Tanzia we ate at grandma’s, my father’s mother, the one my sister is named after. In our family, there are three Shimons, two Hannas and two Shulas, so whenever one mentioned the name Shimon it was always accompanied with uncle Moshe’s Shimon or Aunt Simmi’s Shimon. For some of my cousins I am still uncle Shalom’s Shimon today.
When my first son was born it took us quite some time to find a name we loved for him. My youngest son’s name was chosen by his older brother, and this only happened about three weeks after he was born. Unlike us, for my parents, the newborn’s name was set in advance. The first boy named after the father’s father, first girl named after the father’s mother and so on. When my better half was pregnant with my older son, before we knew if it was a girl or a boy, my father in his gentle way tried to direct the choice of the name “Shula is a very nice name” he said. My sister Hana was named after my grandmother, his mom, and he hoped that if I had a girl I’d name her Shula after his grandmother. A boy was born. It saved us the need to explain that we choose names differently.
Ingredients
2 lb short ribs
3 onions sliced
1 cup pitted prunes
1 cup dried figs
1 cup dried apricot
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts
1 TBS brown sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
¼ tsp allspice
¼ cardamom
¼ cloves
2 TBS silan
5 dried hot red pepper
½ tsp salt
1 cut sweet red wine
1 ½ -2 cups water
Heat a little oil in a large pan. Fry the ribs about 2 minutes each side until browned. Take out and put aside. In the same pan caramelize the onions with the sugar on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and the spices and mix. Add the wine and the water and bring to boil. Put the ribs back in the pan, placing them between the dried fruit. The sauce should cover the ribs, if needed add water. Cook for about 2 ½ hours, until meat is tender and falling of the bone, and almost all the water evaporated. Serve over white rice or moroccan couscous.
