KVETCHING MEANS FOOD - WHO KNEW?

In 1978, when I returned to the US after sixteen years in the Netherlands, I felt lost. I had left the US as a two-year old, and was not so much coming back, as coming for the first time as a sentient being. There was consequently almost nothing familiar about this country to me at that time.

An infant does not remember much, and, particularly, does not remember food.
An eighteen year old, on the other hand, is keenly food-conscious, and will agonize over civilized edibles not being readily available. The absence of familiar food makes the sense of exile so much more plangent.

I had not developed a taste for American food while living in the Netherlands - My mother's cooking was based on student boardinghouse and military styles of food, my dad and I hid jars of Indonesian hot sauce and spicy condiments to jazz up dinner (read here: "make dinner palatable"), and all three of us males (my father, my brother, and myself) would smuggle raw herring and smoked eel into the house when she was not looking.


There is no raw herring or smoked eel in this country. Have you noticed?


I kvetched about food in letters to many people that first year - and at one point received a snarky response from Levi K.. He wrote that he could well understand my despair, surely I pined for the dishes I was accustomed to, he sympathized, and hoped that the enclosed recipes for home-cooking would make my life easier.

His cooking was by no means native Dutch, and not entirely familiar.



D'JAJ YAHUDI, D'JAJ M'ZBIB
[Poulet a la Juif; stewed chicken with raisins.]

One pullet of about two pounds, skinned and cut up into large pieces.
Two large onions.
Half a cup raisins, rinsed.
Half a TBS ground coriander.
Quarter Tsp. each: ground pepper, cinnamon powder, dry ginger.
Generous pinches mace, cayenne, turmeric, salt, and sugar.
Smaller pinches oregano, thyme, rosemary.
Two cups chicken stock.
The juice of one lemon.
Sherry.
Bay leaves.
Olive oil.

Chop the onions, fry golden them in a little olive oil, and remove to a plate.
Fry the chicken pieces till gilded, add the coriander, cayenne, and turmeric. Continue frying while stirring till material starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add onions and raisins, stir briefly, and deglaze with a splash sherry. Now add all else, and simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally.



SALATAT M'KHUDRA
[Green salad.]

Two cucumbers, three or four Roma tomatoes, and a scallion or two.
One bunch of parsley.
One clove garlic.
Some basil leaves.
Six TBS olive oil, One and half TBS vinegar, One and a half TBS lemon juice.
Pinches salt, pepper, cumin, crumbled oregano, thyme, rosemary, sugar.

Peel and chop the cucumber, chunk the tomatoes. Mince the scallion and basil leaves, chop the parsley semi-fine.
Mash the garlic clove with the various pinches. Add the oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Whisk briskly to combine and emulsify. Let it stand till needed, whereupon re-whisk, and toss the dressing and salad ingredients all together to serve.



SALATAT BANEDURA
[Tomato salad.]

Half a dozen Roma tomatoes, chunk cut.
Half a cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese.
Four TBS chopped parsley.
A minced scallion.
Some minced basil leaves.
Pinches salt, pepper, cumin, crumbled oregano, thyme, rosemary, sugar.
A squeeze of lemon, a sploodge of olive oil.

Toss everything together to serve.



TURSHI KARNABIT
[Cauliflower brine-pickles.]

One large cauliflower, broken into florets.
Four or five carrots, scraped and coined.
Four cups water.
One cup vinegar.
Quarter cup salt.
One tsp sugar.
One tsp coriander seeds.
Half a tsp peppercorns.
Quarter tsp cumin seeds.
A few dry chilies, some bay leaves, two or three cloves garlic.

Shake water, vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices together till the salt and sugar are dissolved.
Blanch the cauliflower in boiling salt water into which you have squeezed a lemon. Remove and drain, do not allow to cook.
Whack the garlic with the flat of a cleaver, put in a roomy sterilized jar along with the chilies and bay leaves. Place the cauliflower and carrot on top of this, and pour the brine over. Let stand a few days, agitating occasionally, before serving the pickle.

Note that the same brine recipe also works for roasted peppers (filfil), chopped string beans (fasuliya), or chunked zucchini (kusa).



SHURBAT BATATA
[Potato soup.]

Two potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks.
Half a dozen Roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded, chopped.
Four shallots, minced.
Two cloves garlic, minced.
A generous handful of chopped parsley.
A few minced basil leaves.
Generous pinches of ground coriander, paprika, salt, and pepper.
Miserly pinches cumin, turmeric, cayenne, dry ginger.
A little crumbled oregano, thyme, rosemary.
Four cups chicken stock.
A splash of sherry.
Juice of one lemon.
Olive oil.

Sauté the shallots till softened in plenty of olive oil. Add the garlic, gild lightly, add the tomatoes and stir to break up. Add all liquids and spices (but not the fresh herbs), bring to a boil, simmer a few minutes. Add the potato chunks, and simmer for twelve to fifteen minutes more. Put the fresh herbs into the soup a few minutes before serving.



MUHALLABIYA
[Pudding.]

Two cups milk.
Quarter cup sugar.
Two TBS cornstarch.
Two Tsp. rice flour.
Dash of rosewater.
Drop or two of almond essence.

Carefully blend the cornstarch and rice flour with a little of the milk, rendering a smooth pourable sludge.
Heat the rest of the milk with the sugar, stirring till the sugar is dissolved. Add some of the warm milk to the starch sludge, then add the sludge to the warm milk. Cook, stirring, till the pudding thickens. Now add the rosewater and the almond essence. Chill ere serving. Garnish with plenty of crumbled pistachio.


More to follow in another post - it is almost Friday evening, and I must get home.