Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

by Gil Marks

  From the early Talmudic period, the most common radish available and used in Jewish cooking has been the black radish.

  In particular, a characteristic dish of Lithuania, northern Poland, and Ukraine was grated black radish, schmaltz, onion, salt, and pepper, sometimes raw and sometimes sautéed, known as schvartze retach mit schmaltz or simply retachlich. A little grated carrot was sometimes added for a touch of sweetness and color. Sholem Aleichem, in his 1909 short story "Tevye Goes to Palestine," included this line recited by Tevye: "Anything could have happened; maybe he has settled all his accounts and left us altogether—moved to the place where black radishes and chicken fat are not eaten?"

  In that stretch of eastern Europe, Jews of the nineteenth century could not imagine a world without retachlich. According to a legend, radishes were a favorite food of the Maccabees and, therefore, radishes flavored with schmaltz became a traditional eastern European Hanukkah dish. During the winter, retachlich was a regular Sabbath lunch appetizer and salad, served with bread, as well as a favorite garnish for chopped liver.

  In his biography, An American in the Making: The Life Story of an Immigrant (New York, 1917), Marcus Eli Ravage included a comment on food in America in contrast and comparison to food in his native Romania, marveling that items considered expensive and, in Europe, reserved for the Sabbath were enjoyed by Americans on a daily basis. He recounted, "I remember writing home about it the next day and telling the folks that they might think I was exaggerating, but that it was literally true, all the same, that in New York every night was Friday night and every day was Saturday, as far as food went, anyway. Why, they even had twists of plain rye bread, to say nothing of rice-and-raisins (which is properly a Purim dish) and liver paste and black radish."

  The tables of some old-fashioned Jewish restaurants in America were customarily preset with a bowl of sliced black radishes mixed with chicken fat and a plate of bread for the customers to nosh on while waiting for their orders. However, as both the black radish and schmaltz lost favor in the mid-twentieth century, this once-classic dish practically vanished from most Jewish homes. Still, almost the entire American black radish crop is sold immediately before Passover and Rosh Hashanah, to make traditional Ashkenazic dishes.

  (See also Eingemacht and Schmaltz)

  Rahat Lokum

  In 1777, a young Turkish confectioner named Ali Muhiddin Bekir moved from his native town of Kastamonu near the Black Sea to Istanbul and established a shop in the center of the city. Not content with the standard hard candies and almond pastes, he developed a new, softer, translucent treat based on earlier Persian and Turkish jellied candies. The new confections became known in Turkish as rahat lokum (giving rest to the throat), and are commonly called lokum, halkum, and, in Arabic, malban (from the Arabic for "milk"). Syrians refer to them simply as raha. The confection quickly became a favorite of the sultan's court and Bekir was appointed chief confectioner. The jellied cubes went on to become one of the most well-known and beloved Middle Eastern confections, and they are typically accompanied with bitter Turkish coffee. Around 1872, an Englishman traveling in Turkey sent several boxes of the confection back home, calling it Turkish Delight, a name that stuck.

  Translucent jellied candies commonly referred to as Turkish delight are a staple for Jewish holidays and festive occasions in Turkey and much of the Middle East.

  The confection seems to have originally included flour as the binding agent and pezmez (grape molasses) as the sweetener, but an elderly Bekir, always abreast of new developments, in the mid-nineteenth century substituted the new cornstarch and beet sugar to fill those roles, creating the contemporary form of lokum. The candy is enhanced with rose water, and later various other popular flavorings, notably orange, strawberry, vanilla, and mint. It can be plain or with fistikh (pistachio), bademli (almond), or cevizli (walnut). Lokum is usually cut into one-inch cubes, but the warm syrup can also be shaped on confectioners' sugar into a log and cut into round slices.

  Rahat lokum was adopted by Jews throughout the Ottoman Empire from Morocco to Romania and became a common sight at celebrations. It is enjoyed not only plain, but also in pastries. For Simchat Torah, Romanians used the candy as a filling for strudel and on Purim they used it as a filling for hamantaschen, practices continued today by some Israeli bakers. Lokum is widely sold throughout Israel.

  Raisin

  From its home somewhere in southern Transcaucasia or in southwest Asia not far from Mount Ararat, the vinifera grape spread early in human history across much of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Around four thousand years ago, probably somewhere in the Levant, people first discovered a way to preserve perishable seasonal grapes by drying them. Perhaps humans first recognized the possibility after stumbling upon grapes that had dried naturally on the vine. Not willing to sacrifice resources, they sampled the dried fruit and found it to be sweeter and more transportable than fresh fruit. Each year, some of the grape crop was spread over flat wicker baskets in the sun to dry, or the grapes were pressed into clusters and dried as cakes, keeping the interior raisins softer.

  The world's three most popular raisins are Muscat, sultana, and currants. Muscat is a large, sweet, smoky-flavored black raisin with seeds, perhaps the oldest domesticated raisin variety. Sultana or sultanieh is a small, amber-colored, rich, pearish-flavored seedless raisin native to Turkey or Iran; the grapes that they are made from are called Thompson seedless grapes in America—about 95 percent of American raisins, both dark and golden, are made from Thompson. Currants are very small raisins made from the tiny Black Corinth grape, also marketed fresh under the name champagne grape, a small seedless variety named after a city in Greece. They are also called Zante currants after Zakynthos (Zante), the third largest of the Ionian islands, where the dried fruit trade shifted in the early 1700s.

  Raisins, tzimukim in Hebrew (from the root "to shrivel"), have been part of Jewish food from the onset of the Israelite nation; they were already mentioned in the Pentateuch in regard to the Nazerite—a person who made a vow of abstience, including from wine and any grape product. In the Diaspora, raisins became part of every form of Jewish cooking, especially foods connected with festivals. Phoenicians introduced the Muscat grape to Iberia and the Maghreb around 900 BCE and from the onset raisins made from them played a supporting role in Sephardic everyday fare as well. Jews maintained many of the vineyards in many Muslim countries and produced much of the raisins, exporting them to Muslim countries as well as Europe, where many Jewish merchants did the importing. The father of Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza, a descendant of Portuguese Sephardim, was an importer of raisins, figs, and other Mediterranean fruits.

  Raisins are commonly used in Sabbath foods to temper the vinegar added as a preservative, and are a popular feature of sweet-and-sour dishes. Raisins and pine nuts are the classic addition to vegetables and sauces of Italian and Levantine cuisines. Raisins are among the ingredients of the ubiquitous Indian ritual dish malida (a sweetened rice, coconut, and fruit dish) and the Yemenite Sabbath appetizer and snack jaaleh. Some Egyptians, Turks, and Yemenites add black raisins to the Passover charoset. In Turkey and the Balkans, they are used in rice pilaf and semolina puddings. In the Netherlands, they are added to pancakes and apple tarts. Moroccans hold a special ceremony called a tufera ("unbraiding" of the bride's hair) in which a bride unveils her trousseau several days before the wedding; before the ceremony, the groom sends her a tray with raisins, almonds, candies, a ribbon, and candles as symbols of sweetness and purity, and the snacks are enjoyed by the guests. Raisins, along with nuts and oil, remain the signature ingredients of baking of the secret Jews, descendants of Conversos, most of whom do not know of their Jewish roots, of the American Southwest.

  Raisins were introduced to Christian Europe in the eleventh century by Crusaders returning from the Levant. With the emergence of the raisin trade in Europe from Spain and the Levant in the 1300s, raisins and currants became the most common dried fruit in Europe and a standard part
of Ashkenazic cooking and culture; they were called rozshinke in Western Yiddish and vaymperlekh in Eastern Yiddish. If someone was disrespected, the Yiddish response was "Iz mayn neshome den a rozshinke?" (Is my soul a raisin?) Whereas dried plums, the other standard European dried fruit, were frequently made from locally grown fruit and were relatively economical, imported raisins were more expensive and were typically reserved for special occasions, such as the Sabbath and holidays. Germans and Galitzianers added them to tzimmes, kugels, stuffed cabbage, and numerous pastries. Around 1400, Germans began making raisin bread and eventually other Ashkenazim followed suit for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, adding raisins to provide extra sweetness to the holiday challah. Raisins paired with rice became a traditional Ashkenazic Purim dish.

  In particular, Ashkenazim paired raisins with another biblical food, almonds. On the Sabbath before an Ashkenazic wedding, the groom celebrated with an aufruf—after his Torah reading, he was showered with raisins and nuts, a custom inspired by the numerology symbolizing a good marriage and fertility and sweetness. Raisins and nuts, along with a small amount of gelt (money), were the traditional Ashkenazic Hanukkah gifts for children. Arguably the best-known Yiddish folk song is "Rozhinkess mit Mandlen" (Raisins with Almonds) by Avrom Goldfaden, which includes these lines: "Raisins and almonds are very sweet. My baby will grow up healthy and strong."

  In northern Europe as well as parts of Asia, such as the Arabian Peninsula and India, grapes were unavailable for making wine. In addition, Conversos, in order to avoid Catholic sacramental wines, commonly made their own raisin wine, especially for Passover. In all these areas, the far-more-accessible raisin was often used instead of fresh fruit for making wine (yayin tzemukim). Raisin wine was also prevalent among Jews in America until the late nineteenth century, when kosher wine was first made from indigenous Concord grapes. In Jewish Cookery (Philadelphia, 1871), written in a period before kosher grape wine became available in America, Esther Levy noted, "It is usual on Friday for persons of our faith to use raisin wine to say the blessing of the sanctification." Sarah Rorer, in Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book (Philadelphia, 1902), included a recipe for "Passover Raisin Wine" in a section entitled "A Group of Jewish Recipes."

  Grape growing led to raisin production in modern Israel, and the majority of raisins in the country are homegrown. In the twentieth century, with the expansion of raisin production in California, Israel, and other locations, raisins became inexpensive items and part of everyday life, while remaining traditional in Sabbath and holiday fare.

  (See also Grape and Wine)

  Raisin Wine (Yayin Tzemukim)

  about 1 quart

  [PAREVE]

  1 pound (3¼ cups) raisins, chopped

  About 3¼ cups water (an amount equal to the raisins)

  ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (4 ounces) sugar (optional)

  In a 2-quart jar or enamel crock, combine all the ingredients, cover with fine cheesecloth, and let stand in a cool place until the raisins rise to the surface, about 3 weeks. Drain, pressing the solids to extract all the moisture. Pour through a coffee filter 2 to 3 times until the liquid is clear.

  Raricha

  Raricha is a flourless coconut cookie.

  Origin: Morocco

  Other names: friandise á la noix de coco

  Among the delicacies traditional for the Moroccan holiday of Mimouna, held at the conclusion of Passover, are flourless cookies made from coconut (raricha del kokous), and almond paste (friandises de pate d'amandel amadines) either baked or unbaked. Most of the treats for Mimouna are prepared during the week of Passover and, therefore, cannot contain flour. Home ovens were rare and the local bakery was unsuitable due to bread baked in it, so unbaked items were common. Today, baked versions are more common. The cookie dough is typically tinted with various food colorings.

  Moroccan Unbaked Flourless Coconut Cookies (Raricha del Kokous)

  about 16 confections

  [PAREVE]

  1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

  ½ cup water

  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  2 cups (5 ounces) shredded coconut

  1 large egg white, lightly beaten

  Any combination of drops of red, green, yellow, blue, or other food coloring

  Additional sugar for rolling

  1. In a medium saucepan, stir the sugar, water, and lemon juice over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, increase the heat to medium, and cook until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the coconut and egg white.

  2. Work the dough with your hands until malleable. Divide into parts and tint each portion with a different food coloring.

  3. Form into 1-inch balls, logs, or other shapes. Roll in the sugar to coat. If desired, transfer to paper liners.

  Ras el Hanout

  Ras el hanout is a complex spice mixture.

  Origin: Morocco

  Other names: lacama.

  Ras el hanout (literally "head of the shop" in Arabic), referring to the best ingredients in the store, is a complex blend of spices used in both savory and sweet dishes. It is essential to the Moroccan Jewish kitchen, added to tagines and other stews and in pastilla (pigeon pie). It is also used to season a broth served to new mothers (bouillon d'accoucher). Because ras el hanout is so expensive, it is generally reserved for special occasions and is so strong it is not used in mild foods, such as fish.

  Although recipes vary among shops and cooks, the basic formula contains at least ten ingredients including cardamon, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, and turmeric. More elaborate blends may contain more than twenty spices and some a hundred, including allspice, anise, cassia, cloves, coriander, black cumin, fennel, galangal, grains of paradise, juniper, mace, mustard seeds, rosebuds, and sesame seeds. La kama is a simpler blend made from only a few spices, usually cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, and turmeric. Because some versions of ras el hanout made in stores contained the golden Spanish fly (its sale was only banned in Morocco in the 1990s) and to ensure that nothing else unkosher was inside, Jews always blended their own spices at home.

  Moroccan Spice Mixture (Ras el Hanout)

  about ½ cup

  [PAREVE]

  15 whole black peppercorns

  6 to 8 whole allspice berries or ½ to 1 teaspoon ground allspice

  6 to 8 cardamom pods or about 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

  6 to 8 whole cloves or ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cloves

  1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1 tablespoon ground ginger

  1 teaspoon ground mace

  1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted

  ½ teaspoon anise seeds

  Pinch of red chili flakes or ½ teaspoon cayenne

  ½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)

  In a spice grinder, finely grind all the ingredients. Store the spice mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

  Regel

  Regel is a soup made from the feet (trotters) of lamb, sheep, calf, or cow.

  Origin: Yemen

  Other names: marak regel, marak taimani, regale.

  Yemenites usually serve meat only for lunch—it is rarely offered for dinner as that is considered unhealthy. The exception is on the Sabbath and festivals, when meat is featured in stews and soups that were, until recently, left to simmer all day in a copper pot. Among the most popular is this traditional Yemenite Friday night dish made from a foot or shank, called regel (from the Hebrew for "foot"). When durum wheat berries are added to the soup and it is cooked overnight for Sabbath lunch, this dish becomes harisa. Since Yemenites prefer a spicy soup, they generally stir in a spoonful of hilbeh (fenugreek relish) or s'chug (chili paste).

  Some Yemenites came to Israel beginning in the later nineteenth century and a few eventually set up small primitive shops, such as those in the Kerem Hataimanim (Yemenite Quarter) in Tel Aviv, that
offered only one or a few spare Yemenite soups. Yemenite foot soup, commonly called marak taimani (Yemenite soup) in Israel, emerged to become a beloved element of Israeli culture.

  Regel was historically made from a few very inexpensive ingredients and with a limited range of flavorings, and strongly seasoned with hawaij (Yemenite spice mixture). In Israel, vegetables are sometimes added to the basic soup. The principal ingredient, sliced into manageable pieces, is the foot or shank, which comes from the shin section of the leg. The flavor and texture is extracted during the long, slow cooking. As elsewhere in the Middle East, lamb has long been the predominant meat. However, since the Yemenites emigrated to the West, beef has gained popularity. Regel is served warm with hard-boiled eggs and lachuach (Yemenite skillet bread), melawah (Yemenite flaky bread), or salufe (round flatbread).

  (See also Fatoot/Ftut and Patsas)

  Yemenite Foot Soup (Regel)

  6 to 8 servings

  [MEAT]

  2 pounds calf's or beef feet or shank bones, cleaned and cut into 2-inch pieces (have your butcher cut the bones for you)

  ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (optional)

  2 medium yellow onions, chopped

  ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

  8 to 10 whole black peppercorns

  8 cups cold water

  About 2 teaspoons table salt or 4 teaspoons kosher salt

  1 to 3 teaspoons hawaij (Yemenite Spice Mixture (Hawaij))

  1. Place the feet in a large pot, cover with cold water and, if using, add the lemon juice, which helps whiten the bones. Bring to a boil and boil until scum rises to the surface, about 10 minutes. Drain off and discard the water. Rinse the feet.