The following recipe came from my maternal grandmother, who was raised in the Sephardic Jewish community of Izmir. The making of jams, confitures and sweets was an important part of every household, and the guests were greeted with an assortment of small plates of these delicacies, along with coffee. Continue reading
The Jewish New Year is celebrated tomorrow, and this brings back memories of traditional foods, even to an agnostic such as myself. One of the culinary traditions for this event, is to dip a slice of apple in honey, and eat it as a symbol for a sweet New Year. Plenty other sweet dishes are added to the table as well, in order to emphasize this hope for a sweet New Year.
The following dessert was inspired by this tradition. Continue reading
Strawberry season is here and the farm stand has abundance of fresh and tasty ones, full of flavor and wonderful aroma, so much better than the ones at the supermarket. Continue reading
Quince is one of my most favorite fruits, even though it’s not the kind of fruit you can just grab and eat as it. Continue reading
We refer to the pineapple as one “fruit”, but it is interesting to know that it is actually a “multiple fruit”. This means the “fruit” consists of many smaller fruits, that are formed from a cluster of flowers. Each flower produces a “fruit”, but as they all grow together, they create what looks like one single fruit. Other familiar “multiple fruits” are figs, mulberries and strawberries.
Maybe the fact that they are produced from many flowers is the reason these fruits usually have an incredible aroma? Continue reading
What to do if you buy beautiful plums that end up tasting disappointingly bland? Don’t throw them away! Instead, stew them with brown sugar and spices, to enhance their flavor. Continue reading
