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Writer's picturebrkt-ברקט

Two Very Different Minhagim (Traditions) For Pesach (Passover)



It is spring. And with spring come Pesach (Passover) - my favorite holiday. We clean our homes and rid them of all evidence of chametz (wheat, products of wheat and grasses, and all leavening agents). Tomorrow we will gather with friends and family and have the Seder - a very special meal where we will recite the account of our escape from bondage and our journey to freedom.


It is an exciting story. I make no claims about its veracity but it is very compelling and whether or not is true, it is an essential part of our origin story.


When I was a child my parents were very strict about keeping the dietary laws prescribed for the holiday. We discarded all the old food and removed all the dishes from the kitchen. My mother scrubbed the cupboards and lined them with fresh paper. Mom and I went down to the fruit cellar and dug out the boxes of pesadicke (kosher for Passover) dishes. We unwrapped them and washed them and placed them in the newly scrubbed cupboards.


We lived in Saskatoon, a small city in the Canadian prairies with a small Jewish community. At Pesach we ordered our food from Winnipeg - the next largest city with a significant Jewish community. We had no dairy foods, no vinegar, no mustard, no rice, no pasta .... We lived off of meat and fish, fresh vegetables, chicken soup, horseradish, schmaltz and matzoh. It was hard but it was wonderful.


My whole adult life I followed these rules. Of course when we lived in New York, I had access to many more options and I no longer had to go without dairy, but the principles were same - until we moved to Tel Aviv. Pi-tom (suddenly) we learned that the ban on keetnyot - seeds, lentils, beans, rice, pulses - was an Ashkenazi (Eastern European) tradition. It was not even a Halachic (religious) law. While we refrained from pretty much everything, Sephardim (Spanish/Turkish) and Mizrachim (North African/Levant, Indian) Jews enjoyed dahl and rice and all the sunflower seeds they could eat.


Having made a new life for ourselves here, we have also added keetnyot to our Pesach diet. However, we have not abandoned our love of Ashkenazi favorites. So, below please find Passover recipes for Carrot Tzimmes and Chickpea, Fennel and Pumpkin Stew.



BT's Passover Tzimmes


Ingredients:

3 pounds (1.4 kilo) multi-colored carrots

2 tablespoons fat (olive oil, ghee)

1 tablespoon harissa

3 tablespoons dark honey

1 lemon - zest and juice

1 teaspoon potato starch

2 tablespoons water

2 cloves garlic - pressed

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 sprig fresh oregano or za'atar

1 small bunch fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 grinds black pepper


Directions:

In a heavy bottom frying pan add fat and harissa

Turn heat on to medium

Peel carrots and slice them in coins (rounds)

When harissa begins to sizzle add sliced carrots

Do not stir. Leave carrots "to fry" in the pan

Check the carrots after 2 minutes. When they are slightly brown, toss to redistribute

Add salt, pepper, garlic and honey

Reduce heat to low and cover

Cook carrots until they are barely tender

Remove from heat

Mix lemon juice and water with potato starch to make a paste

Stir paste in with carrots

Return pan to burner on very low heat

Sauce will thicken

Remove from heat

Chop fresh oregano or za'atar and sprinkle over carrots

Add lemon zest

Serve at room temperature or reheat in oven right before serving


Enjoy! !בתיאבון




BT's Passover Chickpea, Fennel and Pumpkin Stew


Ingredients:

8 creamers (small white potatoes)

1 large Jerusalem artichoke tuber

1 medium sweet potato

1 small celeriac

2 large fennel bulbs

1/2 very small pumpkin - about the size of a butternut squash

1 1/2 cups (500 grams) cooked chickpeas

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon harissa

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon nigella

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon dry thyme

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

2 ounces (60 ml) Arak (optional)

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 small sprig fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 cups (480 ml) filtered water

1 lemon - juice and zest


Directions:

Peel Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac and reserve in acidulated water

Wash potatoes and cut in half and add to acidulated water

Cut pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and chop 1 half into large pieces

Remove outer leaves of fennel and chop into large pieces

Add oil and harissa and turmeric to heavy gauge cocotte

Turn flame to medium

When spices begin to bubble add pumpkin

Sauté until pieces are thoroughly coated in spice

Add fennel and sauté, coating pieces in spice

Remove Jerusalem artichoke, potatoes and celeriac from water

Chop artichoke and celeriac into large pieces

Add artichoke, potatoes and celeriac to cocotte and coat with spice

Add salt, cloves, nigella, nutmeg, cumin and thyme to stew

Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring several times

Add Arak and sugar

Sauté for 2 minutes to burn off alcohol

Add water, fresh thyme, bay leaf and rosemary

Add half of chickpeas to stew

With remaining chickpeas, smash into a paste and then add to stew

Place cocotte in 375 F. (190 C.) oven to bake for 1 hour

Discard thyme, bay leaf and rosemary

Add lemon zest before serving


Enjoy! !בתיאבון





Enjoy! !בתיאבון




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