Christmas and Hanukkah on the Mediterranean

Having been born in Israel, I did not celebrate Christmas, but rather Hanukkah.  To be sure, Israel is the birthplace of three major world religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam, so I have been exposed to the celebratory rituals and foods of each.  

For example, Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight days in commemoration of the Maccabees who rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem around 160 BC. The Maccabees revolted against the attempt at assimilation of the Jews into the non-Jewish society. The story in a nutshell is that the Emperor Antiochus IV began massacring Jews, forbidding the practice of their religions, and imposing Hellenistic rule upon his empire.  The revolt of the Maccabees was against the oppression of the Seleucid Greek government of Antiochus.  According to the Talmud, there was very little oil after the rededication of the Temple after it had been defiled by the Greeks.  Oil was needed for the menorah of the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night; yet the menorah burned for eight nights, the time necessary to prepare a fresh supply of oil. For a deeper review of Hanukkah, please click here.

As for the foods of Hanukkah, I direct you to this site, where many recipes abound, from the traditional latkes to souvganiot (doughnuts).  Mmm, yum! 

It is mere coincidence that Hanukkah and Christmas occur around the same time.  The two religions are not connected at all, except for the fact that Jesus was Jewish, and probably celebrated Hanukkah. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, supposedly in Bethlehem, in humble circumstances! If present-day gift-giving is meant to emulate the gifts from the Three Kings, I shudder to think how Jesus himself would view all this commercialism. 

The Mediterranean region is resplendent with the flavors and colors of many cultures, from the couscous of Morocco to the reshikas of Greece and the hummus with pita of the Bedouins.  The sunshine and arid mountains are perfect for agriculture, youth and vitality, during holidays and all through the year. 

Challah

The Mediterranean region is surrounded by many countries, each of which has contributed its own version of culinary delights, not the least of which is a staple on every table - bread.  Challah is the traditional Sabbath bread eaten not only in Israel, but around the Mediterranean, even on weekdays.

It is a slightly sweet bread that typically includes eggs, sometimes raisins, and often toasted sesame seeds.  I am preparing this brioche-style delight for our next party. 

Some of my readers may be interested in my recipe.  Easy enough ... This will make a 2-lb. loaf (or two 1-lb. loaves, to save one for a midnight snack when everyone is asleep!).

Pre-preparation: 7/8 c. milk and 3 eggs - bring to room temperature - about 2 hours out of the fridge. 

Ingredients:

7/8 c. milk

3 eggs

3 tbs oil

2 tsp. salt

3 tbs. sugar (rounded, if you like the bread on the sweeter side)

4 c. bread flour

1 packet yeast

Optional:

1/2 c. raisins

Cinnamon

Toasted sesame seeds

Preparation:

Bread machine to dough setting (or, if you wish to work on your biceps ...)

In deep bowl, put all ingredients in, in the order presented.  Then begin to mix the ingredients until a dough forms, and start kneading - and I mean, kneading, with enthusiasm! You want the dough to be soft like a baby's thigh, pliable and fragrant.  Put an oiled (Saran) wrap over the dough, and let it rise, about half hour.  Remove the wrap, punch it down, and begin kneading again, this time with verve (look it up).  Again, you want the dough to be pliable and soft.  Add the raisins at this point if you are using them, and knead them well into the dough.  Again place an oiled wrap (Saran) over the dough and let it rise again, about half hour.

Transfer the risen dough onto a large working area that has been dusted with bread flour to prevent sticking.  Now flatten the dough to form an oblong shape about 3/4-inch in thickness.  With a large knife, slice it lengthwise into three sections.  Sprinkle cinnamon liberally over the three sections. Now braid the three sections into a single unit, pinch the ends together, and transfer to a flat container that has been oiled, and set in a draft-free place to rise once again (a cool oven with the door closed).  About an hour later, remove risen, braided bread from the oven.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Beat an extra egg in a small bowl (no need for room temperature at this stage).  With a pastry brush, brush the entire challah with the egg wash.  Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over top, as liberally as you like, and place into the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.  Please watch your bread, as oven temperatures tend to vary.  My oven is "fast," meaning I need only 20 minutes for the bread to be thoroughly baked.  The bread is ready when the crust is golden brown. 

If you made two loaves, immediately hide one of them to enjoy later! 

Menu for a Dinner Party

I have a hankering for some grilled skirt steak, marinated in garlic and lemon.  To that I would add a plate of roasted vegetables, eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and onions, along with lesser starches.  A huge salad will accompany the meal, dressed in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dill, and sprinkled with toasted almonds.  There would be side dishes of a collection of nibbles, pickles and olives and cruditees, and of course, fresh bread, perhaps my special challah with cinnamon, raisins and sesame.  I can taste it now.  Dessert? Ice cream is always nice.  There would be wine, of course, or beer, depending on taste, and after-dinner coffee or tea.  Simple, but tasty and satisfying.

This does not conform exactly to a Mediterranean menu, but no matter. 

A Mediterranean Feast for the Senses

With a sweep of her hand, she revealed a spread that would be the culmination of a year’s preparation.

All manner of cured olives, goat’s cheese, freshly baked sesame bread still steaming,

Mezze of grilled sardines with the aroma of lemon and garlic, the picked okra, the fresh herbs,

Mint tea and wine in equal measure,

Finger bowls and cutlery, the finest offerings.

A plate of spicy carrots sat alongside hummus and labne, refreshing both.

As the sun shone through the grapevine in dappled shapes that danced on the cloth,

The table was a collage of color, fragrance, and the soft sounds of diners mixed in with the sounds of nature. 

Another glance, and a roast suckling lamb appeared, surrounded by field vegetables and cured lemons, accompanied by an enormous plate of couscous with every seasonal root vegetable around. 

The diners drank and ate and talked, some slept, some sang, for it was truly the celebration they had been promised. 

After the repast had been consumed, enjoyed, reveled in,

A tray of sweets arrived, laden with baklavah, kadaifi, sharope and sweet cakes

Accompanied by a finjan of sweet, aromatic, black ground coffee that intoxicated the senses. 

The obligatory basket of fresh fruit arrived: tangerines, plums, persimmon, fresh figs and dates to sweeten the palate and nourish the soul.

This was a celebration of the food that mankind ate at the cradle of civilization, the days of the Bible, when sage men and philosophers roamed about, when God himself was closer to all of us.

The Healthiest - and Quite Delicious - Food

Do you torture yourself and your family serving steamed vegetables?

Please stop.

The food police would have you think that the only way to benefit from vegetables is to eat them steamed, without oil, salt, or flavors.  This is ludicrous, especially since most people will not eat them! No wonder - steaming does NOTHING to coax flavor from a vegetable; indeed, it only serves to further alienate people from switching away from fast food to this healthier choice.

What's the alternative?

Roasting! Everything tastes better roasted, with the possible exception of ice cream.

Brussels sprouts are in the cabbage family, and have been shown to pack one heck of a punch in the fight against many cancers.  They are very low in calories, and absolutely delicious if prepared well.  The preparation is, in fact, extremely easy.  After washing and removing any old leaves, cut the little cabbages in half, and saute in olive oil with some salt and pepper and minced garlic until golden brown.  Drizzle a tad of balsamic vinegar or a spritz of lemon juice, and you have a feast that is not only healthy and delicious, but still low in calories, despite the addition of the olive oil.  The recipe can be adjusted to taste by adding bits of bacon, or grilled in the oven by brushing the baby cabbages with the olive oil instead.  Either way, you must try this magic vegetable!

Chicken Soup - Or is it Bean Soup?

I have made chicken soup many times in my life, but this time, I was craving some white beans, so I decided to combine them.

Making soup is perhaps one of the easiest tasks in the kitchen.  I usually don't bother with the fancy mincing and sauteing and deglazing techniques, as seen on the cooking shows, but simply put all ingredients in a pot and let them simmer together.  I did a version of that with this soup, as follows:




Ingredients: 
1 full chicken, cut in quarters, skin removed
1 or 2 large onions, sliced
6 cloves garlic, squashed to bring out flavor
1 large tomato, cut in pieces
1 or 2 large carrots, cleaned and sliced
1 rib celery, sliced (optional)
3-4 qts pure water, or chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1 pack fresh baby spinach
2 cans cannelloni beans
Green/red peppers, sliced (optional)
1 or 2 large potatoes (optional)

Preparation:
Salt and pepper chicken on both sides, then place the chicken, sliced onions, chopped or "smashed" garlic cloves, cut tomato in large pot with 3-4 quarts of pure water or chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat, and simmer at least 1 hour, until chicken is cooked.  While continuing to cook, add the 2 cans of cannelloni beans, and the bag of baby spinach.  Continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes, and serve. 

This soup is many variations available, including adding potatoes (these wound be added at the beginning, to cook with the chicken), and any number of other vegetables, to taste.  Regardless, the flavor is absolutely delicious!

The American Dream Food - The Hamburger

I watched a program this morning on one of the food channels where the host visited a renouned restaurant in Los Angeles that served $26 hamburgers.  He proceeded to introduce the chef, and have the chef explain to him what was so special about his hamburgers that was worth $26.  The chef obliged by showing our host a few cuts of aged beef that he proceeds to grind fresh before preparing his enormous and costly hamburgers. 

Our host was practically drooling at the sight of what he called this "quality piece of beef," dry aged, and marbled to perfection.  Somehow, I cannot look at all this fat and associate a word like "quality" to it.


Our illustrious chef took several pieces of such "quality" beef and passed them through the grinder, to produce his famous hamburgers.  The host shut his eyes in ecstasy as he bit into the rare hamburger, with the juices running down his chin.

I am not vegetarian, but the sight of so much fat and pink, uncooked meat is not appetizing to me.  I don't care how much it costs.  What I do like are the caramelized onions and the buttered bun, but that's just me. 

Sweet Potatoes

Thanksgiving is approaching, and with it, lots of recipes and coupons for the fixings for this traditional meal.  This being a blog about the food of the Mediterranean, let me state outright that sweet potatoes are not part of the traditional fare around the Mediterranean.  Be that as it may, now that I live in the States, I have become familiar with this tuber, and find it delicious.  Moreover, it is reputed to be one of the healthiest foods in the world.  Notice I said foods, not only Thanksgiving foods.  What makes it so lofty in its standing among foodstuffs? Consider a 1-cup serving:

• Calories 115
• Fat (saturated or unsaturated) 0.1 g
• Cholesterol 0
• Sodium 73 mg
• Potassium 450 mg
• Carbohydrate 27 g
• Dietary fiber 4 g
• (Natural) sugar 6 g
• Protein 2.1 g
• Vitamin A 377%
• Vitamin C, calcium, iron, B6, and magnesium in negligible amounts.

Compare the above nutritional content with what is served at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner: the ubiquitous sweet potato casserole, with brown sugar and marshmallows, with each 1-cup serving packing close to 500 calories.  And that's if you eat only 1 serving.

Taking this a little further, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner did not include marshmallows! I made a sweet potato casserole yesterday that included orange juice, vanilla, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans, and sprinked some cinnamon on top before baking.  It was divine.

By the way, roasted sweet potato, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder, is absolutely delicious.

"Selling" the Mediterranean Diet

Tonight, I am giving a 10-12-minute speech on the virtues of the Mediterranean Diet.  I call it the healthiest diet in the world, and for good reason.  Study after study has shown that the Mediterranean diet is instrumental in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and obesity, because it is so rich in monounsaturated oils (olive and sesame), as well as the omega-3 fatty acids found in the sardines that are so plentiful in the Mediterranean Sea. 

It is my task tonight to point out all these qualities, and "sell" my audience on its virtues.  I put sell in quotations, becuase that is the purpose of my speech, though it is somewhat formulary.  I am an advocate of the Mediterranean Diet because I grew up with it, learned to love vegetables and fish as a child, and recognize the value of such a food plan.  No calorie counting, no carbohydrate counting, just enjoyment of the many delicious foods available from that region.

Today is my birthday, and although many years have gone by since my childhood in Israel and my introduction to that lovely diet, I am to show my audience what 64 looks like. 

Paleo Diet and Health

The human race has been around for about 2 million years, and for most of that time, humans survived on a diet that was mostly obtained from hunting game or foraging for roots, with the occasional fruits and raw nuts.  When man discovered fire, he probably added some recipes to his raw diet, but his diet still consisted of mostly natural foods found in his immediate environment.  With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, all that changed.  Instead of working on the farm to grow our own produce, or tend our chickens or mild our cows, we now worked at jobs outside our homes, and were paid in wages that would be exchanged for food.  Our food, then, had to be either supplied by others, or prepared ahead of time, and packaged for convenience.  As time went on, preservatives were added to the packaged food for longer shelf life.  The convenience was a given, permitting us to continue to work outside the home.  Moreover, as we became increasingly prosperous, it became a badge for us to have the "best" food, which was typically white and dainty.  That meant refined sugar and flour.  No more black, coarse bread on our tables.

It is contended that we should return to our ancestors' diet in order to reap maximum health benefits.  I concur insofar as a return to a natural diet would remove toxins such as pesticides from our diet, and would force us to consume unprocessed foods, rather than the dainty white food we have come to love and crave.

But the issue goes deeper.  While it may be true that our cavemen ancestors were probably healthier from the point of view of nutrition in general, it is rather difficult to contend that they lived longer, for example, or suffered fewer degenerative diseases than we do.  Why?  First, we don't have that many samples of mummified humans to study and extrapolate the effect of a natural diet.  Second, our ancestors died at a much younger age, so "degenerative" diseases didn't have time to become established.  Third, in the process of hunting and gathering, our ancestors also did a great deal of exercise, and generally did not lead a sedentary life.  And fourth, the process of hunting and gathering was no doubt arduous, and therefore, our ancestors consumed far fewer calories than we do now.  It was, after call, a pretty big deal to climb a tree to secure a coconut, then scour the beach for a good rock, crack it open and share it with our clan.  Tree nuts presented a similar problem: One had to climb a tree (or shake it), collect the raw nuts, then peel them to get to a tiny morsel of food.  Fruits were more immediate.  And let's not even think about a hog that might stray into the camp.

So, is the paleo diet healthier?  I would say yes, if combined with a great deal of exercise, a caloric reduction to match our forefathers, and a willingness to kick the bucket at about 30.

Another Benefit of the Mediterranean Diet

Studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in plant-based foods, as well as wild fish and olive oil, has antiinflammatory characteristics.  Olive oil and ocean fish, especially sardines, have also been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of arthritis. 

The Mediterranean region includes loosely those countries which border the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece, Turkey, Israel, etc. From biblical times, the practice has been to harvest fish from this rich sea.  In Israel, sardines were a ubiquitous fare, typically prepared by seasoning with salt and pepper, and then sauteeing in a bit of olive oil. Americans are not used to that food choice, and frequently turn their noses at the mere sound of fried sardines, but let me assuage whatever distaste you may harbor: Fried sardines are unbelievably delicious! Not deep fried, but simply sauteed in a bit of oil. If you add a bit of minced garlic, sliced onion and fresh tomato to the pan, you will be in Heaven prematurely, I dare say!

Try it.  Nothing gained by not doing so.

Pasta and Pizza?

I heard something interesting yesterday over the airwaves: Someone asked whether Italian food was the same as the Mediterranean Diet. That question implied such familiar Italian foods as pizza, pasta, sausage, and the like -- you know, the typical American diet.  Yes, I know, he asked about Italian food, but as we all know, the food we know as Italian is found in every facet of our American lives, in almost every form.

The Importance of Live Foods

Once again, the Mediterranean diet is being quoted as providing the best defense against a variety of ills, not the least of which are Alzheimer's disease and the degenerative conditions of aging.  The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating a diet consisting of mostly "live" whole foods that have not been processed.  Live food refers to food that grows in the earth or on trees.  Live food is food that is not processed, not manipulated in any way, with no additives or colorings or artificial chemicals added to improve the taste.  So, for example, a raw apple is a live food, but apple pie is not.  Apple pie consists of white-flour crust, sugar, butter, cooked apples and spices.  It contains almost nothing that supports good nutrition or good health, unless one wants to argue that feeding the soul is akin to feeding the body.  A raw apple exists that way in nature.  There is only one step from picking the fruit to consuming it; and it might be argued that it is just as delicious as apple pie.

Shakshuka

Lotus root

Giving thanks to our ancestors

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, an American tradition celebrating the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag native Indians sharing an automn harvest feast.  Ever since, Americans have taken the opportunity to gorge themselves, especially in the past century.  The tradition is one characterized by stuffing (our bellies), then typically sitting back and watching a football game.

Braised Cauliflower With Mushrooms

Cauliflower is a member of the cabbage family, and as such contains wonderful cancer-fighting properties, not to mention lots of fiber.  It is extremely low in calories, and tastes great - if properly prepared.  Sadly, in the United States, most cauliflower is served either as part of a cruditees platter, or simply steamed.  For those who love cauliflower in the raw, these are great options; but for those who require a bit more verve in their food, consider the following simple recipe:

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, washed, and cut into flowerettes
3 cloves garclic, sliced
1 onion, sliced or chopped
Olive oil (or butter)
5 or 6 mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Place the flowerettes into a pot of salted water, bring to a boil and then simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain into a colander.

 

Heat the oil (or butter) in a pan, add the sliced garlic and onion, sautee for a few seconds to flavor the oil (or butter), then add the sliced mushrooms and the cauliflower and sautee all together, stirring to coat the vegetables.  Let them caramelize a bit, then flip them lightly to caramelize the other side.  Season with salt and pepper, and prepare to be delighted!

Leeks

Leeks are a form of green onion, but are much larger, thicker and full of flavor.  Americans typically do not use leeks in cooking, although they are becoming more popular.  Leeks are commonly prepared as savory leek tarts seen in French cooking, but have a long history dating back to biblical times.  When I was a child, my mother and grandmother would make leek soup, with a bit of braised beef, potatoes and carrots to round out the flavors.  Here is my version:

Low-Carb Sunflower Seed Crackers

These sunflower seed crackers are insanely delicious, and remind me of my childhood in Israel, especially when I was very young, about 2 years old, and my father would take me to a sunflower field where we would both be buried under the tall sunflowers that shone their blooms overhead!

Pumpkin season!

In the States, there is a time of year when there is a veritable parade, a plethora of pumpkins everywhere, in fields, in the stores, in front of people's houses as Jack-a-lanterns.  Everywhere you go, you see ads for pumpkin-flavored foods and drinks: Pumpkin latte at Starbucks, Pumpkin Iced Coffee at Dunkin Donuts, Pumpkin cupcakes, even pumpkin popcorn!