Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  The first edition of The Settlement Cook Book (Milwaukee, 1901) included recipes for about forty different torten incorporating everything from almonds, chestnuts, chocolate, filberts, poppy seeds, rye bread crumbs, and walnuts to matza. The author explained, "Tortes are cakes that contain no butter, but are made rich with nuts and light with eggs, while bread or cracker crumbs usually take the place of flour. The nuts are chopped, rolled or ground fine, mixed with crumbs and spices."

  These two works, both by authors from German Jewish backgrounds, contained some of the earliest references to tortes in American cookbooks, reflecting once again the role Jews played in transforming and transmitting foods from one area to another. Note that Aunt Babette's directed that the nuts be pounded in a mortar, while The Settlement Cook Book explained, "the nuts are chopped, rolled or ground fine." The invention in Europe toward the end of the nineteenth century of the manual mechanical nut grinder made the task of grinding nuts much easier and, consequently, the popularity of nut tortes grew in central Europe and then America. Subsequently, the advent of packaged commercial ground nuts, as well as electric grinders and food processors, took much of the work out of this cake. As the twentieth century progressed, manufacturers of matza meal and potato starch, as well as any cookbook and culinary magazine (even non-Jewish ones) touching on Passover, offered recipes for flourless nut cakes, further increasing their popularity.

  Nut tortes remain a favorite in Europe and Israel, both on Passover and during the rest of the year. A staple of Ashkenazic Passover baking everywhere, these cakes are an annual tradition and comfort food for many families.

  (See also Sponge Cake)

  Hungarian Flourless Nut Torte (Diós Torta)

  10 to 12 servings

  [PAREVE]

  8 large eggs, separated (1 cup whites; 9 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon yolks)

  2/3 cup (4.5 ounces) sugar

  ¼ teaspoon table salt or ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  ¼ cup orange juice, lemon juice, nut liqueur, or sweet wine

  1 cup (2.6 ounces) finely chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, or pecans; or ¾ cup chopped nuts and ¼ cup dry bread crumbs or matza cake meal

  1½ teaspoons grated lemon or orange zest or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  Buttercream, whipped cream, or fruit preserves

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease one 9-inch springform pan or three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, and regrease.

  2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until light, about 5 minutes with an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the salt. Gently stir in the orange juice, nuts, and zest.

  3. In a clean large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry, 5 to 8 minutes. Fold one-fourth of the whites into the nut mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites.

  4. Pour into the prepared pan(s). Bake until the top of the cake springs bake when lightly touched and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for the 3 cake pans, or 35 to 40 minutes for a springform pan.

  5. Place the pans on a wet kitchen towel for 2 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely in the pans, at least 1 hour. Run a thin knife along the sides of the pan(s), and invert the cake onto a flat plate. Carefully remove the paper from the bottom.

  6. If using one cake from a springform pan, cut the cake horizontally into 2 to 3 layers. Frost the layers with buttercream. Cover with a large bowl and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

  Nut

  A nut, among the most ancient of foods, in the botanical sense, denotes any dry one-seeded fruit developed from a compound ovary surrounded by a hard shell. Although there are hundreds of types of nuts, only a few are used to any extent, notably chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts. Most items we call nuts are botanically actually drupes (e.g., almonds, coconuts, and pistachios) and seeds (e.g., Brazil nuts, candlenuts, cashews, peanuts, and pine nuts). In the culinary sense, these are all nuts.

  The Bible mentioned three nuts—almonds (shekad), walnuts (egoz), and pistachios (botnim)—and ever since, they have been essential to Jewish cooking, especially in baked goods, particularly those for Passover. Nuts are also an ingredient in the Passover charoset and are among the items consumed at a Tu b'Shevat Seder. Georgian cuisine, such as the staple sauce bazha, would be impossible to imagine without walnuts. The pairing of pine nuts and raisins is characteristic of Roman Jewish cooking. The combination of raisins and almonds is a venerable Ashkenazic Sabbath snack. For special occasions, Moroccans mix fruit and nuts into sweetened couscous. On Purim, Mizrachim and Sephardim enjoy pastries filled with almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. Traditional Sephardic Rosh Hashanah desserts include a nut tishpishti (honey-soaked semolina cake) and baklava. For Rosh Hashanah, Indian Jews prepare a coconut milk halva garnished with nuts and raisins. However, Ashkenazim developed a tradition of not eating nuts on Rosh Hashanah and at the meal before Yom Kippur.

  (See also Almond, Chestnut, Pine Nut, Pistachio, and Walnut)

  O

  Offal

  "Mr. Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liver slices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods' roes." (From Ulysses by James Joyce, 1922). The author's revealing introduction to the half-Jewish protagonist of his novel provides insights into Bloom's unorthodox eating habits, as well as the attitudes of non-Jews to these practices.)

  Offal—the English term derived in the late fourteenth century from the Middle Dutch afval (off-fall), connoting parts of the animal that "fall off" the butcher's table—consists of the internal organs, entrails, and glands of an animal, not including muscles and bones, which consists of about 40 percent (by weight) of an adult cow. To some, tails and feet are also offal. The taste and texture of any particular type of offal is based on the species and age of an animal. In most cultures throughout most of history, waste was considered a sin and people used every part of the animal, including the innards. Since organs contain little or no fat, there is almost no waste. Yemenites, in particular, have a long-standing tradition of using every part of an animal to the maximum effect. Sephardim had a particular fondness for brains; Maghrebis for lamb's tongue and tripe (the lining of the first and second stomachs of a ruminant); and Ashkenazim for almost any of the innards, especially liver, sweetbreads, and tongue. Sephardim and Mizrachim primarily used lamb offal, while Ashkenazim generally only had access to cows. It was not uncommon for Jewish butchers to give a little of the less sought-after types of offal to the poor for use in making a soup for the Sabbath.

  However, in some locales, the offal, at least most types of it, was considered undesirable. Medieval English nobles developed a strong objection to offal, then called umbles, considering it poor person's fare. In this vein, the term for performing a humiliating act, "eating humble pie," arose from a fourteenth-century English practice: After a venison hunt, the undesirable internal organs and glands (the umbles) were given to the servants for filling their pies, while the upper class dined on the tender cuts of meat.

  This English aversion was absorbed by many modern societies and, as a result, countless traditional dishes have disappeared or became rarities. In animal-rich America and the English-speaking world in general, offal is basically ignored; most people react squeamishly to the very thought of these parts and some are designated as unlawful for human consumption. Many Jews now look askance at once-popular dishes made from offal.

  Still, the attachment for offal perseveres in some communities and for some dishes. France and Italy retain a strong history of using organ meats as a feature of gastronomy and creativity—one of the most well-known of these dishes is foie gras. Romans love to cook all types of offal with artichokes. Many cuisines include tripe stews, such as the Italian busecca, Turkish iskembe corbasi, and Maghrebi kirsa. The Tunisian stew aakode consists of a mixture of stomach, intestines, penis, and testicles simmered
in tomato paste, garlic, harissa (chili paste), and cumin. Liver, especially chopped chicken liver, remains a standard of the Jewish deli. A modern classic of Israel is me'orav yerushalmi (Jerusalem mixed grill), a mixture of chopped chicken innards and umble parts generally indiscernible to diners.

  (See also Brain, Heart, Kishke, Liver, Lungen, Me'orav Yerushalmi, Miltz, Pupik, Sweetbread, Tongue, and Udder)

  Oil

  A discussion in the Mishnah revolves around the items that are appropriate for the Sabbath lights. The rabbis allowed "all kinds of shemanim [oils]: sesame oil, nut oil, radish oil, fish oil, gourd oil, resin, and naphtha." (The mention of naphtha [neft] is the first record in history of a refined petroleum oil product.) Societies once squeezed oil from numerous sources; many are now obscure, while others are still used today.

  Oils are fats from various seeds, nuts, and fruits that remain liquid at room temperature. A few, such as olive and sesame, are the result of simply pressing the liquid from the source, while many others require chemical processing. These viscous substances are used for frying and baking, and in salads. Some oils contribute their own flavor to foods; others are completely tasteless. Cold-pressed oils retain their flavor and nutrients better than those extracted by heat or chemicals. Many heat-treated oils are processed to remove unpleasant flavors; as the result of this processing, any vitamins are also removed.

  Olive oil was the predominant type in ancient Israel and remains widespread throughout much of the modern Mediterranean. Today, however, sunflower oil, native to the Americas and first popularized in Europe in the eighteenth century, has also become accepted. Sunflower became the preferred oil of Georgia, where the plant covers large swaths of the countryside. Sesame oil has long been the primary oil of central Asia and northern India. The Bene Israel of Mumbai were called Shanwar Teli (Saturday Oilmen) by their Hindu neighbors due to their role in preparing and selling sesame oil and their refusal to work on the Sabbath. Oils are pressed from almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts and some other nuts. The inhabitants of southern India have long relied on coconut oil and, the most widely produced tropical oil, palm oil. Grapeseed oil, a rare and expensive product until the twentieth century, is a mild, slightly nutty-flavored oil pressed from the seeds of vinifera grapes. Argan oil from the argan nut is a specialty of Morocco.

  Since few of the items from which oil could be made were common in northern Europe, oil there was a rarity and people had to rely on animal fats. For a millennium, the principle oil of Germany was pressed from poppy seeds. Around 1870, the Germans discovered a process of extracting a liquid fat from various vegetables and seeds through the use of chemical solvents. In 1887, the Southern Oil Company of Philadelphia began crushing cottonseeds for their oil, but found resistance to the malodorous product. Twelve years later, David Wesson, a Southern Oil chemist, developed a mechanical method for deodorizing cottonseed oil, resulting in the first practical nonanimal-derived fat in America. In 1911, E. T. Bedford's Corn Products Refining Company of Pekin, Illinois, introduced corn oil under the Mazola label; corn oil was for the ensuing decades the most popular cooking oil in America.

  Safflower oil, a light, flavorless, colorless oil ex- tracted from the seeds of a thistle-like plant native to the Mediterranean. In biblical times, the seeds and reddish yellow safflower leaves were both used as spices. Today, the oil is most important in India, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, and the United States.

  Rapeseed—a member of the cabbage family and therefore a relative of mustard—has been cultivated since the thirteenth century in Europe, where the herbage was used for animal fodder and the inedible oil from its seeds pressed to fuel lamps. In 1968, genetically modified rapeseed plants were developed with low levels of erucic acid. These cultivars were renamed canola (liftit in modern Hebrew) and emerged as a food crop grown for their oil.

  Few legumes except peanuts are rich in easily extractable oil. Soybeans were first cultivated in China in the eleventh century BCE and, as a by-product of soybean meal production, a small amount of beans were soon being pressed to extract the oil. In the early twentieth century, Japan and China and then Europe began extracting large amounts of oil, primarily to make soap from the fat and using the meal to fed livestock. Soybeans were first recorded in America in 1765 in the state of Georgia. By 1940, America had emerged as the world's leading producer of soybean oil. Subsequent advances in processing technology resulted in a light-colored, higher-quality oil suitable for cooking. Since 1966, soybean oil has been the world's leading edible oil in both production and consumption, replacing cottonseed oil, well ahead of second-place palm, third-place canola, and fourth-place corn. Most oils labeled "vegetable" or "cooking" are comprised of soy oil or cottonseed oil or a combination.

  In America, since the early 1970s, most oils have been under kosher supervision. The industry decision at that time to maintain kosher tanker trucks for oil would completely transform the kosher supervising industry, leading to an explosion of kosher products throughout the country.

  There is disagreement among authorities as to whether derivatives of kitniyot (mei kitniyot), such as oils and extracts, are permissible for consumption on Passover. Also debated is the question of whether derivatives from plants unknown at the time of the original custom of kitniyot, such as peanut oil and soy oil, are permitted. In any case, Ashkenazim proscribe corn and soybean oils and some also abstain from peanut, sesame, and canola oils.

  (See also Argan Oil, Olive Oil, and Sesame)

  Ojaldre

  Ojaldre is an ancient Iberian form of puff pastry, as well as an Eastern Mediterranean filled phyllo triangle.

  Origin: Spain, Ottoman Empire

  Other names: hojaldre.

  Among the dishes in the Sephardic culinary repertoire before the expulsion from Spain in 1492 was a pastry called ojaldre (little leaf), derived from the Ladino oja (leaf). (The Spanish word for leaf is hoja.) The original ojaldre was made from a rich unleavened dough containing eggs and oil. The dough was rolled out and spread with fat, then rolled into a cylinder. Slices were cut off the cylinder and rolled out to make pies and turnovers. Sometimes the pastry was basted with melted fat during baking, all the better to separate the layers. This rudimentary puff pastry yielded relatively thin layers, although it was less flaky than either phyllo or pâte feuilletée (modern puff pastry).

  In modern Spanish, hojaldre refers to puff pastry, but not in Ladino. After Sephardim arrived in the Ottoman Empire, they eventually adopted phyllo into their repertoire, while generally forgetting about puff pastry, which involved techniques better suited for cooler climates. Subsequently, the term ojaldres was applied to filled phyllo pastries, especially the triangles known throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean region. Ojaldres joined the extensive Sephardic repertoire of small, savory, filled pastries, including borekas, boyos, bulemas, empanadas, and tapadas. Ojaldres were a particular specialty of Rhodes. In Greece, the two most popular types are cheese-filled triangles known as tiropites and spinach-filled ones called spanakopitas. In addition, phyllo triangles are commonly filled with mashed potatoes, eggplant, or meat.

  Since ojaldres are a labor intensive, they are typically reserved for special occasions. In Salonika, Friday night dinner frequently consisted of avicas (white bean and meat soup) accompanied in the spring through early fall with spinach ojaldres. Cheese ojaldres are especially popular on Hanukkah and to break the fast of Yom Kippur, while fried ones might be served on Hanukkah. Meat-filled versions are popular on Sukkot and at weddings, as either an appetizer or a side dish.

  (See also Ajin Taimani, Boreka, and Phyllo)

  Sephardic Phyllo Triangles (Ojaldres)

  about 36 to 48 small appetizers

  [DAIRY or PAREVE]

  1 pound (24 sheets) phyllo dough

  About 1½ cups melted butter or vegetable oil

  About 3 cups Sephardic pastry filling (see Gomo (Sephardic Pastry Fillings))

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a large baking sheet.

 
; 2. Lay the phyllo sheets on a flat surface with the shortest end nearest you. Cut lengthwise into 3- to 4-inch-wide, equal-sized strips. Cover the strips with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel when not in use. Lightly brush one strip with butter, top with a second strip, and brush with butter.

  3. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of the strip, about 1 inch from the closest end. Fold a corner diagonally over the filling, forming a triangle. Brush the corner flap with butter and continue folding, maintaining the triangle shape, until the end of the strip.

  4. Place the triangles on the prepared baking sheet and brush with butter. Bake until crisp and golden, about 18 minutes.

  Okra

  Okra, a member of the mallow family and a relative of cotton, is a native of Ethiopia. Okra plants produce tapered capsules growing as long as eight inches. Larger, mature pods require a longer cooking time; smaller pods have the best flavor.

  The Ladino name for okra, bamia, and the Arabic name, bamiya, are derived from the Bantu kingombo, indicating the plant's African origin. There is no specific mention of this plant in the ancient world, though some scholars claim that a few ambiguous Egyptian pyramid drawings are of okra. Its first verified appearance was in twelfth-century CE Egypt. Shortly thereafter, the Moors introduced okra to Spain, where, as with other vegetables, it gained wide acceptance among Sephardim. The few other areas where okra accrued some degree of popularity were the Levant, the Balkans, India, and the American South. In India, it is also called ladies' fingers. After tomatoes arrived from South America, they became the favorite Sephardic partner for okra; the two vegetables were cooked together without any additions, or with many other vegetables in a stew. In the Middle East, okra pods are sometimes pickled along with other vegetables in turshi. Dried okra is enjoyed throughout the winter.

  Okra's mucilaginous nature—which is very noticeable when it is overcooked—makes it unappetizing to many. However, blanching it in hot water or pairing it with an acid—such as soaking it in vinegar water or cooking it with tomatoes or lemon juice—lessens this attribute. Some cooks fry okra in a little oil until browned before further cooking, to prevent mushiness and enhance the flavor. On the other hand, okra's primary characteristic can be desirable in stews as a thickener.