1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (118 page)

The Ashkenazic Jews have their potato latkes. For the Sephardic Jews of Mediterranean and Near Eastern roots,
sufganiyot
are sweets for celebrating the winter holiday of Hanukkah.

A
sufganiyah
is a sponge, and the plump and cheery, jelly-filled doughnuts are spongy indeed, fried (just like latkes) to golden-brown perfection in the hot vegetable oil that brings symbolic significance to these two holiday specialties—harkening back to the unexpected supply of olive oil that kept lamps lit and saved the Maccabees from annihilation at the hands of ancient enemies.

Sufganiyot are so popular in Israel that during the weeks leading up to the eight nights of Hanukkah, the city’s largest commercial supplier bakes more than a quarter of a million a day. They’re traditionally filled with apricot or raspberry jam, but modern bakeries stuff them with all sorts of fillings—among them the currently popular Latin-inspired
dulce de leche.

Where:
In Israel
, Angel Bakeries at various locations,
angel.org.il/branches_en.aspx
;
in New York
, Park East Kosher, tel 212-737-9800,
parkeastkosher.com
;
in Los Angeles
, Eilat Bakery at two locations,
eilatbakery.com
;
in Lenox and Great Barrington, MA
, Haven Café, tel 413-637-8948,
havencafebakery.com
;
in Teaneck, NJ
(and by mail order), Butterflake Kosher Bakery of Teaneck, tel 201-836-3516,
butterflake.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Jewish Holiday Cookbook
by Joan Nathan (2004);
The Book of Jewish Food
by Claudia Roden (1996);
epicurious.com
(search hanukkah doughnuts).
See also:
Berliner Pfannkuchen
;
Semlor, or Fastelavnsboller
.

Sweet-and-sour salmon is a homey thing, something a Jewish grandmother might make for a family dinner. Particularly delicious on hot summer days, its cool, tender cuts of rose-gold salmon profit from a gentle simmering in a lightly salted bath flavored with brown sugar, lemon juice, and perhaps a splash of white vinegar, onions, golden raisins, bay leaves, cracked dried ginger, and cloves. The onions supply a magical sweetness, and the cooking liquid becomes a marvelously thick, almost gel-like glaze that is at once tart, tangy, and sweet.

Typical of eastern Europe, where freshwater fish abound, the dish is especially prevalent on Jewish holidays, when cooking must be done in advance. Developed as a preservation technique before modern refrigeration, it echoes similar preparations used for carp and other freshwater fish that are also associated with the Sephardic Jews of Mediterranean countries—most notably Italy, where these dishes were said to have originated in the Jewish ghettos of Rome and Venice. The strikingly similar Venetian specialty
pesce in saor
can be found on the menu at nearly any restaurant in that watery city where, as in Rome, it is sometimes served hot. It, too, is an ancient specialty that consists of fish first fried and then marinated, no doubt originally to preserve it, in a blend of vinegar and onions.

Where:
For pesce in saor,
in Venice
, Da Fiore, tel 39/041-721-308,
dafiore.net
.
Further information and recipes:
Cucina Ebraica
by Joyce Goldstein (2005);
From My Mother’s Kitchen
by Mimi Sheraton (1979);
The Jewish Festival Cookbook
by Fannie Engle and Gertrude Blair (1988);
The Da Fiore Cookbook
by Damiano Martin (2003);
nytimes.com
(search almost aunt sandy’s sweet and sour salmon).

A homemade onion and poppy seed cracker in progress.

Homely, rustic, and pale golden brown, the biscuits called
kichel
are redolent of both onions and poppy seeds. Which of their alternate names they are known by depends on the ingredient the baker chooses to emphasize—
tzibele kichel
for the onion devotees and
mohn kichel
for poppy seed lovers.

Based on yeast dough mixed with poppy seeds and grated onions and allowed to rise outdoors or in a very airy corner overnight so the onion fumes mellow, the biscuits are rolled out and cut into either rounds or diamond shapes before they are baked into a
jaw-exercising sort of hardtack. Completely cooled and stored in airtight metal containers, the kichel keep for many weeks, their wonderful flavors enhanced by a good measure of salt and fresh peanut oil and continuing to ripen. These savory nibbles are especially good with drinks such as beer, whiskey, or young red wine; go well with cheeses such as Swiss, Cheddar, or muenster; and are also irresistible simply as noshes by themselves.

Makes about 50 kichel

2 envelopes active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

3½ cups flour, or more as needed

3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

½ pound very fresh poppy seeds (about 1½ cups)

2½ tablespoons salt

1½ teaspoons finely ground black pepper

5 very large or 7 medium-size onions, coarsely grated

¾ cup peanut oil, plus oil for the mixing bowl and baking sheets

1.
Sprinkle the yeast into ½ cup of warm water and add a pinch of sugar. Let stand until the mixture begins to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.

2.
Place the flour in a large, wide mixing bowl or mound it on a pastry board or wood countertop. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast mixture, eggs, poppy seeds, 2½ tablespoons of salt, and the pepper, grated onions, and peanut oil. Using a fork, beat these ingredients together, then gradually stir the flour into the liquid mixture until thoroughly incorporated. If the dough is too stiff and crumbly, add a little more water. If it is too soft and sticky to knead, which is more likely to be the case, work more flour into the dough until it is light, smooth, and very elastic but not at all sticky.

3.
Lightly flour a work surface, then knead the dough very well until it is shiny and blisters form on the surface, 15 to 20 minutes, depending upon the temperature in the room and the vigor with which you knead. You can also knead the dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but it will be better if it is kneaded by hand for at least 5 minutes at the end.

4.
Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in it, cover it with a towel, and place the bowl in a warm, draft-free corner to rise until it has doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

5.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush 2 or 3 large baking sheets with peanut oil.

6.
Punch the dough down, divide it into convenient-size batches, and using a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out ¼ inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in squares, diamonds, or circles; the squares and diamonds should be about 3 by 3 inches, the circles about 2 inches in diameter. (You may also use cookie cutters for other shapes and sizes.)

7.
Arrange the kichel on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Prick the surface of each kichel with a fork and brush the top lightly with peanut oil. Bake the kichel until golden brown, about 45 minutes.

8.
Transfer the kichel from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool thoroughly as soon as they come out of the oven. Packed in an airtight container they will keep for weeks. Their flavor deepens after 24 hours.

Mail order:
For poppy seeds, The Spice House,
thespicehouse.com
; Penzey’s Spices, tel 800-741-7787,
penzeys.com
.
Further information and additional recipes:
Inside the Jewish Bakery
by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg (2011).

A long-cooked brisket stew perfumed with dried fruit.

Because it contains so many ingredients, tzimmes has become a classic Jewish metaphor denoting a big fuss or mess—as in, “Why are you making such a tzimmes over this?!” In the kitchen, the term refers to a lushly rich, aromatic, and colorful special-occasion stew of vegetables, fruits, and meat. There are as many variations on tzimmes as there are cooks, but in general it always contains onions, garlic, and fork-tender chunks of beef brisket, along with an orange-gold rainbow of carrots, sometimes sweet potatoes, and always one or two dried fruits such as prunes, apples, or apricots.

Unsurprisingly, tzimmes is the cause of heated arguments among Jewish communities and family members around the world. What is the one and only “right” way to make tzimmes? Some include pumpkin, others oranges or honey. Some throw in chickpeas, or even knaidlach dumplings on top and vegetarians include everything except meat. Whatever the ingredients, the result is decidedly homey and rustic.

An authentic Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s) dinner without a tzimmes cannot exist, in part because, like many foods on the Jewish table, its ingredients are highly symbolic: The Hebrew word for carrot is
gezra
, which also means judgment, so it is said that carrots are served to help ensure sweet judgment in the New Year. (The Yiddish word for carrot,
meren
, means to multiply—another possible New Year’s wish.)

Tzimmes is equally welcome on any Passover or Shabbat table, provided that the family cook has the time it takes to prepare it.

Where:
In Chicago and Skokie, IL
, The Bagel Restaurant & Deli,
bagelrestaurant.com
.
Further information and recipes:
It’s Not Worth Making a Tzimmes Over
(for children) by Betsy R. Rosenthal (2006);
The Book of Jewish Food
by Claudia Roden (1996);
Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking
by Arthur R. Schwartz (2008);
cookstr.com
(search basic tzimmes; carrot tzimmes);
food52.com/recipes
(search big tzimmes for passover).
Special events:
Tzimmes is often served at big Jewish festivals around the country: Jewish Food Festival, Little Rock, AR, April,
jewisharkansas.org
(search food festival); San Diego Jewish Food Festival, San Diego, CA, April,
sdjewishfoodfest.com
; Tallahassee Jewish Food & Cultural Festival, Tallahassee, FL, April,
tallahasseejewishfoodfestival.com
; Richmond Jewish Food Festival, Richmond, VA, January,
richmondjewishfoodfestival.com
.