Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews
Encyclopedia
The cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of The Middle East
, North Africa
, Asia
, and Arab countries. Mizrahi Jews
have also been known as Oriental Jews (Mizrahi is Hebrew: Eastern or Oriental). Jews of the Mizrahi communities cook foods that were and are popular in their home countries, while following the laws of kashrut. The cuisine is based largely on fresh ingredients, as marketing was done in the local shuk. Meat is ritually slaughtered in the shehita process, and is soaked and salted. Meat dishes are a prominent feature of sabbath, festival, and celebretory meals. Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils and burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.
Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews includes the cuisines of the Jews of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Egypt, The Berber communities, Kurdistan, Eastern Caucasus and Georgia. Some of these communities and cuisine styles overlap with Sephardic communities who fled to many Eastern, Middle Eastern, and North African countries after the Spanish expulsion.
Coming from the Mediterranean and "sunny" climes, Mizrahi cuisine is often light, with an emphasis on salads, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, olive oil, lentils, fresh and dried fruits, herbs and nuts, and chickpeas. Meat dishes often make use of lamb or ground beef. Fresh lemon juice is added to many soups and sauces. Many meat and rice dishes incorporate dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins. Pine nuts are used as a garnish. Pomegranate juice is a staple of Persian Jewish cooking. Kubbeh, a meat-stuffed bulgur dumpling, features in the cooking of many Mizrahi communities. It is served in the cooking broth, as a kind of soup.
s of many varieties are the staple of the Mizrahi diet. Various flatbreads such as pita
s, laffa
, malawah
, and lavash
are used instead of challah
. Lahoh is a flatbread of the Yemenite Jews with a spongy texture.
seeds and hot pepper, is added to soups and other traditional Yemenite dishes. Skhug
, a hot pepper sauce, comes in red and green varieties. A diluted version of skhug is spooned over felafel. Hawaij
is a Yemenite spice mixture that comes into two varieties. One, a blend of powdered ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, is added to coffee and baked goods. The other, a blend of turmeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamom and cloves, is added to soup. Pastes and sauces are very often served on the side in small dishes on the table during meals, to be added by each diner as desired. Certain spice combinations are characteristic of particular countries, such as coriander and cumin in Egyptian cuisine.
The shuks of the Middle East and North Africa sell ready-made spice blends sold in bulk, but traditionally, Mizrahi Jews bought fresh herbs and prepared their own blends at home to maintain kashruth, fearing insects in the blends sold in the open air bazaar.
is the preferred alcoholic beverage. Rosewater is a common ingredient in cakes and desserts. Malabi, a cold cornstarch pudding, is sprinkled with rosewater and red syrup. Ikaddaif or kadaif is a very sweet pastry similar in style and technique to baklavah. It consists of shredded dough, which is wrapped around crushed nuts, baked and then soaked in syrup. It is common in various parts of the Middle East and is served at festive meals.
by Algerian Jews. Slow-cooked vegetables stuffed with meat are a popular holiday dish. Moroccan Jews season the stuffing with cinnamon, tumeric and nutmeg. Holiday meals start with at least a dozen small salads.
, which is forbidden with increasing stringency amongst the Ashkenazim. Kitniyot, are legumes and some grains, which include rice and a variety of beans and pulses. Whereas charoset
in Ashkenazi homes is a blend of chopped apples and nuts spiced with wine and cinnamon, Mizrahi charoset is often based on dried fruits, especially dates and is much thicker in consistency.
Other Mizrahi Jewish dishes are tebit, a chicken and rice dish, and ingriyi, sweet and sour meat topped with aubergines, both from the cuisine of Iraqi Jews.
, Baklawa, Bourekas, Chamin, Chreime, Couscous
, Falafel
,
Ful
, Gondi, Halva
, Hilbe, Hummus
, Jachnun
, Kadaif, Kibbeh
, Kubbaneh, Kubbeh Hamusta, Kubbeh Matfuniya, Lahoh, Malaby
Malawah
,
Ma'amoul
,
Matbucha
,
Moroccan cigars,
Moussaka
,
Mufleta,
Sabich
,
Sahlab,
Sambusak,
Shakshuka,
Skhug
,
Stuffed cabbage,
Tabbouleh,
Tagine,
Yaprah
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and Arab countries. Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahiyim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus...
have also been known as Oriental Jews (Mizrahi is Hebrew: Eastern or Oriental). Jews of the Mizrahi communities cook foods that were and are popular in their home countries, while following the laws of kashrut. The cuisine is based largely on fresh ingredients, as marketing was done in the local shuk. Meat is ritually slaughtered in the shehita process, and is soaked and salted. Meat dishes are a prominent feature of sabbath, festival, and celebretory meals. Cooked, stuffed and baked vegetables are central to the cuisine, as are various kinds of beans, chickpeas, lentils and burghul (cracked wheat). Rice takes the place of potatoes.
History
Mizrahi Jews are the Jews of the Middle East, and points south and east, largely along the Mediterranean coastal areas and the Levant. In some countries, there was much mixing of populations after 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain.Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews includes the cuisines of the Jews of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Egypt, The Berber communities, Kurdistan, Eastern Caucasus and Georgia. Some of these communities and cuisine styles overlap with Sephardic communities who fled to many Eastern, Middle Eastern, and North African countries after the Spanish expulsion.
Mizrahi cuisine basics
Breads
FlatbreadFlatbread
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
s of many varieties are the staple of the Mizrahi diet. Various flatbreads such as pita
Pita
Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
s, laffa
Taboon bread
Taboon bread ) is a flatbread wrap used in many cuisines. It is traditionally baked in a taboon oven and eaten with different fillings.Taboon bread is sold as street food, stuffed with hummus, falafel or shaved meat...
, malawah
Malawach
Malawach or malawah is a fried bread that is a staple of the Jews of Yemen.Malawach resembles a thick pancake, and it consists of thin layers of puff pastry brushed with oil or fat and cooked flat in a frying pan...
, and lavash
Lavash
Lavash is a soft, thin flatbread popular in several countries of the northern parts of the Middle-East and the southern parts of the Caucasus.Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven....
are used instead of challah
Challah
Challah also khale ,, berches , barkis , bergis , chałka , vánočka , zopf and kitke , is a special braided bread eaten on...
. Lahoh is a flatbread of the Yemenite Jews with a spongy texture.
Herbs, spices and seasoning blends
Mizrahi cuisine makes liberal use of cumin, pepper, sesame seeds, and various spices common to all Middle Eastern cuisines. Saffron, a staple of Sephardic cuisine is also featured in certain Mizrahi dishes. Many dishes are flavored with seasoning blends or pastes, and light sauces. Hilbe, a paste made from fenugreekFenugreek
Fenugreek is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Fenugreek is used both as a herb and as a spice . The leaves and sprouts are also eaten as vegetables...
seeds and hot pepper, is added to soups and other traditional Yemenite dishes. Skhug
Skhug
Skhug also spelled zhug, is a hot sauce popular in Middle Eastern cuisine. Originally from Yemen, it's also popular in Israel.Skhug is made from fresh hot peppers seasoned with coriander, garlic and various spices. Skhug adom is made with red peppers and skhug yarok from green peppers...
, a hot pepper sauce, comes in red and green varieties. A diluted version of skhug is spooned over felafel. Hawaij
Hawaij
Hawaij , also spelled Hawayej or Hawayij is the name given to a variety of Yemenite ground spice mixtures used primarily for soups and coffee...
is a Yemenite spice mixture that comes into two varieties. One, a blend of powdered ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, is added to coffee and baked goods. The other, a blend of turmeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamom and cloves, is added to soup. Pastes and sauces are very often served on the side in small dishes on the table during meals, to be added by each diner as desired. Certain spice combinations are characteristic of particular countries, such as coriander and cumin in Egyptian cuisine.
The shuks of the Middle East and North Africa sell ready-made spice blends sold in bulk, but traditionally, Mizrahi Jews bought fresh herbs and prepared their own blends at home to maintain kashruth, fearing insects in the blends sold in the open air bazaar.
- Adeni Hawaij (Aden) - cumin, coriander, black pepper
- Adeni Tea black tea spice (Aden) - cardamom, cinnamon, cloves
- Advieh-e Halegh, Halegh (Charoset) Spice (Iran) - It may contain: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom (optional)
- Hawaij (Yemen) - black pepper, cardamom, turmeric, saffron
- Kama (Morocco) - black pepper, cumin, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg
- Quatre épices or Four spices (Egypt) - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves
- Za'tar or zahtar - za'atarZa'atarZa'atar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern herbs from the genera Origanum , Calamintha , Thymus vulgaris and Satureja . It is also the name for a condiment made from the dried herb, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices...
, thyme or hyssop with ground sesame seeds, sumac and salt.
Desserts
Hot sahlab, a liquidy cornstarch pudding originally flavored with orchid powder (today invariably replaced by artificial flavorings), is served in cups as a winter drink, garnished with cinnamon, nuts, coconut and raisins. ArakArak (distilled beverage)
Arak or Araq , is a highly alcoholic spirit from the anis drinks family. It is a clear, colorless, unsweetened anise-flavoured distilled alcoholic drink...
is the preferred alcoholic beverage. Rosewater is a common ingredient in cakes and desserts. Malabi, a cold cornstarch pudding, is sprinkled with rosewater and red syrup. Ikaddaif or kadaif is a very sweet pastry similar in style and technique to baklavah. It consists of shredded dough, which is wrapped around crushed nuts, baked and then soaked in syrup. It is common in various parts of the Middle East and is served at festive meals.
Cooking techniques
As cooking on Shabbat is prohibited. Mizrahi Jews take advantage of slow cooking techniques, such as baking on a low temperature over night, to have available, hot dishes on the sabbath. This technique is virtually universal to all Jewish cuisines. One staple of this technique is Hamin or Chamin (from the word "kham," which means "hot"). In north Africa this dish is known as Dafina. There are many varieties of hamin and Dafina, as particularly local spices and ingredients are used, as well as the method of preparation. Some varieties are denser than others, and some use rice as a staple instead of the common root vegetables. Bourekas are often served on Shabbat morning. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jahnun and kubbanah.Shabbat
Sabbath foods are often slow cooked prior to Sabbath, and kept warm overnight once cooked, as cooking is forbbiden on the Sabbath by Jewish Law. In Yemenite cooking, Shabbat dishes include jahnun and kubbanah.Rosh Hashanah
Makroud are pastries stuffed with spiced dates and scented with orange-flower water prepared for Rosh HashanahRosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
by Algerian Jews. Slow-cooked vegetables stuffed with meat are a popular holiday dish. Moroccan Jews season the stuffing with cinnamon, tumeric and nutmeg. Holiday meals start with at least a dozen small salads.
Passover
Mizrahi cuisine allows the use of kitniyotKitniyot
Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth are a category of foods which are defined by Jewish law and tradition that Ashkenazi Jews avoid eating during the Biblical festival of Passover....
, which is forbidden with increasing stringency amongst the Ashkenazim. Kitniyot, are legumes and some grains, which include rice and a variety of beans and pulses. Whereas charoset
Charoset
Charoset, haroset, or charoses is a sweet, dark-colored, chunky paste made of fruits and nuts served primarily during the Passover Seder. Its color and texture are meant to recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt as mentioned in Tractate...
in Ashkenazi homes is a blend of chopped apples and nuts spiced with wine and cinnamon, Mizrahi charoset is often based on dried fruits, especially dates and is much thicker in consistency.
Other Mizrahi Jewish dishes are tebit, a chicken and rice dish, and ingriyi, sweet and sour meat topped with aubergines, both from the cuisine of Iraqi Jews.
Mizrahi specialities
Baba ghanoushBaba ghanoush
Baba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug is a Levantine dish of aubergine mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. A popular preparation method is for the eggplant to be baked or broiled over an open flame before peeling, so that the pulp is soft and has a...
, Baklawa, Bourekas, Chamin, Chreime, Couscous
Couscous
Couscous is a Berber dish of semolina traditionally served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. Couscous is a staple food throughout Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.-Etymology:...
, Falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
,
Ful
Ful Medames
Fūl medammis , or simply fūl, is an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.-History:The roots of fūl...
, Gondi, Halva
Halva
Halva refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.The term halva ,...
, Hilbe, Hummus
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
, Jachnun
Jachnun
Jachnun is a traditional Yemenite Jewish dish prepared from rolled dough which is baked on very low heat for about ten hours. The dough is rolled out thinly, brushed with shortening , and rolled up, similar to puff pastry. It turns a dark amber color and has a slightly sweet taste...
, Kadaif, Kibbeh
Kibbeh
Kibbeh or kibbe is an Arab dish made of bulgur or rice and chopped meat. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.Kibbeh is a popular dish in Levantine...
, Kubbaneh, Kubbeh Hamusta, Kubbeh Matfuniya, Lahoh, Malaby
Malawah
Malawach
Malawach or malawah is a fried bread that is a staple of the Jews of Yemen.Malawach resembles a thick pancake, and it consists of thin layers of puff pastry brushed with oil or fat and cooked flat in a frying pan...
,
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul are small shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts . They are popular in Levantine cuisine and in the Gulf countries. They may be in the shape of balls or of domed or flattened cookies...
,
Matbucha
Matbucha
right|thumb|250px|MatbuchaMatbucha is a cooked dish of tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper. The name of the dish originates from Arabic and means "cooked [salad]". It is served as an appetizer, often as part of a meze. In Israel it is sometimes referred to as...
,
Moroccan cigars,
Moussaka
Moussaka
Moussaka is an eggplant based dish of the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The best known variation outside the region is the Greek one.-Names and etymology:...
,
Mufleta,
Sabich
Sabich
Sabich is an Israeli food consisting of pita stuffed with fried eggplant and hard boiled eggs. Local consumption is said to have stemmed from a tradition among Mizrahi Jews, who ate it on Shabbat morning.-Etymology:...
,
Sahlab,
Sambusak,
Shakshuka,
Skhug
Skhug
Skhug also spelled zhug, is a hot sauce popular in Middle Eastern cuisine. Originally from Yemen, it's also popular in Israel.Skhug is made from fresh hot peppers seasoned with coriander, garlic and various spices. Skhug adom is made with red peppers and skhug yarok from green peppers...
,
Stuffed cabbage,
Tabbouleh,
Tagine,
Yaprah
Dolma
Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,...
See also
- Jewish cuisineJewish cuisineJewish Cuisine is a collection of the different cooking traditions of the Jewish people worldwide. It is a diverse cuisine that has evolved over many centuries, shaped by Jewish dietary laws and Jewish Festival and Sabbath traditions...
- Cuisine of Israel
- Cuisine of the Sephardic JewsCuisine of the Sephardic JewsThe cuisine of the Sephardi Jews is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean and Arab countries. Mizrahi, who are sometimes called Sephardic Jews, are Jews of origins from countries of the Middle-East, respectively...