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    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks
    Ebook188 pages40 minutes

    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks

    By Dr Essie Sassoon, Bala Menon and Kenny Salem

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The exotic, kosher cuisine of the Cochinis is part of an important story about a microscopic community of Jews that had a joyful existence in a remote corner of India called the Kingdom of Cochin for two millennia. Living on the lush, rain-swept Malabar coast, they flourished without discrimination of any kind, in proximity with their Hindu, Christian and Muslim neighbours, mutually dependent on each other and transferring cooking styles and ideas throughout the centuries. What stood out, however, was the strict adherence to the dietary laws of the Bible. With coconut and rice, jaggery and cane sugar and an abundance of fruits like mango, jack fruit, banana and guava, it was festive season throughout the year. They made and enjoyed jewel-like confections ranging from the 'motta salada', a unique and ultra-sweet egg yolk string delicacy, to golden-brown rice dumplings called ’neyyappams’ along with a rich array of nut brittles, puddings, stuffed crepes, cakes and other sweets they describe as ‘sublime’. The Cochinis, most of whom who made 'aliyah' and settled in Israel in the 1950s continue to make and enjoy these dishes today.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTamarind Tree Books Inc.
    Release dateApr 30, 2016
    ISBN9780991915743
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks
    Author

    Dr Essie Sassoon

    Retired Gynaecologist. Born in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin in Kerala; was Specialist Associate Professor at Calicut Medical College, when she volunteered for duty in Israel during the Yom Kippur War, serving at Telashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan; Later became Deputy Head of Department at Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon, where she now lives. Twice honoured for meritorious service, Dr. Sassoon now devotes her time to her hobbies - cooking, sports and folk dancing.

    Read more from Dr Essie Sassoon

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      Book preview

      The Cochin Jewish Book Of Sweets And Drinks - Dr Essie Sassoon

      The Cochinim (as the Jews from Cochin are called in Israel), love their food. Living for around 2000 years, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, on the lush, monsoon-swept Malabar Coast in the southwestern corner of India, this close-knit, orthodox community stayed true to the dietary rules of the Bible, adapting the abundant and exotic local produce to develop some wonderful dishes.

      Spices, especially the 3 Cs - cardamom, cinnamon and cumin - along with coconut, coriander and pepper dominate their cooking. The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries & Veggie Dishes combines the culinary wisdom of over 30 members from the Cochini community, living in India, Israel, United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

      Some of the recipes are similar to the cuisine of Kerala Hindus, Christians and Muslims, among whom the Cochin Jews lived in close proximity for generations. The Cochinim, however, ensured that their food always remained kosher. This E-book is the third of four cookbooks in the Spice & Kosher Series related to Cochini cuisine.

      Kerala’s Jews or Cochinim make up one of the tiniest and most ancient of all Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Most of them settled in Israel after the founding of the country in 1948. Today, there are flourishing Cochini moshavim (settlements) in Israel - Nevatim and Shahar in the southern Negev desert, Aviezer, Mesilat Zion and Taoz near Jerusalem and Kfar Yuval in the far north. Cochinis also live in Binyamina, Petah Tikva, RishonLe Zion, Ashdod, Jerusalem and Haifa.

      The recipes here are not listed in alphabetical order - but arranged with the factoids that accompany some of them.

      As they say in Hebrew: Be Te’avon – Enjoy!

      Eating Brick & Mortar - The Charoset

      The charoset or haroset or charoses is one of the symbolic Jewish foods for Passover (Pesach) Seder, the ritual feast that marks the beginning of this major Jewish holiday. It is conducted in the evening of the 14th day of Nisan (Jewish calender) and also on the 15th by observant Jews living outside Israel.

      The colour and texture of the charoset is intended to remind the Jews of the bricks and mortar the Israelites were forced to make for 40 years, during their enslavement in ancient Egypt. The word charoset itself comes from the Hebrew word cheres or clay.

      The Seder tells the story of the liberation of Israelites from slavery (You shall tell your child on that day it is because what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.) It is needless to say that this brown lump is delicious and vanishes quickly off the plate! - Dr. Essie Sassoon.

      There are as many recipes for charoset as there are Jewish communities in the Diaspora. While the Jews of Eastern Europe made charoset with apples, walnuts and honey, spiced with cinnamon and sweet wine, in the Middle East it was made with dry dates, raisins and figs. In Greece and Turkey, they added almonds and the Italians used chestnuts.

      The Cochini Jews followed the Sephardi/Mizrahi traditions and dates became the main ingredient in their charoset. Some congregations also used coconuts, bananas and pomegranates. After reciting the blessings, a sandwich with the charoset and some maror (bitter herbs)* was eaten, with the rest of the charoset enjoyed plain.

      *Maror, refers to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the Biblical commandment with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:8). In Cochin, lettuce was used as maror.

      Pic © Glevalex/Dollar Photo Club.

      Bernadette Baum’s Charoset for Passover

      Bernadette Baum is an editor of financial market and general news at a global news agency in New York. Having spent her childhood in Malaysia, she traces her roots to the Cochin Jews.

      In her words: Many years ago, in a tropical paradise far away, a little girl grew up in a jasmine-fringed house with orchids, mango trees, papaya trees, banana and coconut palms, jackfruit, soursop, tomato vines and curry plants. She watched as her Grandmother cooked and baked in a fragrant kitchen. That was me, and I have been cooking since I was ten. (Bernadette, who converted to Judaism from Catholicism some 15 years ago, speaks French, Indonesian, Malay, Malayalam, some Hebrew and writes a popular blog http://divaindoors.com)

      "Charoset, the fruit and nut jam-like confection which, at Passover, recalls the mortar which the enslaved Jews of ancient Egypt bonded bricks together with, is relatively simple to put together. This version is similar to the charoset made in Egypt, which includes dates, nuts and cinnamon. I have substituted orange juice for the more traditional red wine, and thrown in coconut as a nod to my Jewish predecessors in Cochin, Kerala." - Bernadette Baum.

      Ingredients:

      1 Fuji apple, grated

      1 cup dates

      1/2 -3/4 cup apricot

      2 tbsp preserved orange peel

      3/4 cup walnuts

      1 orange, zest and juice

      1 tbsp brown sugar,

      1/2 cup coconut shavings

      1/2 lemon, juiced

      1/4 cup red wine (optional)

      1-2 tsp cinnamon

      Directions:

      Put all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend, but not too finely. Serve at the Passover Seder and on toasted matzah for breakfast.

      Reprinted with permission from Bernadette Baum, New York.

      Charoset - Mala Version

      Mala is a small, picturesque town near Kodungalloor (Cranganore), some 40 km north of Kochi. Mala has several inland waterways and the area boasts acres of rich coconut, ginger and pepper plantations.

      The Cochini Jewish congregation of Mala was among the earliest in India to make aliyah. By 1950, they had made all arrangements to go to the Holy Land and in gratitude to the community that hosted them for several centuries, they bequeathed their magnificent synagogue

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