Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  2. In a deep pot, preheat at least 2 inches oil to 365°F. Shape the chickpea mixture into 1-inch balls. Leave round or flatten slightly. In batches, fry the falafel, turning occasionally, until evenly golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

  Falsche Fish

  Falsche fish are poached balls of ground chicken or veal, served in place of gefilte fish.

  Origin: Eastern Europe

  Other names: bailik fish, falshe fish, gefilte chicken.

  Carp, pike, whitefish, and other freshwater fish swarmed in abundance in the rivers and streams that flowed through central and eastern Europe. For Jews, this inexpensive source of protein was particularly auspicious, because fish was considered an essential part of Sabbath and holiday meals, and this aquatic plenty could be used to make a beloved fish dish, gefilte fish. However, in the nineteenth century, some Chasidim proscribed fish on Passover, contending that in areas far from large bodies of water—Romania, Hungary, and much of Poland—fish transporters stored fish in alcohol distilled from grains to preserve them during the journey inland. In place of their favorite fish dish, Chasidic cooks developed a substitute and formed ground chicken or occasionally veal into balls to create a mock gefilte fish called falsche fish. A synonym for the dish is bailik fish, probably from the Yiddish bilik (cheap).

  Like gefilte fish, this dish is commonly served cold accompanied with a slice of poached carrot and horseradish. Some people liked this innovation so much that they began making it during the rest of the year as well, serving it for the Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, and the meal before Yom Kippur.

  Ashkenazic Mock Gefilte Fish (Falsche Fish)

  about 8 small or 5 large meatballs

  [MEAT]

  Meatballs:

  1 pound boneless chicken or turkey breast, ground

  ¼ cup matza meal, 1 cup mashed potatoes, or 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs

  ¼ cup chicken broth

  1 large onion, grated, or 5 scallions (white part only), chopped

  1 clove garlic, mashed (optional)

  1 large egg

  About 1 teaspoon salt

  About ½ teaspoon ground white or black pepper

  Broth:

  Chicken breast bones (from which the chicken was removed)

  3 carrots, sliced

  2 stalks celery, sliced

  2 medium yellow onions, sliced

  2 quarts water

  2 teaspoons salt

  Dash of ground white or black pepper

  1 tablespoon sugar

  1. To make the meatballs: Combine all the meatball ingredients. The mixture should be very soft; if too loose to form into the desired shape, refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

  2. To make the broth: In a large pot, bring all the broth ingredients to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and discard the solids. Return the broth to the pot and bring to a boil.

  3. Using wet hands, form the meatball mixture into 1-inch balls or 3-inch long and 1-inch thick dumplings. Drop into the boiling stock in a single layer. Return the stock to a boil, reduce the heat, cover partially, and simmer, shaking the pot occasionally, until the meatballs are white or an instant read thermometer inserted in the center registers at least 165°F, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer the cooking liquid and meatballs to a large storage container and let cool, then refrigerate until chilled.

  Faludeh

  Faludeh refers to thin rice noodles as well as a bright white sorbet made from the noodles and shaved sweetened ice, rose water, and lime juice.

  Origin: Persia

  Other names: Farsi: faloda, faloodeh; India: falooda.

  A yakhchal (ice storage) was an ancient Persian freezer. By at least 400 BCE, Persians had developed techniques for storing ice, which was gathered during the winter or carried from the tops of mountains, in large insulated underground chambers topped by domed structures. This innovation allowed ice to be available throughout the summer, even in the desert. A favorite use of this stored ice was in one of the earliest frozen desserts; the forerunner of all ice creams and sorbets, this ancient Persian mixture included ice, honey, and various flavors, notably saffron and fruits. Later, as distillation techniques developed, rose water was added, and as sugar cane was introduced, it was substituted for the honey. Today, sugar syrup is mixed with water and frozen, then the sweetened ice is shaved.

  At some point, Persians began mixing faludeh, which are homemade noodles, into the ice. Faludeh are made from a thin rice batter, which is pressed through a sieve to produce delicate strings that look like grated coconut. Today, most people use rice sticks, very thin off-white rice-flour noodles, which are also called rice vermicelli and, in Chinese, mei fun. When cooked, the noodles turn bright white. The noodles are stirred into sweetened shaved ice, where they create a textural contrast while retaining their white color. A little lime juice counteracts any soapy flavor from the rose water. The version from the city of Shiraz, faludeh shirazi, which is the most famous, contains more lime juice for a rather tart flavor. In Israel, where limes are generally unavailable, lemon juice is typically substituted. Sour cherry syrup is frequently drizzled over the sorbet to temper the sweetness or mixed in to create a pink color. Faludeh is usually sprinkled with chopped pistachios.

  Faludeh, also long popular in Afghanistan, is ubiquitous at Persian parties and as a treat throughout the summer. Being nondairy, it is common at barbecues and other meat meals. Occasionally, faludeh is makhlut (mixed) with bastani (ice cream). The Indian version consists of kulfi (ice cream), translucent wheat-starch noodles, and pink or yellow syrup; in Mumbai, it is served like a milk shake. Today, there are also versions made without the noodles and blended with fruit, such as melons. Faludeh sib is a variation substituting grated apples for the noodles; it is customarily served to break the fast of Yom Kippur.

  In Iran, faludeh is sold at bastani (ice-cream stores) as well as shops specializing only in this treat. In modern commercial renderings, available at Persian markets in America, the syrup and noodles are frozen in an ice-cream maker rather than mixed with crushed ice. However, faludeh is intended to be slushy, not solid like an Italian ice or velvety like ice cream.

  Persian Rose Sorbet with Rice Noodles (Faludeh)

  6 to 8 servings

  [PAREVE]

  4 cups water

  1½ cups sugar

  2 tablespoons rose water

  About 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

  8 ounces thin rice noodles or Chinese rice sticks, broken into 1-inch pieces

  About ½ cup sharbat-e albaloo (cherry syrup; optional)

  1. In a medium saucepan, stir the water and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Let cool. Stir in the rose water and lime juice. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

  2. Soak the noodles in cold water to cover for 1 hour. Drain. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until tender but not mushy, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Refrigerate until chilled.

  3. Crush the frozen sugar syrup cubes or pulse in a food processor. Energetically stir together the noodles with the crushed ice until well mixed. Transfer to servings bowls and serve immediately or freeze. If frozen, let stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes to slightly soften, then crush with a spoon. If using, drizzle the cherry syrup over the top.

  Farfel

  Farfel is a small barley-shaped egg noodle, as well as any small irregularly shaped food bit.

  Origin: Germany

  Other names: egg barley; German: eiergraupen, farfl, pfarvel.

  By the early fourteenth century, after the concept of noodles had reached central Europe, Germans were making a soup, called in the Middle High German varvelen, containing small clumps of rudimentary noodles. German Jews began using the term, spelling it "farfel" in Yiddish, to denote small pellets of dough. The name is not related to the Italian bowtie past
a, farfalle (butterflies).

  Early northern European pastas were made from barley, rye, and sometimes legumes, or from a combination of grains, but eventually wheat became the standard. Originally, the pasta pellets were formed by repeatedly hacking the flour-and-egg dough with a knife, but later two less precarious ways became prominent. In some areas, the dough was formed into a log or large balls, allowed to firm, then run along the coarse holes of a grater. Another method was to thinly roll out the dough, cut it into strips, and chop the strips into small bits; this produced pellets that were more uniform. In any case, the pellets were spread out in a single layer and completely dried.

  The shape of the small rough noodles resembled barley grains (graupen in German), giving rise to the German name eiergraupen. The first record of the word in English was in Israel Zangwill's tale of Jewish life in late nineteenth-century London, Children of the Ghetto (1892), in which he mentioned "ferfel, which are lockshen in an atomic state."

  Over the course of time, the term farfel was also applied to other irregular food bits, including the Ashkenazic version of streusel and especially to crumbled matza. To differentiate them, Americans sometimes refer to the noodles as barley farfel. Farfelach is a name of a traditional Ashkenazic Passover candy made from matza farfel and honey, a treat also known as farfel ingberlach, as it was generally seasoned with ground ginger.

  As refined egg noodles proliferated in Germany, farfel became predominantly a Polish and Ukrainian standard; it was typically made in bulk during warm weather, dried thoroughly in the sun, then stored for use over the year. Thus farfel was a staple throughout the autumn and winter, when fresh produce was scarce, and served as an essential food before the popularization of the potato in the mid-nineteenth century. Farfel appeared at both Sabbath and weekday meals.

  According to a Chasidic legend, the founder of Chasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, regularly ate egg farfel on Friday night because the word sounds similar to the Yiddish word farfellen, meaning "done/finished." Thus these noodle pellets connote that with the onset of the Sabbath all the occurrences of the past week are finished. Many Chasidim still emulate the practice of serving farfel at the Friday night meal.

  The Yiddish word farfellen also means "thwarted/doomed/fallen away," making farfel a befitting dish for Rosh Hashanah, when we express the wish that our misdeeds should "fall away" and those who wish us ill should be "thwarted." Round farfel is traditionally served on Rosh Hashanah as an accompaniment for chicken soup or in a kugel. The round shape symbolizes the hope that the coming year will be well-rounded, as well as the circular nature of life; the numerous pellets symbolize fertility and abundance. Some families, before eating their Rosh Hashanah farfel, recite the benediction, "May it be Your will, Lord our God, God of our fathers, that all our enemies be thwarted."

  Egg farfel was among the first Jewish foods to be mass-produced in early twentieth-century America. When manufacturers fabricated machine-made farfel, its shape commonly became uniformly round. In modern Israel, a type of round farfel (petitim) is marketed under the name couscous, and can be substituted for farfel (but not for Moroccan couscous).

  Farfel is prepared both plain or, for a nutty flavor, toasted (geroestete fervelchen). Farfel is cooked in boiling water like other pasta, but can also be simmered in a smaller amount of liquid like a pilaf. Besides being added to soups, farfel is commonly served as a side dish with stews and pot roasts, cooked in tzimmes, and used as the base for kugels.

  In America, farfel (especially with mushrooms) became standard at Jewish delis and Catskills resorts. In 1950, while performing at one of these resorts, ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson was first exposed to various Jewish foods. Shortly thereafter, Nelson introduced a new figure to his act, a brown floppy-eared dog who he whimsically named Farfel after one of those Jewish foods. Nelson and his sidekicks soon gained national prominence as regulars on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater. Farfel then became one of the best known and longest-running product "spokespersons"; each Nestlé's Quik television commercial from 1955 to 1965 ended with Farfel saying "chawwwwk-lit" (chocolate) and snapping his mouth shut. As a result, farfel became part of the wider American lexicon, as well as a popular name for dogs.

  Egg Barley with Mushrooms (Farfel Mit Shveml)

  6 to 8 servings

  [PAREVE or MEAT]

  3 tablespoons vegetable oil or schmaltz

  2 large onions, chopped or sliced

  2 cups (10 ounces) uncooked farfel or Israeli couscous, plain or toasted

  12 ounces mushrooms, sliced

  4 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water

  About 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt

  About ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

  1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes, or golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in the farfel and stir until well coated, about 2 minutes. Transfer the farfel mixture to a large saucepan or 2-quart ovenproof dish.

  2. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add to the farfel mixture.

  3. In a separate medium saucepan, bring the broth, salt, and pepper to a boil. Add to the farfel mixture. Cover and simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the farfel is tender but not mushy and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes; if the farfel is still too hard, add a little more water and continue to cook. Alternatively, place the farfel mixture in an ovenproof dish, cover, and bake in a 325°F oven for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes more.

  Fasírozott

  Fasírozott is a meatball or meatloaf.

  Origin: Hungary

  Other names: fasírt, húsgombóc.

  Chopped meat dishes have been prominent in Europe since at least the time of ancient Rome, more than two thousand years ago; they were once time-consuming and expensive fare, reserved for special occasions. Hungarians enjoy a variety of meatball dishes; they frequently use both beef and veal to produce a dish called fasírozott, whose name may derive from an Austrian word for chopped meat, faschierte.

  Hungarians insist that fasírozott should neither be bland nor contain too much bread, and that you should be able to taste the meat. Some cooks shape the meat mixture into balls, while others make small flat patties. Ground meat filled with whole boiled eggs is called töltött (stuffed). As a main dish, fasírozott is typically accompanied with noodles or boiled potatoes, or served in soups (leves) for the Sabbath and other special occasions.

  Fasoulia

  Fasoulia is a stew of green beans, tomatoes, onions, and olive oil.

  Origin: Turkey

  Other names: Balkans: yachni di fijon verde; Greek: fasolia yiahni, fijolettes; Ladino: fasooleeye, fijon verde kon tomat; Turkish: fasoulia.

  Both green beans and tomatoes were brought from South America to Europe by the Spanish. Beans found immediate acceptance; they became a common component of many favorite stews and were also enjoyed solo. Tomatoes, on the other hand, were considered poisonous by Europeans and would not make their way into most European cooking for many centuries.

  Traders brought American produce eastward through the African stretches of the Ottoman Empire into Egypt, Turkey, and the Balkans. The vegetable-loving Sephardim in the eastern Mediterranean adopted both green beans and tomatoes relatively quickly. One of their favorite dishes combined both of these, and sometimes included other favorite vegetables, such as spinach and leeks.

  Cooking vegetables with tomatoes, onions, and olive oil is a characteristic technique of Turkish Jewish cuisine. Stewed vegetables in Greece are also called yahni or yachni, the name of the covered earthenware vessel in which it was originally cooked. The Middle Eastern predilection is for green beans that are cooked until mushy and served at room temperature, a taste that is perhaps attributable to the arid climate. The relatively long cooking time helps to develop the flavo
r. Fasoulia is a common sight on the Sabbath table and in the Sukkah in eastern Mediterranean Sephardic communities.

  Sephardic Green Beans with Tomatoes (Fasoulia)

  6 to 8 servings

  [PAREVE]

  ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil

  2 large yellow onions, chopped

  2 large carrots, sliced (optional)

  2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

  2 pounds green beans, tips trimmed

  2 cups (12 ounces) peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes

  ¼ cup water

  1 to 3 teaspoons sugar

  About 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt

  Ground black pepper to taste

  ½ cup chopped fennel or 1 to 2 small chilies (optional)

  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

  1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and, if using, carrots and/or garlic and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the green beans and stir until well coated, 3 to 4 minutes.

  2. Add the tomatoes, water, sugar, salt, pepper, and, if using, fennel and/or lemon juice and cook until the mixture simmers. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the sauce is reduced, 20 to 30 minutes. Or cover and bake in a 300°F oven for 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature accompanied with bread or rice and, if desired, plain yogurt.

  Fatoot/Ftut

  Fatoot refers to a group of dishes made with crumbled bread. Among Yemenites, it is most often a meat soup containing or served with small pieces of bread.

  Origin: Middle East

  Other names: fatta, ftut.

  Bread, particularly lean flatbread, without modern preservatives tends to become stale relatively quickly. Throughout most of history, instead of wasting this precious resource, cooks found ways to transform these dried loaves into practical and tasty fare, including puddings and stuffings. In the Middle East, many of these bread dishes are designated fatoot (fatta singular), an Arabic word denoting "anything crumbled," and a cognate of the Hebrew root pattat meaning "to break into pieces/to crumble." Certainly, the best known of these dishes in the West is a bread salad called fattoush or fettoush. Another fatoot was a simple bowl of bread soaked in sour milk and oil. The Levant is home to a group of crumbled bread casseroles collectively known as fattat, such as fattat al-hummus (bread and chickpea casserole), fattat al-batijan (bread and eggplant casserole), and fattat al-dajaj (bread and chicken casserole).