"What cookies will you make this time?” my younger son asked when the cookie jar was almost empty. “I think I’ll make tahini cookies”. There was no mistake in his expression, “Tahini??” “yes” I answered, “you like Halva, right?” “yes” he said “well, tahini and halva are made out of the same ingredient, sesame”. “Ok” he answered and went to his room. What this “ok” really meant was something along the lines of: ugh, another one of my dad’s non-edible kitchen improvisations…
Just about all my childhood foods relate to Mom. She was the day to day cook. The kitchen was her domain and she ruled it with a firm hand. From time to time, mostly during holidays and specials occasions, Dad also entered the kitchen to prepare delicacies that were “his.” It’s not that Mom didn’t know how to make them, but these were dad’s dishes.
“What is this spice?” mom asked when I took the sumac out of the spice cabinet. “Sumac” I answered, “and what are you using it for?” she continued “you can add it to rice, to meatballs, today I’m using it for chicken”. Mom and dad came to visit us, and as usual mom would enter the kitchen.
“No salads?” asked dad as he sat down for dinner on Friday evening. “I didn’t get to it” answered mom, and started detailing what she did get to that day. She cleaned the house, baked two trays of bourekas, 3 trays of cookies and a cake. Even though it might sound like it it was not a lot, we were 5 kids after all.
There are times that I don’t really get what all the fuss about humus. All in all we are talking about a crashed legume with tahini sauce, lemon juice garlic and spices. Sounds like a nice veggie spread, but not something to write home about.
All this instantly forgotten when I sit at the table with fresh made humus in front of me and pickles hot sauce and pita bread along side. At this moment I forget all high end chef’s specials, with their poetic descriptions and indulging in sheer pleasure reserved only for good hummus.
Moroccan tea biscuit – Riffaat
A few months ago, when some friends told us that they are coming to visit I fell into a baking mood. Although I do cook regularly, and some may say that I’m quite good at it, baking is a whole different ball game. However, friends were coming over and my mother always said, “you just can’t serve tea without cookies.” My mom had been gone a long time; my Dad is not with us either so where can I find a good cookie recipe? Luckily in one of my visits to Israel I met Aunt Dina, Uncle Moshe’s wife, who is known in the family for her baking talent, and she was willing to share with me the recipe for her… “cookies? I have an amazing recipe for you, easy as pie.”