culinary customs and feasting
grains, fruits and all things dairy...
Food plays a pivotal role in the celebration of many Jewish festivals, acknowledging the cultural and culinary traditions, and religious significance associated within each feast.
Tonight, we begin the Feast of Weeks, known as Shavuot. It is one the Three Pilgrimage Festivals celebrated within the annual Jewish calendar, when the Israelites journeyed to the Temple of Jerusalem for ritual worship. It also commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the spring wheat harvests.
Shavout is deeply rooted within agriculture, holding a strong connection to the biblical landscape, and falls between the end of the barley and the beginning of wheat harvests each year. Scenes of arduous toil where women reaped, threshed and winnowed the grains, are fittingly recited in the Book of Ruth during this festival. Grains play a symbolic role in the Shavout meal, whether in the form of bread, crackers, whole wheat flakes or freekeh, the immature green wheat kernel, smoked in the fields for flavour, and becoming one of the staple grains of the Levantine cuisine. Freekeh was thought to have been first referenced in the Book of Ruth, as she gathered remnants of the freshly picked grain from the ground, and roasted them on open fires for sustenance and energy. It was called ‘kali’, and became known as the “fast food of the biblical era”.
As well as the established culinary connection to the first fruits of the biblical landscape, it is customary to feast upon dairy products, particularly cheeses, milk products and eggs, spread out on a beautifully decorated table with garlands of freshly cut spring flowers and grasses. The rationale behind the eating of dairy products is somewhat tenuous, with explanations including spring being the only season where the biblical landscape is green and lush, animals give birth and feed off the tender grass, so milk is plentiful and pure. This is considered by the religious scholars as symbolic of the sanctity of the Torah scrolls. Yet for all Jewish foodies and bakers, it is the pretext for making and celebrating the ubiquitous cheesecake.
Other notable customary Shavuot dishes include the Ashkenazi cheese blintzes, thin, crepe-like pancakes well filled with sweet cream cheese and raisins, wrapped into parcels and fried in butter, before being smothered in icing sugar and served with poached or fresh fruits. Placed side by side on the plate, two blintzes are said to resemble the tablets of stone of the Ten Commandments.
Bourekas are popular pastries from the Sephardic cuisine, served on Shavout, which can be both savoury and sweet. The bourekas can be made using a yeasted dough, puff pastry or phyllo and shaped into rounds or triangles.
This recipe below, was given to me by the only 100% spelt bakery in Northern Israel, ‘Pitputim’ whose bourekas are some of the best I have ever tasted…
makes approximately 16.
ingredients:
for pastry:
1 cup / 130g white spelt flour
1 ½ cups / 195g wholemeal spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup / 200g butter soft
1 cup / 250g cottage cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
Place all the ingredients in an electric mixer with a dough paddle, and beat together until the dough comes together to a smooth, soft dough, refrigerate for a few hours or overnight
for the filling:
1 ½ cups / 300g grated hard cheese - Cheddar, Emmental, Gruyere, feta (you can use one cheese or a mix, if you prefer)
1 egg white
½ cup / 100g spinach, chopped – frozen or fresh (if fresh, pour boiling water over it & drain, before chopping)
1-2 egg yolks, for egg wash
sesame seeds, for topping
mix the grated cheese, chopped spinach & egg white together in a bowl until combined & refrigerate until use
to assemble the bourekas:
once sufficiently chilled, cut into 16 equal portions, roll the dough out into rectangles, approximately 30 cm x 12 cm / 12” x 4”, cover each rolled piece of dough with a thin layer of the filling right to the edges, and taking the long edge of the dough, roll up tightly before taking one of the short edges and rolling it into a spiral, tucking the end of the bourekas underneath to close, repeat with all 16 pieces of dough
preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / GM4 & line a baking tray with nonstick baking paper
place the bourekas on the tray, brush each one with the egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds & bake for 20 minutes until golden brown
leave to cool slightly, eat while still warm and fresh
Every Jewish festival is heavily associated with specific foods, dishes and culinary traditions that initiates memories of people, places and the sheer joy of commensality at a table abundant with the customary flavours of each celebratory repast.
I am now off to bring in this joyous festival, and feast upon the varieties of cheesecakes, both baked and unbaked, flavoured and natural, decorated and plain, that grace every table for Shavuot. It will come as no surprise to you, that this festival is my culinary favourite…
Happy Holidays & Enjoy!!