Candied Pomelo Rind

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.

Sephardic Fresh Fava Beans with Onions and Mint

Unlike green/string beans, fava beans are more familiar to most in their dried form. They are also called broad beans for a reason, as they are substantially broader and bigger than green beans.

Grape Leaves Stuffed with Rice and Herbs

Stuffed grape leaves are known all over the Mediterranean, where they are mostly stuffed with rice and herbs, and in the Middle East, where a meat filling is more common.

Burekitas with Zucchini-Tomato filling

The Sephardic cuisine offers quite a few versions for Burekitas, small hand pastries, with various types of dough and fillings (check THIS post for more information about them).

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.

Leek and Potato Patties

As I’m planning to prepare these wonderful patties today, I thought it would be a good idea to re-post the recipe, which was posted in the early days of the blog, for those of you who might have missed it.
I’m sure that even those of you who already saw the recipe, will enjoy this tasty remainder.
See you next week with a new recipe!

Tasty Eats

Whenever I find fresh, plump leeks at the vegetable store, I grab a few. Their delicate onion flavor is great in many dishes like soups, quiches, risotto, and especially in these tasty leek and potato patties – again from the fabulous Sephardic kitchen. I’m sure you’ll love them once you’ll make them.

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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.

Lamb Stew with Tomatoes, Okra and Dried Apricots

This hearty and tasty lamb stew is very easy to prepare. Once all the ingredients are assembled in the pot, all that is needed is to bring it to the boil and then finish the cooking by baking it gently in the oven.
Served with fresh rustic bread or white rice (preferably Bastmai) it is the perfect dish for dinner on a chilly day.

Quince Squares Sweets

As I’ve found some beautiful quince at the store, I’ve decided to make the following tasty treats once again.
Since the recipe was posted in the early days of the blog, I thought it would be good to re-post it, for those of you who might have missed it. I’m sure that even those of you who already saw the recipe, will enjoy this tasty remainder.

See you next week with a new recipe.

Tasty Eats

As promised, here is another quince recipe.This time it is in the form of sweet and fragrant small bites, made of cooked and slightly dried quince paste.
These lovely sweets are a type of Pate de Fruit, which is the French term for small squares made of reduced fruit juices thickened with gelatin. The difference is that here I rely only on the pectin in the quince to thicken the mixture and no gelatine is added.
As I use unpeeled and coarsely chopped quince for the paste, the result is on the rustic side, which I personally like. Using the unpeeled fruit also helps with getting an all-natural beautiful pinkish-orange color. The color develops while cooking and deepens as the paste dries out.

The origin of the dish is Sephardic, and the recipe I’m using here is based on my grandmother’s recipe for “Dulce de Bimbrio”, a Ladino term for…

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