Sephardi

Hélène Jawhara Piñer holds a doctoral degree in Medieval History and the History of Food. In 2018, she was awarded the Broome & Allen Fellowship of the American Sephardi Federation (asf), dedicated to recognizing outstanding academic accomplishments and services to the Sephardic community, as well as encouraging continued excellence in the field of Sephardi studies. As a research associate of the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Renaissance(CESR) and of the Cooking of Recipes of the Middle Ages (CoReMa) research program in Tours, Dr. Jawhara-Piñer’s main research interest is the medieval culinary history of Spain through inter- and multiculturalism, with a special focus on the Jewish culinary heritage in Arabic. Her recipes have appeared in Sephardi World Weekly, Tablet Magazine, The Forward, and S&P Central’s Newsletter. She attended The Great Big Jewish Food Fest (May 2020) as a presenter for an historical-cooking demonstration. With the collaboration of the ASF, she gives live historical cooking classes for the show “Sephardic Culinary History with Chef Hélène Jawhara Piñer,” available on Chaiflix.

Table of ContentsPreface by David Gitlitz

Introduction

Bread and Snacks

El Pan de los Siete Cielos: The Bread of the Seven Heavens
Mufakhkhar: The bagel from Syria
Empanaditas with spinach and cheese
Empanaditas with eggplant
The making of peot: The challah of Spain in the thirteenth century
Baked muğabbana: Cheese pies
Falafel: Simple chickpea croquettes
Matza: Unleavened bread
Calentita: Chickpea flour cake
Corn tortillas: A Passover Mexican crypto-Jewish dish

Vegetables and Eggs

Güesmo: A Swiss chard dish
Huebos hammados: Red hard-boiled eggs
Eggplant almodrote: Eggplant, garlic and cheese dip
Acelgas con garbanzos: Swiss chard stew with chickpeas

Eggplants

Eggplant isfīriyā croquettes
Almoronía: Eggplant and meatballs
Sweet fried eggplants to break the fast
Caçuelas: Eggplants with saffron and Swiss chard for a converso wedding

The Explicitly Jewish Dishes

“A Jewish dish of chicken” with stuffing
“A Jewish dish of chicken”
”Jewish partridge,” stuffed
”A Jewish dish of partridge”
”A stuffed buried Jewish dish”
”A Jewish dish of eggplants stuffed with meat”
Makābīb la’nūhā al-yahūd: Meatballs cursed by the Jews

Meat and Fish

Adefina: The iconic slow-cooked chickpea and beef stew
Cecina and namkasūd: Dried meat
Tharīd: Thick soup with unleavened bread and chicken
Oriza: Wheat grain and chicken stew
Meat pie of the Fernandes conversos from Bahia
Converso fish stew
Converso fish pie

The Yom Kippur “Menu” of the Conversos from Mexico

Gaspar Váez, 1640
Salomón Machorro, 1650

Soups

Fidāwīsh: Short vermicelli noodles with tuna, saffron, and mint
Puchero: Maimonides’ Chicken Soup

Maimonides' Regimen of Health Menu

Green vegetables sauté
Gazpachuelo: Lemon broth
Quince, Pear, Apple and Pomegranate Juice

Desserts and Pastries

Murakkaba: The Moroccan mufleta
Muhallabiyye: Almond rice pudding
Nuegados: Orange and honey fried dough
Isfenğ: The Andalusian donut
Maqrūṭ: Fried diamonds with dates and walnuts
Hojuelas, fazuelos or fijuelas
Rice and honey pudding
Berenjenas confitadas con canela: Candied eggplants with cinnamon
Neulas encanonadas: Brik pastry rolls with almonds and honey
Maimonides Cake

Own Creations Based on Historical Sources

Manioc cheese balls with candied pimentas biquinho vermelhas
Cottage cheesecake
Batbot: Flat and chewy Moroccan bread
Tortitas de acelga: Chickpea flour croquettes with Swiss chard
Pão de queijo: Tapioca cheese balls
Rose apple tart
Spinach mina

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Index

List of Illustrations