by Gil Marks
Berbere, reminiscent of Indian curry powders, reflects the Arabic and Indian influences on Ethiopian culture. Essential for Ethiopian cookery, it is added in conjunction with onions and water to wots (stews); without berbere, a stew is an alicha. Mixing the powder with a little oil and tej (honey wine) and allowing the mixture to ferment produces a hot sauce called awaze, used as a condiment. Every Ethiopian household maintains a jar of berbere and/or awaze, often homemade from a time-honored recipe. Marketplaces in Ethiopia have at least one and frequently several spice stalls featuring huge sacks of dried chilies as well as tubs of premade berbere. Although some cooks use it judiciously, many typically add prodigious amounts, resulting in very fiery dishes. When done correctly, a dish should have a combination of heat and subtlety. Injera (pancake bread) always accompanies these chili dishes to somewhat mute the potency.
Ethiopian Chili Powder (Berbere)
about ¾ cup
[PAREVE]
7 to 8 small dried red chilies, 7 to 8 dried pequín chilies, or 3 ounces dried New Mexican chilies, or any combination (or 2 tablespoons cayenne and 3 tablespoons sweet paprika)
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon green cardamom pods or ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon coriander seeds or ½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds or ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds or ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1. If using whole chilies, stir them in a dry skillet over medium heat until they darken and feel warm but are not burnt. Let cool. Remove and discard the stems. For a milder powder, also discard the seeds. Grind the chilies. If using cayenne, combine with all the other ingredients in step 3.
2. In a dry large skillet, toast the peppercorns and seeds (cardamom, coriander, optional cumin, and fenugreek) over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes, or toast the ground cardamom, coriander, optional cumin, and fenugreek for about 1 minute. Let cool.
3. In a spice grinder, coffee mill, or blender, process the chilies, toasted spices, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and turmeric until smooth and powdery. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Variation
Mock Ethiopian Hot Sauce (Awaze):
Combine 2 table- spoons berbere, 2 tablespoons tej (Ethiopian honey wine), and 2 tablespoons olive oil. To make an equivalent of tej, combine 2 tablespoons dry white wine without oak barreling, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 tablespoon honey. Today some Ethiopians substitute red wine, Scotch, or other alcohol for the tej. Awaze is used as an all-purpose condiment.
Bhaji
Bhaji is a curried vegetable dish, first sautéed, and then cooked in its own juices without added liquid.
Origin: India
Other names: bhaaji, subji, takari.
During the week, most Indians prepare one or two vegetables for lunch and dinner, while on the Sabbath and holidays there will likely be at least three or four besides the ubiquitous dal (legumes). Indians make two primary types of stir-fried vegetables—gobi, containing a liquid, and a dry version called bhaji. Consequently, Indian cooks using basically the same ingredients create rather different dishes. Bahji can be prepared with any vegetable, but most variations contain potatoes, which absorb the flavors of the other ingredients and make the dish more substantial. In India, curried dishes prepared in Jewish households tend to be less spicy and oily than those of their neighbors. In Calcutta, a Friday night dinner typically features a bhaji along with murgi kari (pot-roasted chicken), aloo makalla (fried potatoes), and pilau (rice pilaf).
Calcutta Curried Vegetables (Bhaji)
3 to 4 servings
[PAREVE]
4 large (2 pounds) potatoes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 to 3 small green chilies, minced, or ¼ teaspoon cayenne or ground black pepper
2 to 4 curry leaves or 1 to 2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 whole cloves or cardamom pods
Pinch of ground asafetida (hing) (optional)
About 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 pounds sliced green beans, 1 pound (½ head) thinly sliced cabbage, 1 medium head cauliflower cut into florets, 1 pound okra sliced lengthwise into quarters, 2 cups green peas, 2 bunches coarsely chopped spinach, or 2 pounds thinly sliced zucchini or any combination of vegetables
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)
1. In a large pot, boil the potatoes in water to cover until semi-tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into chunks.
2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. If using, add the mustard seeds and sauté until they begin to pop, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, chilies, curry leaves, turmeric, cloves, and, if using, asafetida and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the salt.
3. Add the potatoes and sauté until well coated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the green beans. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, or bake in a 425°F oven until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 25 minutes. If the potatoes are not cooked sufficiently, add 2 tablespoons water and cook until tender.
4. Stir in the cilantro and, if using, lemon juice and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Serve warm, if desired, accompanied with rice or bread, or at room temperature.
Bialy
Residents of the northeastern Polish town of Bialystock (literally "white slope"), which at its height before World War II boasted a Jewish community of more than fifty thousand, enjoyed an onion-topped roll with an indentation in the center that they referred to as kuchen. Outsiders commonly called the roll after its home, a Bialystoker kuchen or simply bialy. Bialystoker kuchen is a variation of the widespread Ashkenazic onion flatbread tzibele pletzl, originating in the early nineteenth century with the emergence in Europe of the technological and agricultural methods needed to produce inexpensive white flour. Uniquely, the lean dough is shaped by hand into small dough balls (tagelach), flattened, and left to rise slightly; then a distinctive large indent is pressed into the center of each tagel. The indent is spread with grated onion, both flavoring the bread and helping to preserve the depression. The result is a delicious roll—crisp on the bottom, fluffy in the center of the ridges, and oniony on top. Bialys are made without an egg wash glaze and turn out paler than most breads.
By the end of the century, nearly every street in the Jewish sections of Bialystock contained a small kuchen bakery. These breads were once part of every weekday meal and sometimes constituted the entire meal; they complemented both dairy (delicious with a schmear of butter) and meat. In the late nineteenth century, immigrants from Bialystock brought their favorite roll to America and eventually old-fashioned bialy bakeries dotted the Lower East Side of Manhattan, later appearing in other large Jewish communities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles.
New York City had enough bakeries for the owners to form an alliance, the Bialy Bakers Association. Bialys became a mainstay of Jewish dairy restaurants. In 1927, Morris Kossar immigrated from Bialystock to New York, and in 1936, he founded with Isadore Mirsky what is now the world's oldest extant bialy bakery, Kossar's Bialystocker Kuchenon on the Lower East Side. After the original location was destroyed by an explosion and fire, the result of a union dispute, in the early hours of February 20, 1958, the Kossar family reopened on Grand Street. At its peak, Kos
sar's turned out twenty-seven thousand bialys daily, or nearly ten million a year.
During World War II, the once dynamic Jewish community of Bialystock was liquidated by the Nazis; subsequently, Jews as well as bialys actually disappeared from the city. Today, residents of Bialystock no longer have any recognition of the kuchen or the role it once played in their city. Around the same time that the bialy disappeared from its birthplace, the masses of Jews relocated from the Lower East Side and other poorer urban American areas, and the bialy's star faded. Even the restaurants once featuring bialys, such as Ratner's, Dubrow's, and Famous Dairy, closed their doors. By the 1970s, only one bialy bakery remained in New York, Kossar's.
In a twist of history, although bialys arrived in America at the same time as bagels, the latter went on to achieve unparalleled popularity throughout mainstream America, while the bialy remained primarily a Jewish—New York specialty food. Among the principle reasons for this disparity is that bagels can be made from a machine, while bialys still need a human touch. Bialys also have a relatively short shelf life of only about six hours, which is not conducive to shipping. In addition, the bagel lends itself to variety. Historically, there has been little variation in the nature of bialys, although poppy seeds were an accepted American adaptation. Finally, bagels excel at being halved for sandwiches, while bialys are not sliced, but spread on the top or bottom with butter or cream cheese.
Toward the end of the twentieth century, an increasing number of bagel stores in America, many owned by non-Jews, began offering bialys as well, although these tend to be inauthentic and inferior. At the end of the 1990s, an entrepreneur opened a shop in Bialystock, ironically named New York Bagels, which also offered bialys, reclaiming part of the city's heritage. New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton devoted a 2002 book to the bialy and its lore, The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World. The bialy endures as an image of nostalgia.
Polish Onion Rolls (Bialys)
12 small rolls
[PAREVE]
Dough:
1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast or 1 (0.6-ounce) cake fresh yeast
1¼ cups warm water (105 to 115°F for dry yeast; 80 to 85°F for fresh yeast)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons table salt or 4 teaspoons kosher salt
About 4 cups (20 ounces) bread flour
Rye flour, cornmeal, or semolina for dusting
Topping:
½ cup minced onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ to 2 teaspoons poppy seeds (optional)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1. Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup water. Stir in 1 teaspoon sugar and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, remaining water, remaining sugar, and salt, and 2 cups flour. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a mixture that holds together.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1½ hours.
3. Punch down the dough and knead briefly. Return to the bowl, cover, and let rise a second time until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough and knead briefly. Divide into 12 equal pieces, roll into balls, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Dust 2 large ungreased baking sheets with rye flour. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 3½-inch round about ½-inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheets, cover, and let rise until puffy and increased in size by about half in bulk, about 30 minutes.
5. To make the topping: Combine the onion, oil, optional poppy seeds, and salt.
6. Using your thumb or the bottom of a small glass (about 1½ inches in diameter), press down the center of the dough rounds, leaving at least a 1-inch rim. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon onion topping mixture into each indentation. Cover and let rise until puffy, about 15 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
8. Bake the bialys until lightly browned, switching the pans halfway through baking, about 12 minutes. If the onions are not browned, place under a broiler for about 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks and let cool slightly or completely. For softer rolls, place cooled bialys in a plastic bag.
Bichak
Bichak are yeast turnovers.
Origin: Uzbekistan, Afghanistan
Other names: bishak; Hebrew: bitzak.
Bichak, a favorite comfort food, are common at most Bukharan and Afghan celebrations. Filled with pumpkin or meat, the turnovers are traditional on Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. At dairy meals, pumpkin or cheese bichak are frequently served with yogurt or sour cream.
Bukharan Turnovers (Bichak)
about 20 turnovers
[PAREVE or MEAT]
1 recipe ajin (Middle Eastern Yeast Dough (Ajin))
About 2 cups bichak filling (recipes follow)
Egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water)
Poppy seeds or nigella seeds for sprinkling (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease.
2. Divide the dough into 1½-inch balls (about 2 ounces). On an oiled surface, roll each ball into a 4-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Or roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick and cut out 4-inch rounds. Place a heaping tablespoonful of filling in the center of each round. Gather the edges from 3 sides and bring together toward the center to form a triangle, pinching the edges to seal. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Brush with the egg wash and, if using, sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Prick with the tines of a fork to vent the steam.
3. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. To reheat, place in a 350°F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.
Bichak Fillings
Pumpkin Filling (Kadoo)
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced
1½ pounds pumpkin or winter squash, peeled and chopped
½ cup water
2 to 3 tablespoons cumin seeds, 2 tablespoons sugar, or ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
About ¼ teaspoon table salt or ½ teaspoon kosher salt
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden, about 20 minutes. Add the pumpkin, water, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the pumpkin is very tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid evaporates and the mixture thickens. Let cool. This is not a smooth mixture.
Cheese Filling (Paneer)
1 pound pot or farmer cheese
1 large egg yolk
Salt to taste
In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients.
Bimuelo
Bimuelo refers to a variety of small fried foods, sweet or savory, including doughnuts, fritters, and pancakes.
Origin: Spain
Other names: Arabic: awamee; Greek: loukoumas; Romaniote Greeks: zvingous; Ladino: bimuelo, bimwelo, bumwelo, burmuelo; Spanish: bunuelo.
Frying dough in fat is an ancient method of pastry making, dating back to at least the invention of pottery. During the early medieval period, residents of Iberia began deep-frying loose yeast-leavened batters. Later, European sources referred to similar rudimentary doughnuts as "Spanish fritters," connoting an Iberian origin. By at least the thirteenth century, a singular Sephardic term emerged to encompass various Iberian fried doughs, bimuelos (lumps). Rabbi Jacob Culi of Istanbul in his Ladino biblical commentary Me'am Loez (1730), in explaining the biblical description of the taste of manna as being "like dough in honey," uses the term bilmuelos. When used alone, the term bimuelos generally refers to small yeast-dough fritters. Pancakes usually have an adjunctive phrase attached, for example, bimuelos de massa (matza pancakes) and bimuelos de kezo (cheese pancakes).
The doughnut version emerged as the preeminent Sephardic Hanukkah treat (bimuelos de hanuka) and for generations, most households enjoyed homemade fritters at lea
st once or, not infrequently, daily during the holiday. Unlike round European donuts, when spoonfuls of the loose dough hit the hot oil, they puff up into various asymmetrical shapes. Although Sephardim originally sweetened their fritters with a dusting of sugar, after the expulsion many adopted the Middle Eastern manner of drenching them in syrup. Those from Greece typically use a honey syrup, accented with lemon juice or cinnamon. In Spain, these puffs were fried in olive oil and considered by Christians to be a sign of Jewish and Moorish cooking. Indeed, many Converso families, most not even realizing their Jewish roots and having lost the connection to Hanukkah, traditionally prepared fritters each December.
Traditional Passover bimuelos are made with either crumbled whole matza or less frequently matza meal. They can be deep-fried in oil or dropped on a griddle as pancakes. Greeks sometimes refer to matza pancakes as masa tiganitas, taking the name of a special Greek skillet. Bimuelos de massa, typical Passover breakfast fare, are commonly served with arrope (raisin syrup), dulce (fruit preserves), a sprinkling of sugar, or a dollop of yogurt. Today in Israel, date honey is also a popular topping. More recently, pancakes made from mashed potatoes (bimuelos de patata) have also become widespread as Passover fare.
Bimuelos emerged as a Sephardic cultural icon. A very popular modern Hanukkah song from Israel is the Ladino "Vayehi Miketz Burmuelos con Miel," a parody from a woman's point of view of the biblical tale of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, which is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath of Hanukkah: " 'And it was at the end'; Burmuelos with honey; Pharaoh made them, and Joseph ate them, Pharaoh fell into the river, and Joseph went to the bath, Pharaoh went to the cemetery, and Joseph went to the wedding."
(See also Bola, Doughnut, Fritter, and Lokma)
Bird
There are more than ten thousand extant species of birds, warm-blooded vertebrates bearing feathers, laying hard-shelled eggs, and ranging in size from the hummingbird to the ostrich. Accounts, depictions, and parables of birds occur throughout the Bible and Talmud, but birds primarily became a regular element of Jewish cooking during the medieval period. In biblical times, most birds were caught wild, many of those in Israel being migratory. The generic Hebrew word for bird is tzipor, derived from the root "to turn/flee," connoting avian tendencies. The Hebrew term oaf, from the root "to cover," encompasses not only flying fowl, but also winged mammals (bats) and flightless birds (for example, ostriches). In modern Hebrew, oaf, following the Yiddish usage, implies specifically a chicken.