Jewish cuisine menu. Jewish cuisine

and falafel, haroset and challah - these names are sheer poetry, and the food itself, according to the old joke, is the national sport of the Israelis.

In a blessed country, they know what the taste of life and the taste of real food are. However, for some, many dishes of Jewish cuisine seem strange at first. But the addiction process is very fast, so much so that a pleasant addiction is formed. Try it yourself!

Hummus

Recipe for chickpea hummus with garlic, cilantro, cumin, sesame and paprika.

What do you need:

• 400 g chickpeas
• 1 lemon
• 6–7 st. spoons of olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 st. spoons of cilantro
• 1/2 st. cumin spoons
• 1/2 st. paprika spoons
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sesame

How to make hummus:

1. Soak chickpeas, then boil until tender.
2. Place the chickpeas in a blender, adding all the ingredients. Turn into a homogeneous mass. Let it brew.
3. Hummus is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Falafel

Recipe for chickpea falafel with coriander, cumin and parsley.

What do you need:

• 500 g chickpeas
• 1 carrot
• 1 bulb
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 st. spoons of coriander
• 1/2 st. spoons of cumin
• 1 st. a spoonful of chopped parsley
• Olive oil to taste
• Salt, black pepper to taste

How to cook falafel:

1. Peel carrots and onions, cut into large pieces. Boil chickpeas until tender. Mix all ingredients in a blender.
2. With your hands, fashion the same meatballs from the resulting mass. Fry them in a frying pan with oil on both sides until golden brown.
3. Falafel is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Eggplant puree "Hatselim"

Recipe for eggplant puree "Hatselim" with garlic.

What do you need:

• 3 eggplant
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salt, black pepper to taste

How to make eggplant puree "Hatselim":

1. Wash the eggplant, bake in the oven until tender. Cool slightly.
2. Remove the skin from the eggplant, cut into pieces, place in a blender and puree. Add some sugar, salt and pepper.
3. Eggplant puree "Hatselim" is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Matzo

Recipe for homemade matzo.

What do you need:

• 1/2 kg flour
• 250 ml water

How to make matzo:

1. Sift flour through a sieve. Carefully pour water into it. Mix well.
2. Roll out very thin cakes. Make frequent pricks with a fork.
3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees.
4. Mother is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Chocolate pudding with matzo

Recipe for dark chocolate and red wine pudding with matzah.

What do you need:

• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 50 g dark chocolate
• 6 pieces of matzo

How to make chocolate pudding with matzah:

1. Melt the chocolate in a water bath.
2. Mix water and wine. Soak the matzah with half of the liquid. Mix the other half with chocolate.
3. Lay pieces of matzah on top of each other, brushing with wine-chocolate mixture.
4. Chocolate pudding with matzo is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Apple kugel

Recipe for kugel made from egg noodles, cottage cheese, apples, cinnamon and raisins.

What do you need:

• 350 g egg noodles
• 100 g butter
• 2 apples
• 1 pack of cottage cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 art. spoons of raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon soda
• Salt to taste

How to make apple kugel:

1. Boil the noodles. Melt butter and mix with noodles.
2. Peel apples, grate, add to noodles. Put cottage cheese, sugar, eggs, raisins, soda and a pinch of salt there. To mix everything. Put in the form.
3. Bake for 1 hour at 170 degrees.
4. Apple kugel is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Challah

Recipe for lush homemade challah.

What do you need:

• 5 cups flour
• 5 st. spoons of sugar
• 2 glasses of water
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 st. tablespoons of vegetable oil

How to cook challah:

1. Mix yeast, eggs, sugar and vegetable oil. Add flour.
2. Knead the dough, grease it with oil, cover with a towel and leave for two hours in a warm place.
3. When the dough has risen, divide it into three parts, decorate each with a snake from a strip of dough. Leave for another 2 hours.
4. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. Do not open the oven immediately, wait 10-15 minutes so that the challah does not fall.
5. The challah is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Prakes

Stuffed cabbage recipe tomato sauce.

What do you need:

• 500 g beef
• 75 g rice
• 1 egg
• 1 bulb
• 70 g sugar
• 1 st. a spoonful of tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon citric acid
• 1 st. a spoonful of breadcrumbs
• Salt, black pepper to taste

How to cook prakes:

1. Blanch cabbage leaves in boiling water until soft and lightly beat off.
2. Boil the meat, pass through a meat grinder, add boiled rice, chopped onion, salt, pepper, egg.
3. Wrap minced meat in cabbage leaves.
4. Mix crackers with tomato paste, citric acid, sugar. Add some beef broth. Salt, pepper. Pour the stuffed cabbage with sauce and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes.
5. Prakes is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Charoset

Recipe for charoset made from apples, dates, walnuts, almonds, cinnamon and red wine.

What do you need:

• 1 apple
• 1 cup dates
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• A pinch of ground black pepper
• 3 art. spoons of red wine

How to cook charoset:

1. Pass all the ingredients through a meat grinder and mix. Add wine. Leave for 1-2 hours to soak.
2. Charoset is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Fennel salad with parsley

Recipe for their fennel salad with parsley and pepper.

What do you need:

• 750 g fennel
• 100 g parsley
• 3 art. spoons of olive oil
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar
• Pinch of pepper
• Salt to taste

How to make Fennel Salad with Parsley:

1. Finely chop the fennel heads. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Drizzle with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
2. Fennel salad with parsley is ready.

Enjoy your meal!

Jewish cuisine is based on a certain food philosophy - kashrut. Kashrut is a food system adopted by the ancient Jews, requiring followers to strictly observe it in any lands, wherever history throws it. There are three main prohibitions at the heart of kashrut. First, "do not boil a kid in its mother's milk," so no meat in milk sauce. In addition, the house must have separate sets of tableware and kitchen utensils and special places for preparing meat and dairy dishes. You can not eat meat and dairy dishes in the same meal, even if they are on different plates. Secondly, only artiodactyl ruminants can be eaten, and the animal must be killed instantly so that the meat is not spoiled by fear hormones. Therefore, from cookbooks recipes from pork, hare, meat of predatory animals and birds, fish without scales and animal blood are excluded. Third, you can't cook on Saturday. Hence the recipe for dishes that can be prepared on Friday so that they are infused by Saturday. This is how the cholent was born. Of the first courses, preference is given to broths with flour dumplings, of the second - stuffed with fish, poultry, stuffed vegetables, tsimes, minced meat dishes. In Jewish cuisine, there is an abundance of flour preparations and pastries: these are challah, teiglah, lek, hamantashen. For the preparation of flour dishes and products, wheat flour or matze-chalk is used. As additives to baking go honey, nuts, poppy seeds, raisins.

There are 167 recipes in the section "Jewish Cuisine"

Hummus with avocado

For hummus with avocados, you need to choose ripe, creamy fruits so that when mixed with chickpeas, the finished snack has a uniform consistency. Ready hummus is served immediately, with a tortilla or chips. But if some of the appetizer is left, she can...

Tsimes with meat

To prepare tsimes with meat, meat ribs are suitable, which are placed in a heat-resistant dish along with onions, carrots and dried fruits. For flavor, in addition to the usual salt and pepper, cinnamon is added to tsimes, as well as honey and Orange juice. Prepare c...

Jewish cuisine is one of the most delicious. At the same time, it always reminded a little of the Soviet one. Jewish housewives, like the Soviet ones, had to show maximum imagination with a very poor choice of products. And literally from one chicken to prepare a luxurious holiday table.

It must be said that both Jewish and Soviet housewives succeeded in this difficult task. We even borrowed something from Jewish cuisine, for example, forshmak - a frequent guest at festive feasts. There is another direction in Jewish cuisine, also very tasty: the Middle East. There are many borrowings from the Arabs, many dishes from lamb, chickpeas, dried fruits. And the cuisine of the Middle Eastern Jews is also great for the holiday table.

We have selected some famous and very festive dishes from Jewish cuisine. They will be able to diversify the traditional New Year's menu and bring a light oriental note to the feast.

Step 1. Hard boil eggs and grate.

Step 2. Grate the cheese, pass the garlic through the press, mix the cheese, garlic and eggs.

Step 3. Season with mayonnaise and sprinkle with chopped dill. Mix. Leave in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, overnight.

Pepper with lemon Photo: Shutterstock.com

Sweet pepper with lemon

4 red peppers

4 yellow peppers

½ cup olive oil

8 tooth garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

Step 1. Gently burn the peppers over an open fire. Put in a bag and leave for an hour.

Step 2. Pour olive oil and lemon juice into a deep bowl, salt, add chopped garlic. Whisk everything.

Step 3. Peel the peppers and put them in the sauce, mix so that all the peppers are covered with the sauce, and leave for a day, after which you can eat. Peppers keep in the refrigerator for about 10 days.

Forshmak Photo: mmenu.com

Forshmak

300 g lightly salted herring fillet

1 white lettuce

1 sour green apple

½ pack of butter

Freshly ground pepper

Step 1. Cut the herring into pieces, peel and cut the apple into cubes, peel the onion.

Step 2. Chop the onion in a blender. Chop the herring and apple separately.

Step 3. Whip the butter. Add to the apple with herring, beat everything together and add the onion to the minced meat. Mix thoroughly.

Step 4. Pepper. Coarsely chop the greens and add to the mincemeat.

Tip: If the herring is too salty or tough, you can soak it in milk or black tea.

Duck stuffed with noodles Photo: mmenu.com

Duck stuffed with noodles

150 g mushrooms

250 g noodles

0.5 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp chopped parsley

4 tbsp duck fat

1 bulb

1 tsp red ground pepper

1 tsp ground black pepper

Step 1. Boil dried mushrooms until softened.

Step 2. Rinse and dry the duck, rub inside and out with a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic.

Step 3. Pass the offal through a meat grinder or chop finely.

Step 4. Boil the noodles and put them in a colander.

Step 5. Fry diced onion and finely chopped fresh or boiled mushrooms in duck fat, add offal and fry for another 5 minutes.

Step 6. Remove the resulting mass from the heat, add parsley, noodles, beaten eggs, salt, pepper and mix gently.

Step 7. Stuff the duck with the prepared stuffing, sew up the hole.

Step 8. Fry the duck in the oven for 2.5 hours at 180 ° C until fully cooked. During frying, turn the bird carcass twice. When serving, sprinkle it with chopped herbs.

Stuffed fish Photo: mmenu.com

Gefilte fish or stuffed fish

The signature dish of every Jewish housewife. And each cooks it in the most correct way in the world, but not in the same way as a neighbor. Therefore, there are a million gefilte fish recipes. We just have to choose which one we like. Usually carp or pike are stuffed - the most convenient fish for stuffing, especially pike, the skin will be removed from it quite simply.

1 pike or carp

4 bulbs

1 tsp Sahara

frying oil

2 tbsp. l. breadcrumbs

For the broth:

2 carrots

1 bulb

a handful of onion peel

allspice

Bay leaf

2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil

Step 1. Clean the fish, remove fins and gills, gut.

Step 2. Carefully separate the spine from the meat, remove it from the fish, and the costal bones behind it. Remove all meat. In this case, the skin remains on the head.

Step 3 Remove all bones from the pulp, salt and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Step 4. In the meantime, peel and fry two onions, and two - just chop coarsely.

Step 5. Scroll the fish meat through a meat grinder, add fried and not fried onions. Scroll everything together. Add egg, salt, pepper, sugar and knead for 10 minutes. Put in the refrigerator for 40 minutes.

Step 6. Add breadcrumbs to the minced meat if it turned out liquid.

Step 7. Sew the skin of the fish, leaving only a small hole in the middle for a spoon to crawl through.

Step 8. Fill the fish with minced meat, but not very tightly. Sew up the hole.

Step 9. In a pan, put carrots, sliced ​​​​in circles, coarsely chopped onion and bones from the fish. Then a layer of onion peel, and on it - fish. Pour in water carefully to cover all the fish. Add salt, pepper, sugar and bay leaf.

Step 10. Bring to a boil, remove the foam, add vegetable oil, reduce heat and cook without closing the lid for about an hour.

Step 11. Remove from heat, let cool and drain the broth. Put the fish in the refrigerator and cool for 3-4 hours, then remove the threads and cut into portions. Strain the broth, you can serve it separately.

Stuffed goose neck

Ashkenazi dish. The so-called "dish from poverty." Birds made stuffing for a pie from the giblets, boiled the meat - it turned out soup, and then it was possible to stew something. And the goose or chicken neck was stuffed - it turned out a delicious hot appetizer.

½ cup flour

½ cup semolina

1 large onion

1 goose neck or 2 chicken

3 art. l. chicken or goose fat

1 liter chicken broth

1 tsp red pepper

ground black pepper

Step 1. Carefully remove the skin from the goose neck. Sew up the narrow end.

Step 2. Grate or chop the onion in a blender, sift the flour, cut the fat into pieces.

Step 3. Mix onions, fat, flour and semolina, salt and pepper. Stuff the neck with this mixture. Sew up.

Step 4. Boil the neck in chicken broth. Then remove the threads from it and cut into slices.

Baked lamb leg Photo: mmenu.com

Baked leg of lamb

1 leg of lamb

1 head of garlic

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp green basil

3 tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Clean the leg, leaving a thin layer of fat.

Step 2. Finely chop all the greens, add oil, rub the leg with the mixture, salt and pepper.

Step 3. Peel the head of garlic, put the cloves on a baking sheet, sprinkle them olive oil put your foot on top. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Step 4 Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Wrap the leg in aluminum foil and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

Step 5. Then put the meat in foil for 1.5 hours to bake. Readiness to check with a toothpick: if it is slightly moist when pricked, then the meat is ready.

Step 6. Cut the meat into portions, if necessary, add salt and pepper. Garnish with roasted garlic, pour over the sauce that has melted from the leg.

Dried fruit dessert Photo: mmenu.com

Charoset in Sephardi

6 pitted dates

1/3 chopped almond

½ chopped walnut

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp lemon juice

5 tbsp sweet wine

pinch of cinnamon

Step 1. Peel the figs from the cuttings, cut the figs and dates into cubes.

Step 2. Peel and pit apples, cut into cubes and mix with dried fruits.

Step 3. Add almonds, lemon juice, walnuts, ginger, cinnamon and honey. Put the resulting mixture on a wide board and chop until a homogeneous mass is formed.

Step 4. Pour over wine and chop again until completely mixed. Place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours. After that, serve.

Teiglach Photo: mmenu.com

Teiglach

2 cups of flour

2 tbsp powdered sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

For syrup:

2/3 cup honey

½ cup sugar

Step 1. Eggs grind with powdered sugar and butter, add flour and knead the dough.

Step 2. Roll the dough into sausages. Cut them into pieces and roll into balls.

Step 3. Put the balls on a baking sheet, greased with oil and put in the oven at 180 C.

Step 4. Make syrup: heat honey and sugar in a wide bowl, add cinnamon and bring almost to a boil.

Step 5. Dip the baked balls into the syrup, let it boil and cook over low heat until the syrup thickens.

Step 6. Put the mass on the board, form a layer, let it cool and cut the layer into triangles or arbitrarily.

see more r New Year's Eve recipe:

The ancient culture with its traditions and rules keeps this people scattered all over the world in a single integrity stronger than any borders. A persecuted nation would have been wiped off the face of the earth long ago, if the voices of the ancestors, sounding in the everyday way of life, recipes, blessings before meals, sacred holidays and customs, did not tell about the history and customs of their native people, did not care about the unity and health of their children. We, the children of modern civilization with its chaotic way of life and rhythm, can only be surprised at the strength and vitality of the traditions of this amazing people, imbued with a sense of deep respect for a rational and cheerful culture.

Looking at the Jewish calendar, an unprepared person is simply confused. Months of the year whose names and durations differ only slightly in different countries world, the Jews correspond to the movement of the moon and are called quite differently. But the most interesting thing is the holidays, with their changing dates, features and traditions, so unlike those we are used to: New Year(or Birthday) of trees, Royal Saturday, the Feast of Tabernacles (huts), Hanukkah - the feast of light, Judgment Day, the "milk" holiday of the year Shavuot, and only Easter - Pesach responds in the soul with a sense of joyful involvement. In Jewish cuisine, each holiday has its own scenario, its own rules and prohibitions, its own special menu. The dishes put on the table can tell what season, day of the week or holiday is in the yard. An abundance of pancakes and buttery donuts will indicate the winter holiday of Hanukkah, and sweet triangular pies with poppy seeds or jam will tell about the onset of the bright and cheerful Purim holiday, which marks the beginning of spring.

The spiritual content of a meal is determined not by how varied and plentiful it is, but at what time, from what products, for what occasion it is prepared. After all, according to the Torah, the holy book of the Jewish people, food is the first step in the process of ennobling a person. Eating only for the sake of satiety or pleasure is considered the lowest level of behavior, because food first of all carries spiritual power, you need to take it correctly, not forgetting to bless and thank God. Therefore, the preparation of food is equated with the rite of sacred rites.

For example, a common everyday activity is baking kosher bread. A small piece is separated from the dough prepared according to the grandmother's recipe and thrown into the fire. This "bread gift" - challah - in ancient times, instead of fire, was taken to priests as an offering, and later the custom was transformed into a sacrifice of bread to fire. The separation of the challah is considered an honorary duty of the hostess. To this day, in Israel and beyond, Jewish women who follow the traditions national cuisine, strictly fulfill this ancient commandment.

Israeli cuisine unique and diverse, its history is inseparable from the history of the people themselves. This cuisine is based on recipes with a predominance of grain crops, because the ancient Jewish people are farmers. They ate mainly fruits, cereals and legumes. Generous fertile soils provided rich harvests for both people and livestock. Dairy products, eggs, some meat (animals were more needed on the farm than on the table), fish on holidays, a variety of flour and vegetable dishes, some spices so as not to disturb the taste of the dish, honey, nuts, fruits - this is an approximate diet in those old times.

But the history of the Jewish people is full of tragic turns. With forced resettlement from their native places to other countries, adaptation to new products and culinary traditions, Jewish cuisine also changed. It changed, but did not disappear, and like a sponge absorbed local culinary features and flavor. The natural and inevitable mutual influence of the cultures of different peoples brought its wonderful results. This is how meat goulash soup appeared, which was loved by Jews from Hungary, strudel with dried fruits - a gift from Jews from Austria, falafel - the famous pea "fast food", which is cooked with love in the countries of the Middle East, and many, many more recipes that came from other countries and rooted in Jewish "cookbooks".

In the traditions of cooking the Jewish people, their favorite methods and features were formed, sometimes dictated by the conditions of the area of ​​​​residence, sometimes by religious rules and customs. Jewish cuisine is characterized by a simple but lengthy heat treatment: boiling, stewing with water and under a lid, less often baking in the oven is used. As a result of many hours of heat treatment, traditional tsimes, cholents, thick rich broths are obtained, always with huge dumplings from matzah - kneidlah, sweet and sour meat stew - these are all dishes in which the constituent ingredients languish and boil for a long time, soaked in the aroma of spices and turning into a homogeneous , tender mass with a new taste.

Egg dishes are very popular in Jewish cuisine: boiled, raw, fried. Whipped egg fills are used to make kugels from matzah, fish, and vegetables. Yolks are added to unleavened dough, and snacks and salads are prepared from hard-boiled and chopped eggs.

Fish dishes- This is a whole separate area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe culinary art of the Jewish people. Whole stuffed or slices, boiled in broth or baked, fish cakes, jelly, minced meat are the most beloved and widespread dishes of national cuisine, known throughout the world. On the festive table, the fish acquires an additional symbolic meaning - laid out entirely with its head on a dish, it symbolizes wisdom and the integrity of life.

Mandatory components of almost all dishes, but only in limited quantities, are spices: anise, nutmeg, dill, black pepper. They are added for taste, appetite, good digestion, in order to preserve food for a longer time. An old Jewish proverb says, "Food without spices is neither good nor joyful." Also, to improve the taste of soups, broths, fish and meat dishes, spicy vegetables are used: celery root and parsley, onion, garlic, etc.

The most important feature, without which the entire Jewish cuisine simply would not exist, is the observance of the basic religious rules for the selection and preparation of products - the rules of Kashrut. In whatever place the representatives of this people find themselves, the religious laws of nutrition have always remained the basis of housekeeping and cooking for them. Jews eat only "suitable", kosher food, that is, that which is prepared in accordance with the laws of Kashrut.

Kashrut Rules

Contrary to popular belief, rabbis and other Jewish religious leaders do not take part in the preparation of kosher food, or rather, they may participate, but this is not a determining factor. A dish will be considered kosher if the following simple but mandatory rules were observed during its preparation:

• It is only allowed to eat the meat of herbivorous animals: cattle, sheep, goats, as well as the meat of wild animals such as deer and roe deer. It is believed that the closer an animal is to the plant world, the less aggression it transmits to a person and the less animal instincts are manifested in it. Therefore, the meat of predators as well as pigs is prohibited. The same provision applies to birds, only in addition to birds of prey, songbirds and exotic birds are also prohibited.
• Only those types of fish that have scales and fins are considered kosher. Catfish, sturgeon, sterlet, eel, beluga, etc. are forbidden to be eaten, since their scales cannot be separated from the skin. Other inhabitants of water bodies are also considered non-kosher: shellfish, crab, squid, shrimp, etc.
• All parts of prohibited animals, birds and fish are also considered non-kosher (for example, black caviar is prohibited, because it comes from non-kosher fish).
• Animals and birds intended for food must be killed in accordance with the "shechita" - the Jewish rules of slaughter, that is, very quickly, painlessly, by specially trained people. These restrictions do not apply to permitted fish.
• The Torah categorically forbids eating any blood, believing that blood contains the soul of an animal or bird. Therefore, if you bought fresh or frozen meat, and the package says “lo mukshar”, which means “not koshered”, then all the blood must be removed from it. To do this, it is necessary to lower the well-washed pieces of meat for several hours in water (no more than a day), then let the water drain, salt the meat and lay it on an inclined plane for another hour, then the remaining blood will drain and the meat will be koshered. If the eggs of permitted birds contain at least a drop of blood, they cannot be eaten, so it is better to break the egg into a glass glass before use, in order to avoid spoiling the whole dish. The liver of kosher animals and birds is bled only by roasting.
• All kinds of insects are forbidden to be eaten. Therefore, Jewish housewives pay great attention to the preliminary processing of products, carefully sorting out cereals, sifting flour, examining vegetables, fruits and greens for bugs and caterpillars. Greens are recommended to soak in weak solution salt or vinegar, then rinse well.
• All food, in accordance with the rules of Kashrut, is divided into meat, dairy and neutral, "parve". It is strictly forbidden to both consume and cook dairy and meat food at the same time. This applies not only to meat and milk itself, but also to animal products, for example, animal fat or butter, cheese, cottage cheese, etc. The intake of dairy food should be separated from the intake of meat by at least 6 hours, if meat food taken after milk, then a difference between doses of 1 hour is enough. An exception is hard cheese, after which the interval must also be at least 6 hours. Fish, eggs, all plant products are parva and can be combined with both meat and dairy products. This division applies not only to the products themselves, but also to the dishes in which they are cooked. Cutting boards, frying pans, knives, pots and plates for meat should never be mixed or used for dairy. These dishes should also be washed separately. If by chance meat-containing products got on the utensils for dairy products, then such utensils must be kosher: boiled or calcined.
• During the celebration of Pesach (Passover), Kashrut is forbidden to eat "chametz" - dishes using any leaven (leavened bread, beer, vinegar, etc.). Instead of bread, they prepare "matza" - thin cakes that are kneaded and baked in a very short time so that the dough does not have time to turn sour.
• Wine, if produced by a non-Jew, is considered non-kosher.
• All other products, as long as they do not contain food additives, are allowed.

Thus, any food can be kosher, whether it is a dish of Russian, Indian or Japanese cuisine. The main thing is that it is prepared in accordance with the rules listed above. Therefore, the Jewish national cuisine and kosher food- not the same thing, but any national dish must be prepared according to the laws of Kashrut.

Jewish holidays

Features of the celebration

It is forbidden to work on this day. If it's not Saturday or Yom Kippur, then you can cook.

Meal routine: blessing over wine, ritual washing of hands, blessing on bread and refreshments.

On holidays, mourning is not observed, even the seven-day mourning for the deceased is postponed to the next day.

It is customary to start all the holidays of the Jewish people in the evening at sunset, since it is believed that at this moment a new day begins.

All members of the community gather to perform ceremonies and worship.

On a holiday, everyone is equal and has fun, regardless of age, social status and gender.

Shabbat

The tradition of having a day off at the end of the week originates from the Old Testament, which says: “Remember the Sabbath day and honor it: work for six days and complete all your work, and on the seventh, do all your work only for God.” On this day, you can’t do everyday work, cook, and even ... talk on “everyday” topics. The special significance of Saturday is also emphasized by the fact that all other days of the week are named depending on how they are located in relation to Saturday: “Yom Rishon Leshabbat” - “the first day after Saturday”, “Sheni Leshabbat”, etc. An atmosphere of peace, tranquility, family love and care reigns in every home. People put on clean, beautiful clothes, Shabbat candles are lit, a special blessing is pronounced, and the festive meal begins with the consecration of Shabbat with a glass of wine - kiddush.

In order to better feel the attitude of the Jewish people to this day, imagine that the queen herself has come to your house, because it is no coincidence that Shabbat is also called Royal Saturday. On this day, it is customary to eat special festive dishes prepared in advance - stuffed fish, the obligatory two lush challahs, chicken broth with almond-shaped pieces of matzo dough - kneidlach, fruit tsimes with meat, cholt in gosochkas, liver pate, aspic fish and sweet kugel. Dishes are divided into 3 meals, between which they usually relax, walk with children, go to worship and visit.

Tubi Shvat

The beginning of February is usually the end of the rainy season, and at this time it is customary to celebrate the rebirth of nature - Tubi Shvat. This holiday was established by the Jewish sages to separate one crop from another. The ancient nation of farmers has always been very careful about plants and did not use the fruits of trees for the first three years, believing that the plant is not yet strong enough, and the fruits of only the fourth and subsequent years of fruiting were eaten. Now in Israel there is a tradition to plant trees on this day and participate in hikes in order to promote respect for nature, love for plants. Blooming almond tree is a symbol of the holiday.

The Torah lists seven types of fruits and cereals that should be present at the festive meal: wheat, rye, olives, dates, pomegranates, grapes, figs. Blessing natural fruits, attention is drawn to the order of their consumption in connection with the origin, with the correlation of their edible and inedible parts. The more plant foods on the table that day, the better.

Purim

The word "pur" is translated as "lot" and means a case described in religious texts, thanks to which the Jewish people were able to avoid extermination with dignity.

Since then, every spring in early March, it is customary to hold funny theatrical performances, carnival processions, feasts and give each other small sweets: poppy seeds, strudel, bread, gomentashi (Aman's ears) - small triangular pies with sweet poppy or fruit filling. It is allowed to drink strong alcoholic beverages (of course, only for adults) and make a wide variety of noise. For this, special ratchets are even sold or made by hand.

Pesach

Pesach, or Easter, - one of the oldest holidays, is considered the birthday of the Jewish people. This is a holiday of freedom, the liberation of the nation from Egyptian slavery, a holiday of a miracle and faith in God.

The preparation and holding of this holiday is carried out in accordance with the established procedure: on Passover, during the entire week of celebration, only matzah is consumed, and flour products containing fermentation products are removed into a closed room or sold. Matzah is a thin flatbread made of flour and water, without salt or sugar, that is baked at high temperature. They contain a thousand-year history of the Jewish people. Matzah is ground to make matzemel and used as flour. Matzah, respectively, and matzemel, can be stored without spoiling or becoming moldy for a whole year.

According to the established order of the festive meal - the seder - on the table, in addition to special festive dishes, the following products must be present: sweet red wine, three whole matzos, zeroa - a piece of meat with a bone fried over a fire, a hard-boiled egg, bitter greens, kharoset, karpas - parsley, celery, boiled potatoes, radishes or other vegetables that are dipped in salt water before the start of the meal, and a small handful of grated horseradish root. The owner of the house, with the appropriate blessings, begins the meal, distributing greens to the rest, then breaks one matzah into small pieces and distributes to each of those present. This is followed by a story telling about the history of the holiday, and only then does the solemn treat begin.

Every hostess strives to treat her guests to something special on Pesach, but there are also traditional Easter dishes: kugel with meat, khremzlach, cinnamon balls, Easter borscht, coconut pyramids, matzo pancakes, stuffed chicken.

Shavuot

7 weeks after Pesach comes the turn of the holiday in honor of the gift to the Jewish people of the main set of religious rules of the Torah - Shavuot. Like many other Jewish holidays, Shavuot is associated not only with the history and religion of the nation, but also with natural and agricultural cycles, this period was the wheat harvest season.

The festive table is decorated with the best dairy dishes: pancakes with cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, fish in sour cream sauce, dumplings, cottage cheese cakes, honey cakes. Lovers of meat food must definitely taste dairy at dinner and only then, after waiting for the allotted time, take on festive meat dishes.

At the beginning of autumn, one of the most important Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah, is celebrated. This is a symbol of the end of the outgoing year and the beginning of a new one. On this day, it is customary to think about the omnipotence of the Almighty, about the Creation of the world, about the future, this holiday is accompanied by an atmosphere of thoughtfulness and kindness. On the first holiday, people go to the shore of the reservoir and shake off their clothes over the water, cleansing themselves of all evil and entering the new year with pure thoughts.

The holiday, like Shabbat, begins with the lighting of candles and the pronunciation of blessings. The New Year's table is lined with only sweet, delicious dishes - there is no place for sour and bitter next year. Be sure to serve a whole baked fish with a head, symbolizing the desire "not to be at the head, not to be in the tail", stewed or fried carrots in circles - a symbol of wealth, round sweet challah with raisins, vegetables, fruits and honey. At the very beginning of the meal, a piece of apple is dipped in honey and eaten "for good luck."

Sukkot

This unusual holiday falls at the beginning of October. Thinking about the illusion of material life, in memory of the ancient dilapidated dwellings during the years of wandering, it was customary to build temporary huts from branches and live in them for 7 days.

Today, few people live in huts (sukkahs) for a week, but all over the country, in courtyards and front gardens on the eve of the holiday, there is a structure that is a frame of slats, covered with some kind of material, in which the family has dinner or stays for one night. The inside is decorated with garlands of flowers and lanterns, and at night you can see the stars through the cracks on the roof.

Another custom of this holiday is to make a bouquet of branches and leaves of 4 types of plants: myrtle, etrog, date palm and willow, symbolizing 4 types of people of the Jewish people, and hold this bouquet during morning prayers.

A festive meal necessarily includes nutritious thick soups or rich broths, to which flour products are added, vegetables, fruits, herbs and a lot of sweet pastries are also served at the table.

Hanukkah

At the beginning of December, when nature and people deserve a rest, the most cheerful holiday loved by children is celebrated - Hanukkah.

Illuminated by many candles, stars and lanterns, with gifts and Hanukkah money, with the expectation of a miracle and in continuous games - this warm, joyful holiday warms people during the rainy period. And of course, the treat should also match: wine, sweet and sour meat with dried fruits, falafel, donuts, latkes, mincemeat, kugel.

The culinary traditions of Jewish cuisine, which is one of the oldest in the world, are inextricably linked with the history of the people themselves, who wandered the world for four millennia. The culinary experience borrowed from representatives of other nationalities has undergone transformations in accordance with Jewish traditions and, passed down from generation to generation, has stood the test of time.

The State of Israel did not come into being until 1948. However, both Israeli and Jewish cuisine are based on religious customs, as well as restrictions on eating a certain food - kashrut. The food philosophy established by the ancient Jews requires followers to strictly comply with all requirements and restrictions.

general characteristics

Jewish cuisine has absorbed the traditions of Ashkenazi and Sephardic cooking, which were formed about two centuries ago and differ significantly from each other. The first of them, more modest, is characteristic of the so-called European Jews. The population of Jewish nationality living in Europe had to invent the most rational ways to use products, since people lived in poverty.

The main difference between Jewish cuisine and Israeli cuisine is that the latter is influenced by Eastern, Arabic and Turkish culinary traditions. This is evidenced by the Israelis' love for such, in particular, dishes as shawarma or sweet burakes buns.

The basis of Israeli cuisine is a variety of nutritious dishes, which, thanks to spices, are easily absorbed by the body. All of them are prepared from high-quality, thoroughly washed products that do not have external defects.

For the first thing, chicken broths are prepared here, hot vegetable soups, as well as cold borscht and soups. On the second - dishes from minced meat (cutlets, rolls and meatballs) or natural meat. In cooking, chicken and goose fat, poultry meat, as well as veal and beef liver are widely used.

A special feature of the lunch menu is a fish appetizer, for example, mincemeat, minced through a meat grinder, made from lightly salted with the addition of onions and soaked bread. Then soup is served, as a rule, meat and a second course of meat, often without a side dish. The meal ends with sweet tea.

A characteristic feature of Jewish cuisine are fish and meat dishes, rather boiled and stewed than fried. Meatballs made from finely chopped fish with spices and matzo (gefilte fish) are also popular.

Milk in Jewish cooking is used exclusively fresh. A variety of unleavened dishes and boiled porridges of a semi-liquid consistency are prepared from it.

As for spices, their range is limited to onions, cloves, and which are consumed in moderation.

The visiting card of Jewish culinary specialists is all kinds of pastries and blanks from or matzemel, to which nuts or honey are added. These are matzah, challah, sufganiet (donuts with jam) or bagels - Jewish bagels. An interesting fact: it is to them, and not to Russian bagels, that the song “Buy Bagels” is dedicated.

From drinks, good and black are popular here, and from alcohol - anise vodka and kosher, prepared according to Jewish traditions.

Characteristics

All dishes are prepared by Jewish culinary specialists according to the medically justified laws of kashrut, which prohibit the use of certain foods. In addition, they impose a ban on the combination of certain ingredients, and also provide for the use of separate knives for different products.

Foods that are allowed to be consumed are called kosher. These include, for example, some types of meat, as well as dairy products, fruits, vegetables, fish in scales, nuts and honey. At the same time, the meat of mammals and poultry must be cut in a special way, called shechita. There is also a ban on the consumption of certain parts of the carcasses of kosher animals.

Foods forbidden in Jewish cuisine are called non-kosher. These include the blood of animals, the meat of hares, camels, predatory animals and birds, as well as fish that do not have scales, insects, reptiles and amphibians. Before cooking the meat, all the blood is removed from it by salting out or soaking.

The laws of kashrut prohibit the mixing of meat and dairy products or their simultaneous use, as well as the use of the same dishes for these products.

In fruits and vegetables that are allowed to be eaten, there should be no insects, and juice, wine and cognac from grapes should be prepared in compliance with special rules.

Kashrut forbids cooking on Shabbat. Therefore, in the Jewish culinary tradition, dishes that are prepared on Fridays are common, so that they are infused until Saturday.

Main dishes

Jewish cuisine is distinguished by the originality of dishes with a unique aroma and taste. The secret of cooking most dishes is rooted in the very depths of millennia. This is due to kashrut, the laws of which stipulate only strictly defined products and methods of cooking.

Meat dishes

Just like Arabs and Muslims, Jews do not eat pork. The pillar of Jewish cooking is the meat of only artiodactyl animals (, lamb) and poultry (,). At the same time, inventive chefs manage to cook several dishes from one product at once.

So, for example, broth is first boiled from a chicken carcass. Then, a popular national dish, gefilte gelzele (stuffed neck), is prepared from the skin, giblets and a small amount of meat. Flour, raw goose fat and onions are added to minced chicken necks. Having stuffed the necks, they are stewed in a specially prepared sauce made from carrots, onions and goose fat.

The main part of the meat from the broth is allowed to cook dishes according to various recipes. So, for example, boiled beef is used to make pancakes.

It should be noted that for the preparation of meat dishes of Jewish cuisine, both natural and minced meat are used. At the same time, dishes prepared in the best culinary traditions of Eastern countries are easily identified by their sweet and sour taste. So, beef for the esik-flash dish is stewed in tomato paste sauce with the addition of honey, raisins and.

The traditional Jewish dish, which is usually served on Shabbat, when it is forbidden to light a fire, is cholent. It is made from fatty kosher beef, onions and a variety of herbs, sometimes adding or potatoes. The container with the ingredients of this dish is placed in a special oven on Friday night, so that the dish remains hot until Saturday afternoon.

In Sephardic cooking, it is customary to cook with chicken, lamb with couscous (Israeli ptitim) or mafrum - spicy lamb, beef or chicken cutlets stewed in tomato sauce, as well as stuffed potatoes.

Another popular Jewish dish is the triangular kreplach dumplings, which owe their shape to three patriarchs: Abraham, Yitzhak and Jacob. Their filling varies depending on the holiday. So, on sacred holidays, Jewish dumplings are cooked with meat filling and served in chicken soup. On Purim, the filling is creplach, and on Shavuot - cheese.

Soups

Chicken broth with dumplings is jokingly called "Jewish Penicillin" due to its energizing properties. national feature its preparation is the addition of a whole head of raw onion, which is removed after cooking during straining, as well as adding 2-3 grams to each serving before serving.

In addition to chicken broth, Jewish chefs prepare soups and borscht. Especially popular here are potato soups with legumes, as well as milk soups. So Sephardic cooking traditionally offers tomato soup harira, cooked in a strong meat broth and seasoned with hummus, herbs and spices.

In summer, it is customary to cook cold red borscht with potatoes, to which slices of peeled fresh, chopped boiled eggs, and green onions are added. Sometimes dried fruits are added to the ingredients for borscht. It is customary for Ashkenazis to cook cold beetroot soup kalte burechkes. In addition to cold red borscht, sorrel borscht and chilled soup with dried fruits are also prepared in summer.

Cold snacks

typical cold snack Jewish cooking is minced herring mincemeat, borrowed from East Prussia, where this dish was prepared from fried herring. In the performance of Jewish culinary specialists, this appetizer is a paste of a homogeneous consistency, which is spread on flat cakes from unleavened dough - matzah.

One of the most original Jewish snack foods is gefilte fish with horseradish, boiled in sauce with vegetables. It can be either, or stuffed with fish pulp, eggs and vegetable oil with added sugar, or less "noble" types of fish.

Another national snack is hummus, which is very popular in Jewish cuisine. This dish is a delicate buttery paste of mashed chickpeas seasoned with garlic, paprika, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini (sesame paste). Hummus can serve not only as an appetizer, but also as a sauce.

Also among the snack dishes of Jewish cuisine, grated radish with goose fat and sautéed onions, as well as chopped eggs with goose fat, to which fresh cucumbers are added if desired, should be distinguished.

Vegetable and cereal dishes

The basis of Jewish cuisine is also traditional dishes from vegetables, flour and cereals. Popular flour dishes are: mandalas, meatballs, matzah casseroles and matzah dumplings.

A special delicacy is the sweet vegetable roast tsiemes (sweet carrots stewed in fat), which, depending on the composition of the ingredients, can be not only a dessert, but also a second course served with meat.

The Israeli version of the falafel bean dish, famous many centuries ago in Egypt, in Jewish cuisine is prepared exclusively from, to which bulgur is sometimes added. Fried is another Jewish delicacy, and latkes (potato pancakes), which require a lot of vegetable oil, are prepared on the joyful holiday of Hanukkah.

Baking and sweets

Jewish pastries are represented by the national type of bread - matzo, baked from water and flour without addition. Another traditional Jewish dish is matzebrai, a matzah cake with milk, eggs and cheese, which is prepared on Passover, during the ban on fermented foods.

Popular among Jews is the traditional holiday bread sprinkled with poppy seeds or challah. It is prepared without the use of dairy products. The secret of baking these braided "pigtails" has been passed down from generation to generation.

Ritual Jewish bagels - bagels are prepared in a special way. Before being sent to the oven, they are pre-boiled. Triangular hamantashen cookies, traditional on the Jewish holiday of Purim, are prepared with a variety of fillings.

Also popular with culinary specialists are donuts stuffed with jelly or marmalade - sufganiet, which Jews serve during the eight days of Hanukkah. This dish can be attributed to both baking and dessert.

Traditional Jewish desserts are a mixture of fruits and nuts. Jewish confectionery products are similar to those of the Middle East, with the only difference being that yolks are added to the dough, and besides sugar, honey is also used. Therefore, pastries here have an extremely sweet taste. These are baklava - a multi-layered pie with a nut filling, to which honey and syrup are added, and kadaif - small rolls (balls) stuffed with nuts and honey, and harissa - a semolina pie with orange or pink syrup.

Beneficial features

According to Jewish culinary philosophy, kosher food has a beneficial effect on the spiritual level of a person.

The laws of kashrut call for self-discipline and self-restraint. Eating becomes not just an act of satisfying hunger, but a conscious adherence to the laws of the Torah. Thus, following the Jewish culinary philosophy, a person takes control of his desires, and also develops spiritually.

In addition, the presence of vegetables and fruits in the diet of local residents helps to provide the body with the necessary minerals and vitamins, as well as those that help to eliminate toxins and toxic substances in a natural way.

Cooking cholent

To prepare this dish, you will need the following ingredients: 1 kilogram of beef, two cups of beans (a glass of white and red), half a glass, three onions, three medium-sized potatoes, two tablespoons of wheat flour, as well as salt and black pepper.

Rinse and drain beans cold water. Rinse the barley and soak it in water for 6-12 hours, and then boil it in it for 10-15 minutes.

Pour flour into a plastic bag and, putting meat cut into large pieces in it, tie it up and shake well so that the flour covers each of the meat slices.

After removing the meat from the bag, fry it in portions over high heat in a mixture of vegetable and ghee, using a thick-walled saucepan. After the meat is ready, add ghee to the pan and fry the pre-sliced ​​onion in it until it becomes translucent. After that, pour the barley into the pan with onions along with the water in which you cooked it. When the mixture boils, send the meat there.

Drain the water from the beans and place them in a saucepan. Salt and stir.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large pieces. Put it in a saucepan, cover with warm water and bring to a boil. After that, cook on medium heat for about half an hour.

Cooking latkes

To prepare a dish called latkes, you will need: three potatoes, a quarter of an onion, one egg, a tablespoon of wheat flour, a tablespoon of grated, salt and pepper to taste, and vegetable oil for frying.

Rub the potatoes on a coarse grater, and chop the onion with a blender. Please note that we need potatoes dry, so we need to squeeze out excess juice from it.

Mix onion, potatoes in a deep bowl, add flour and cheese, beat in an egg. Mix well. Spread the potato mass on a generously oiled and thoroughly heated frying pan, forming small cakes out of it. Fry until golden brown.

Latkes should be served hot with sour cream.