[Sca-cooks] Redacting another Jewish dish (fwd)

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

(sound of palm of hand smacking forehead)
This Spanish Jewish dish sounds an awful lot like...
Isfanakh Mutajjan!

Many modern dishes that contains greens, translated as "spinach" in 
English, in Arabic call for silq, and silq is chard. As far as i can 
tell Isfanakh is spinach, but silq was also a popular leafy green.

A chard dish i ate in "palace restaurant" in Fes, Morocco, a couple 
years ago had a nice amount of olive oil to make it unctuous- the 
dish is eaten cold as a side dish (i don't recall what it was called, 
but it was awfully close to the same dish). It seems that the Spanish 
Jewish recipe does, too. I have reproduced this dish by making 
Isfanakh Mutajjan, being generous with the oil, and, of the 
seasonings, accentuating the cumin. I know it wasn't made with 
spinach in Morocco - it was a green with a bit more, uh, body...

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According to my Moroccan Jewish cookbook, a similar recipe (with the 
addition of Moroccan preserved lemon) "is part of every Sabbath 
meal"... p. 63 _The Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardi Cuisine from 
Morocco_, by Kitty Morse and Danielle Mamane (both Moroccan Jews). 
Say the authors:
"Chard is one of the vegetables that receives a special beraha 
(blessing) during Passover"
They also note that Fassis snack on this chard between two pieces of 
crisp matzoh.

They only give the name in French and English, sigh, not Arabic 
(Moroccan Jews speak Arabic, and some Sephardim may speak Ladino, 
which is a form of Medieval Spanish)

Chard Salad with Preserved Lemon
Blettes aux Citron Confits

3 Tb. virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz bunch of red chard, stemmed and chopped
12 oz bunch of white chard, stemmed and chopped
rind of 1/4 preserved lemon, finely diced
1 Tb. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
lemon slices for garnish

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic 
and cook, stirring occasionally until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the 
chard leaves, a handful at a time. Using 2 wooden spoons, toss them 
until wilted, 3 to 4 minute. Proceed in this manner until all the 
leaves are used. Add the lemon rind, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 
Toss to blend and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with lemon 
slices and serve at room temperature.

-----

In "The Great Book of Couscous, Classic Cuisines of Morocco, Algeria, 
and Tunisia" by Copeland Marks, is this recipe, on page 185 in the 
Algerian section:

Chakcouka bil Slk

1 lb fresh spinach
3 Tb olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
4 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press
2 large ripe tomatoes (1 lb.)
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. white pepper

Pull off and discard that tough stems of the spinach. Put the spinach 
in a large pan with 1/4 cup water, cover the pan and steam over 
moderate heat for 3 minutes to reduce the bulk. Drain, cool and press 
out the liquid quite firmly. Set the spinach aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet, add the onion and garlic and stir-fry a 
minute. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook 
for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and mix everything together. Cover the 
pan again and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes more.

Anahita Notes:
1) Chakcouka is more typically made with bell peppers and tomatoes...
2) Silq (here romanized as "slk") is more likely to be chard, not 
spinach. Chard will really benefit by the pre-steaming...

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In "Cooking at the Casbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen" by Kitty 
Morse, page 59, is this recipe:

Bokkola b'Zitoun
Chopped Spinach Salad with Lemons and Olives

2 bunches (about 1-1/2 lb) fresh spinach
2 Tb. olive oil
1 Tb. Hungarian paprika
1 Tb. ground cumin
1 tsp. pepper
6 Tb. minced fresh cilantro
3 garlic cloves, minced
15 green olives, pitted
2 tsp. finely diced Preserved Lemon rind
1 small lemon, cut into thin slices

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the spinach until it wilts, 2 
to 3 minutes. Drain in a colander. When it is cool enough to handle, 
press the spinach with the back of a large spoon to remove excess 
water. On a cutting board, chop the spinach finely and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the olive oil, paprika, 
cumin, and black pepper. Cook, stirring constantly , 1 to 2 minutes. 
Add the chopped spinach, cilantro, and garlic, and cook, stirring 
constantly until most of the liquid evaporates, 8 to 10 minutes.

Reserve 6 of the olives. Finely chop the remaining olives Combine the 
chopped olives and the diced preserved lemon with the spinach. Cook 
until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To serve, mound the spinach in the center of a serving plates. Dot 
the salad with the reserved olives. Cut the lemon slices in half and 
place them around the plate to create a scalloped border. Serve at 
room temperature.

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And in "North African Cooking: Exotic Delights from Morocco, Tunisia, 
Algeria, and Egypt" by Hilaire Walden, on page 94:

Swiss Chard Tagine
Marak Silk

2 lb Swiss chard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 Tb. oil
1 tsp. paprika
1 largish onion, finely chipped
1/8 cup long grain rice
4 Tb. chopped fresh cilantro
4 Tb. water
salt and pepper

Separate the leaf part from the thick ribs of the chard. Shred the 
leaves coarsely and slice the stalks into 1/2 inch wide strips.

Warm the oil in a heavy flameproof casserole, add the chard stalks 
and the garlic, cover and cook gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring 
occasionally. Stir in the paprika, stirring for 30-60 seconds, then 
the onion, chard leaves, rice, cilantro, water, and seasoning.

Cover with a very tight-fitting lid and cook, stirring occasionally, 
for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender; if necessary add some 
more water. The lid must fit really well so that no steam can escape 
(seal it with foil to be sure).

Anahita Notes:
This is an extremely conservative amount of garlic - i think it was 
reduced for the English for whom this book was originally published. 
Note the amount of garlic in the other recipes above and increase 
accordingly.

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None of these is the same as the Spanish Jewish recipe in "A Drizzle 
of Honey", but they sure appear to be related...

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As an unrelated aside, there's a dried meat thingy called khlii (sort 
of hlee), sort of like jerky, but not eaten as it. It is shredded and 
cooked. I recall reading an SCA period resource - but not which one - 
that mentions having dried meat strips to take on long journeys when 
food would be uncertain (sounds like khlii, but the original Arabic 
was not mentioned) - but, again, this was cooked, not eaten like 
modern jerky.

Anahita bint 'abd al-Karim al-Fassi