba) means "finger" in Arabic, here referring to crisp slender phyllo tubes. Asabia are particularly popular among Syrians, Egyptians, and Moroccans, who feature them at celebrations, notably those for soon-to-be brides. They are most commonly filled with ground almonds (asabia bi loz) and baked or deep fried, then dipped into sugar syrup or sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. These pastries, served warm or at room temperature, are considered a tasty alternative to baklava. For some dairy occasions, Syrians stuff the pastry layers with a rose water—accented Turkish rice-flour pudding, sutlach.
(See also Phyllo/Fila and Sutlach)
Asafetida
Raw asafetida, the dried milky gum from the thick rhizomes of a perennial member of the Apiaceae family, has an unpleasant flavor and stinking, sulfur- like odor; cooked, it develops a garlicky flavor and truffle-like aroma that complements other foods. The name comes from the Farsi aza (resin) and Latin foetida (stinking). Ancient Persians, however, referred to it as "the food of the gods." It is mentioned in the Talmud as chiltit and is consi
dered, along with the radish, an archetypical "sharp item." The Romans combined asafetida with vinegar as a salad dressing and used it to flavor sauces and wine. It also served as a medicine in ancient times.
Today, asafetida is primarily found in Indian cooking and, to a lesser extent, in Persian cooking. Indians believe that asafetida is good for the digestion and commonly add it in small amounts to legume, cabbage, and eggplant dishes to improve the digestibility of these foods. It is used in small amounts in curries, stews, and dried bean dishes.
Ash
Ash is a thick vegetable based soup that sometimes contains meatballs or a little meat.
Origin: Persia
Other names: shorba; Afghan: aush; Azeri: aash.
There are two basic traditional types of Persian soup, both thick like a stew: ash and ab-gusht or ab-goosht, a meat stew (literally "water of the meat"). A Persian synonym of ash, shorba, comes from the Arabic word for soup. The Farsi word for cook is ash-paz (soup maker), and for kitchen ash-paz-khaneh (room of the soup maker), reflecting the position of soup in Persian dining.
The ingredients of an ash vary among locations and depend on availability. Typical of Persian cuisine, soups are flavored with fresh herbs and greens. Although non-Jewish Persian soups commonly contain some form of yogurt, Jews rarely mix dairy ingredients into hot soups, even vegetarian soups. A simple, hearty ash serves as both everyday fare and comfort food, frequently functioning as a one-dish meal, accompanied with bread. These soups are also favored on special occasions. Persian Jews customarily serve some sort of ghondi (dumplings) or reshteh (noodles) in the soup for Friday night and festival dinners, and they may also accompany the soup with rice. Many Persians offer ash to break a fast.
Ashisha
Ashisha is a lentil pancake.
Origin: Ancient Israel
In biblical times, lentils were the second-most- consumed food among the Jewsish people, following only bread (barley and wheat). They were prepared primarily as a stew, but when sweetened with honey and fried, lentils were perhaps the earliest form of cake.