Tamarind Date Cake for Tu Bishvat

 Cakes, Desserts, Holidays, Tu'Bishvat  20 Responses »
Jan 202011
 

[Translate] Tu Bishvat is a minor Jewish holiday in the Hebrew month of Shevat, usually sometime in late January or early February, that marks the New Year of the Trees (Hebrew: ראש השנה לאילנות, Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot‎) or the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. It is customary to plant trees and eat dried fruits and nuts, especially figs, dates, raisins, carob, and almonds. Even though it is considered a minor festival, the commandment to plant trees in the Land of Israel is so important in Jewish tradition that there is even an ancient Rabbinical saying that if you Click here to continue reading this post

Fritelle di Mele – Apple Fritters

 Apples, Desserts, Dutch, European, Festivals, Fruit, Fruit Dessert, German, Hannukah, Holidays, Italian, Regional Cooking  2 Responses »
Dec 072010
 

[Translate] The holidays always make me think of the fun family gatherings we used to have. With most of the older generation no longer with us, it makes me think even more about the holiday foods I used to watch my paternal grandmother make. Before Hannukah, my grandmother was busy making her famous square chocolate cake, butter cookies, candied almonds, Butter-Mandel Kuchen, which she called Hefeteig (yeast dough) and Schnecken. But one of the treats that we all looked forward to were the fresh apple fritters she would make. The house would smell of sweet oil, apples, cinnamon and powdered sugar. I can smell them now as I am writing this post. I decided to Click here to continue reading this post

Honey for a Sweet Year, and a Fruitful One Too

 Festivals, Holidays, Israel, Israeli Farms, Rosh Hashana, Travel  3 Responses »
Sep 262010
 

[Translate] A guest post from my other half, Mr. BT: One of the great pleasures of living in Israel is the country’s agricultural riches, something that already led to the Land of Israel being described in the Bible as eretz zavat chalav u’dvash – ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ The milk in this description was probably more from sheep and goats than cows; and the ‘honey’ was almost certainly the sweet syrup of the dates that grow all over the country, not bee honey. Nevertheless, the historical image of honey as an integral part of the country’s agricultural tradition remains strong within Jewish culture, and especially so at this time of year, the Click here to continue reading this post

Chicken with Clove, Cinnamon and Chestnuts

 Chestnuts, Chicken, Cinnamon, Clove, European, Holidays, Main Course, Nuts, Poultry, Regional Cooking, Spanish, Spices, Yom Kippur  No Responses »
Sep 242010
 

[Translate] Today, with a heavy heart Sarah, Miriam, and I shut down Flavors of Israel. It was a project that we were all very excited about, but work and other things interfered with us devoting as much time as we needed to devote on the website. I haven’t talked about my professional life on the blog, but I do have a demanding full time job in the software industry. This really only leaves me with the weekend to find exciting and interesting food-related adventures to write about and photograph. In my case, maintaining two websites was more than I could handle. But don’t worry, we are all still great friends and plan to continue collaboration Click here to continue reading this post

Flan De Naranja

 Citrus, Custard, Desserts, European, Fruit, Orange, Regional Cooking, Spanish, Yom Kippur  4 Responses »
Sep 192010
 

[Translate] I love a rich Brazilian flan with an almost burnt caramel sauce. I grew up eating coconut flan that my grandmother’s Chinese cook used to make for dessert for special occasions and many a Shabbat dinner. So, when I decided to make it during the time Mr BT and I were courting, I was deflated when he told me that he loathes custard of any kind! I said, “but you haven’t had my flan. Maybe I can change your mind?” “All right, I will give it a try” he said. Well, I am happy to say that I did convert him that night, and I was not afraid to go ahead and make a Click here to continue reading this post

Goose with Shallots and Clementines

 Citrus, Fruit, Goose, Main Course, Poultry, Rosh Hashana, Shabbat  4 Responses »
Sep 122010
 

[Translate] We had a lovely long holiday weekend  which ended with celebrating my birthday. For Shabbat, I made a lovely, fragrant meal of slow cooked goose legs with shallots and clementines, which have just started showing up in the market. This dish is rich and fork-tender. I served it with a herb roesti that Mr BT made and steamed Brussels sprouts. A perfect dish for a sweet new year. PrintGoose with Shallots and Clementines 4 goose legs 200g shallots , peeled 6 whole cloves garlic, peeled 1 tablespoon ras el hanout 400ml (1/2 quart) vegetable stock 1 tablespoon clear honey Juice 1 lemon or lime 4 small, firm clementines , peeled 2 tbsp toasted sesame Click here to continue reading this post

Baroness’ Sinful Honey Cake

 Apples, Cakes, Desserts, Festivals, Fruit, Holidays, Rosh Hashana  10 Responses »
Sep 102010
 

[Translate] Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is a holiday for starting anew. So for this year’s holiday I decided to create my own signature honey cake, something special to welcome the new promise of a sweet year to come. What would be better than to take a honey cake and top it with thinly sliced apples that were poached in white wine, and top it with a luscious 72% dark chocolate glaze. Actually, it is so delicious as to be positively sinful. Fortunately, we have just over a week to enjoy it, confident in the knowledge that on Yom Kippur we will be able to atone for this sin. This year, as in every Click here to continue reading this post

Makroud – Date and Sesame Biscuits

 Biscuits or Cookies, Desserts, Holidays, Israeli, Middle Eastern, Middle Eastern Pastries, Palestinian, Ramadan, Regional Cooking  5 Responses »
Aug 162010
 

[Translate] I wanted to make a traditional Ramadan dessert this month, a recipe that called for mahleb, which is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry (Prunus mahaleb). The stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is ground to a powder before it is used. It adds a lovely flavor of bitter almond and cherry to breads, cakes and biscuits. I found a perfect date and sesame biscuit recipe called Makroud that is made by Israeli Muslims and Palestinians. There are several variations of Makroud that are also made in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, but this version is not as sweet. Mr BT and I would like to Click here to continue reading this post

Trains and Balkan Water Börek

 Bulgarian, Bulgarian White Cheese, Cheese, Eastern European, Goat Cheese, Herbs, Israel, Main Course, Middle Eastern, Parsley, Pastry, Regional Cooking, Shavuot, Tel Aviv, Travel, Turkish, Vegetarian, Warka  8 Responses »
Jun 162010
 

[Translate] I used to love to go to the train station in my hometown. My father would take us there every once in a while to see the trains and we would always try to get there early so he could put a penny on the rails and have the train run over them. As soon as the train was safely out of harm’s way, he would retrieve the misshapen pennies for us to take home as souvenirs of our adventure. So when I found out that the Tel Aviv municipality had painstakingly renovated an Ottoman-era train station, now unoriginally called HaTahana (The Station) near Neve Tzedek, I couldn’t wait to go and see it. Click here to continue reading this post

Chicken Hamin with Israeli Couscous and Butternut Squash

 butternut squash, Chicken, Couscous, Israeli, Main Course, Middle Eastern, Pasta, Poultry, Regional Cooking, Shabbat, Vegetables  7 Responses »
May 292010
 

[Translate] As the weather get warmer here, I like to start lightening up the dishes. My husband just returned from a two week trip where he only had fish, so I had to make a chicken dish before he started growing scales and gills. After the first successful attempt at making a hamin, I decided to try a summer recipe from Sherry Ansky’s Hamin cookbook. This recipe just calls for chicken legs, israeli couscous, onions, and water, which sounded too bland for our taste, so I kicked it up a notch and added garlic, slices of butternut squash, Hungarian paprika, and ras el hanut. The dish was delicious and the sweetness of the butternut squash Click here to continue reading this post

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