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holiday

Truffles in the Negev, and a Moroccan Passover delicacy

Desiccated donkey dung. How’s that for a description of food? Does it make you want to taste it? Eat it? I have to say, when I first heard that description – in reference to the truffles that grow in sands around the Middle East, including Israel’s Negev desert, it caught …

Buckwheat casserole with roasted figs and grapes

I had a festive holiday meal in mind when I came up with this dish. Really, with seasonal fruits arranged on top, how could it not be festive? And at the base is filling, nutritious buckwheat, cooked up with onions majadera-style. All in all, it’s a parve/vegan dish that’s fit …

Springtime matzo ball broth

Is it that time of year again? The time when it becomes socially acceptable to start planning for Passover? My, how time flies. Our Passover is likely to be a particularly hectic one, since we’ll be spending it in a new apartment. After 6-plus years in our little Tel Aviv …

Fresh yeast sufganiyot — Hanukkah donuts

I’m going to admit it — I’m not into Roladin donuts. We may have another week to go until Hanukkah begins, but the Roladin donuts have been out in force for a while now, due to popular demand (and marketing). I must be the only person in the country who …

Sfenj, Moroccan donuts

Sfenj are marvelous in the way that only freshly baked yeast pastries know how. This modest dessert had top American chefs waxing poetic over the wonders of traditional foods, and understandably so. Back story: Four well-known American chefs were at an army base in the Golan, whipping up dinner for …

Happy Rosh Hashanah, and vegetarian meal ideas

It’s that time of year: The entire nation is packing into grocery stores and markets, as if no food will be left come the Jewish new year. Actually, that’s pretty much how we prepare for any Jewish holiday. By now, most of you probably know what you’re eating for the …

Yogurt cheesecake with apricot glaze

This might just be the most expensive cheesecake I’ll ever make. You see, I had my oven fixed in order to make it. OK, that’s not precise. It implies that my oven wasn’t working. In fact, my oven had been working a bit too well.

Mufletas — the best way to end Passover

The week-long Passover holiday can often end with a fizzle, but Moroccan Jews know how to let it go out with a bang — with music, drums and sequins, and lots of sweets and leavened pastries, of course. That’s Mimuna, the holiday our newspapers love to cover and our politicians …

Homemade horseradish

It can make a grown man cry. There’s nothing like a good, homemade horseradish to give you the kind of kick you can’t find in store-bought jars, probably because the manufacturers fear sending their customers running in the other direction. But if you ask me, the entire point of horseradish …

Latkes with leek, celery and baharat

It’s the first day of December, the weather is balmy, and it’s also the first night of Hanukkah. The winter festival of lights came as somewhat of a surprise this year — I knew it was approaching, and I saw the growing quantities of jelly donuts at all the bakeries, …