Who am I?

My name is Sasha and I am trying to master the art of Jewish cooking. I am not Jewish. How did I get here?

Well lets start from the beginning… Almost 3 years ago I was working onboard a cruise liner when one day a dashing Israeli boarded as a crewmember. The moment I set eyes on him my knees went weak, however it is quite a well known fact that shipboard romances don’t tend to last long…well not this one.

Within 3 months we both had resigned and decided to explore this new budding romance ashore, however where ashore was yet to decided.

So we holidayed between South Africa and Israel to determine the country of residence. It was here when the panic started to set in. I had been travelling all over the world for almost 8 years with just about not setting foot in the kitchen once during that time and here my new found love had made it quite clear how much he enjoys eating and eating and eating, and some more eating. But you can’t fool him, let’s just say his mother had spoilt him and I had some big shoes to fill!EEEEEK

While in Israel when planning our move to South Africa I had found my first Jewish culinary cook book called “The book of Jewish cooking” by Claudia Roden.

One problem, NO pictures! This was not a good start I am afraid. The reason why I became so hung up on this is because I was trying to emulate dishes which I had never tasted or even seen before and therefore had no idea what I was aiming for. 

Claudia Rodens book did however explain very well the two main groupings and cultural branches of the Jewish people- Sephardi and Ashkenazi.

It is most interesting as she crams all this history, personal memories and anecdotes. She explains due to the uprooting and migration of the Jewish people (The Diaspora) over all the years their dishes were influenced by the foods and cooking of the cultures in which they lived in.

Just prior to departing Israel, Sara an Aunty of my partner, gave me a gift. Perhaps she saw the panic in my eyes that in just days I would need to cook my first meal for my man. Now ladies, I am sure you would all agree with me here, but this very important meal is the one that sets your man’s impression about your cooking style, or the lack there of.

Janna Gur’s ‘The book on New Israeli Food’ first published in only 2007 was my savior. I absolutely adore the old dishes, which have been breathed life into with a modern twist yet keeping its traditions, all the pictures (yes I like my cook book to have pictures, and these pictures in particular are awesome), and the easy to follow cooking methods.

Now the group I am focusing on is that of the Sephardi. The term ‘Sephardi’ in the broad sense, which it is used today, signifies those Jews whose roots are around the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia.

The problem comes in is that here in South Africa I find that there is not a lot out there for people like me. I have been back to Israel 3 times from the time of writing this and every time I go I hunt down the different ingredients and spices that are hard to find in Cape Town. I have harassed my mother-in-law to be for recipes, which bless my man’s soul has to translate everything from Hebrew to English from his mum while I scribble it down. All I want to do is taste everything and make mental notes as to textures, colors and tastes to take back home and try.  Every few months a shopping list is emailed to the parents-in-law who diligently packs and fly’s us only the freshest and best quality products that reach us in just 4 days!

I have found Oded’s Kitchen in Woodstock some months ago which does stock some ready made offerings however I have found pure joy in making everything from scratch right down to the sauce and even my spice mix!

So the Sephardi world is a warm one of peppers and aubergine, courgettes and tomatoes, rice and cracked wheat, salt water fish and olive oil.

So here is to me soon to be a converted Jew and making some excellent dishes, which has my guests, and my man coming back for more!