Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

After all the elaborated foods of the holiday’s season, it’s time for some simple, hearty dishes. The following rustic soup, which comes from my maternal grandmother’s Sephardic kitchen, is just what is needed on a cold winter’s day.

Sephardic Tomatoes-Peppers Sauce with Fried Eggplants

Tomatoes-peppers sauce, or “Salata Kocha” (i.e. “cooked salad”), as it is known in Ladino, is a condiment that can be found in any Sephardic household at any given time.

Burekitas – Sephardic Savory Pastries

Burekitas are a type of small hand pies that are well known in any Sephardic household.

Sephardic Swiss Chard, Potatoes and Cheese Bake

This tasty bake is well loved in the Sephardic cuisine (check HERE for information about it), and is traditionally served for Saturday brunch. The bake is usually served with Tzatziki (recipe can be found HERE), hard boiled eggs and fresh vegetables or vegetable salad. Another tasty option is to serve it with a bit of date or maple syrup. The combination of sweet and salty is addictive.

Fried Fish with Agristada – Sephardic Lemon and Egg Sauce

Agristada, a velvety lemon and egg sauce, is one of the most loved sauces in Sephardic* cuisine, and one of my personal favorites. The sauce can be served warm or cold, and it is traditionally paired with fried fish, though also served with cooked fish, meatballs or steamed vegetables, especially artichoke.

Pot Roasted Chicken with Celery and Carrots, Sephardic Style

This simple chicken dish, from the fabulous Sephardic cuisine (find explanations about it HERE, or in THIS wonderful blog), is as tasty as it is easy to prepare.

Cauliflower Patties

These tasty patties, from the Sephardic cuisine, are a perfect vegetarian snack or an appetizer, served with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
When cooked in tomato sauce and served with couscous or rice, they also make an excellent vegetarian main dish.

Candied Quince with Honey and Rosemary

The Jewish New Year is celebrated today, and this brings back memories of traditional foods, even to an agnostic such as me. 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.  Candied quince is one of these dishes in the Sephardic table, and it is so tasty, it is well worth preparing, regardless of any religious practices.

Sweet and Sour Celeriac Sephardic Style

Celeriac is mostly known as a root used to flavor stocks or soups. However, it is a wonderful ingredient on its own right, and an amazing alternative to potato. It can be eaten raw, pickled, shredded to a tasty salad, or cooked in various ways.

Zucchini Cheese Bake with Hazelnuts Topping

This light, fresh and tasty bake is quick and easy to assemble. It can be served warm or cold, as an appetizer or a vegetarian entrée, or cut into small cubes and served as finger food.

Homemade Marzipan

Marzipan is one of the most ancient candies we know. It started as a simple mix of almond meal and honey, and once sugar was introduced, it eventually became the refined sweet we know today.
France, Spain and Germany are all claiming to be the place where the cooked version, which is the supreme form of Marzipan, was created, but it most likely have happened simultaneously.
The version I bring here is the Sephardic one (see this post for information about Sephardim and Ladino), therefore with origins in Spain. For Sephardic families, Marzipan is the ultimate candy and is served in every family or social gathering for hundreds of years.