Tu B'Shvat Seder

[Miriam Kresh]

This year, the Jewish New Year of the Trees falls on Shabbat. The festival marks a cutoff point from which tree fruit may be classified as belonging to the previous year, or the new, which in Jewish law determines if it should be tithed. It's a flexible sort of holiday; school children go out in groups to plant trees (grownups too), hiking, especially to see if the almond trees are in bloom, is popular, and at home it's nice to observe it by eating fruits of the land and having a little celebration. Here is the Wikipedia article on the holiday, and here is another Tu B'Shvat link. Tu B'Shvat is a holiday especially dear to the Jewish vegetarian; at least, here in Israel. Recently, people have connected the New Year of the Trees to raising consciousness about ecology.

Sephardic tradition has it that one should hold a "seder Tu B'Shvat" celebrating aspects of our connection with nature both mystical and mundane. If you read through the second link, you can see the sort of things that most often come up for discussion, and that although there are established traditions, people are free to fill in the framework with their own interpretations. One should many kinds of fruit, and at least one "new" one, a fruit you haven't eaten yet this year. (Star fruit and quince for us, I think.)

I myself have not held a seder Tu B'Shvat, but once attended a pretty hilarious one in Safed at the Chabad-run Ascent institute: lots of wine! This year, my daughter and my Tunisian son-in-law will be with us, and I am working out a menu that jives with the holiday and with Shabbat. This is it so far:

Challah

Dips and nibbles: za'atar, choumous, stuffed olives, salted almonds, plates of dried and fresh fruit.

Moroccan fish, contributed by my daughter

Chicken soup - inevitably

Sauteed chicken in pomegranate sauce OR tajine turkey with dried apricots

Barley pilaf tossed with...something. Walnuts and chives?

The Usual Green Salad

Something light for dessert. We'll have eaten plenty of fruit. But what?...

Wines: The light red and pink we'll have with dinner will be of my own brewing. I'll have to buy the white. For dessert, I have a dark wine I made last Tu B'Shvat with dried fruit of all kinds: not too sweet and very strong, with an aroma of slivovitz.

Shabbat day: no fruit. I hate to think what all that fruit is going to do to my little grandson's stomaches. Just an easy-going meal with mashed potatoes or white rice in it somewhere.

So...any suggestions for the blank spots on my menu? And who else is celebrating?

Miriam

[FlavoursGal]

Miriam, I've not done a Tu B'Shvat seder myself, but it sounds like a great idea.

I love the sound of your menu. I've done barley pilafs, but I prefer using farro (similar to spelt) instead. I often toss it with sauteed oyster mushrooms and slightly caramelized onions.

Both of your poultry ideas are great. If you do the turkey tagine, would you use bone-in or boned turkey? I've had great success using boned turkey thigh meat in braises.

As for dessert, you could do something simple using non-dairy sorbet or ice cream. Affrogato, which is ice cream topped with hot espresso, or how about some sorbet or ice cream topped with limoncello and berries?

[Pam R]

Miriam, your menu is lovely, as usual. What about something lemony for dessert? A tart or pie? It's fruit-y, but in a different way.

I'm celebrating early, though not cooking myself. On Thursday the executive chef of the Dan Accadia hotel in Tel Aviv will be in town, preparing a Seder with the chef at our local Fairmont. I'm not sure what the menu is, but it's 7 courses - and last year it was fantastic (I do know that there will be shortribs, beef cheek and chicken... plus much more). They try to do a combination of local foods and Israeli foods. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Miriam Kresh]

FlavorsGal,

Barley is one of the Biblical seven species, so I would like to include a barley dish for the Seder. Barley tends to be stodgy, though. I'd use pearl barley and cook it in broth till just barely tender. Sauteed oyster mushrooms and carmelized onions...sounds good. I don't know if you can even get farro here; Michelle (Swisskaese) and I were talking about it, and neither of us has seen it in Israel.

For a turkey tajine, I would use boned thigh, as you do. I'm beginning to lean towards that tajine, I see. Yellow raisins, dried apricots, a few slices of red bell pepper....maybe a little saffron...bay leaves, onions, white pepper...it's starting to take shape in my mind.

Sorbet sounds excellent, nice and light. Tangerines are abundant now, that would make a good sorbet. Maybe small sand cookies to go with it. The folks won't want espresso last thing at night, and although I have limoncello, we're going to be pretty woozy with wine by dessert time. Four cups! If we can keep it down to that.

Thanks for the ideas, I'm going to use them!

Pam,

Ow, your event sounds impressive! I did think of doing both chicken and turkey (there are health issues with red meat in the family). Now reading your description of last year's TBS seder, I'm getting jealous of the variety.

Lemons. My building's garden has a Lovely Lemon Tree, and while the other neighbors (and foragers) have stripped the lower branches, large yellow fruit is still dangling off the top. Last year I just took a ladder outside and filled up a bag. It would be beautiful to include some of those lemons in our TBS seder; would a sorbet work?

Miriam

Edited January 30, 2007 by Miriam Kresh (log)

[Pam R]

Lemons. My building's garden has a Lovely Lemon Tree, and while the other neighbors (and foragers) have stripped the lower branches, large yellow fruit is still dangling off the top. Last year I just took a ladder outside and filled up a bag. It would be beautiful to include some of those lemons in our TBS seder; would a sorbet work?

Sorbet would work - or a granita. With a splash of the limoncello, it would be lovely.

[Swisskaese]

I am still trying to figure out what I am making.

I will definitely make a small challah with dried fruits (apricots, figs, cranberries, cherries, raisins and walnuts).

I am thinking about making an Indian Parsi dish called Sali Jardaloo Murgi. It is chicken with apricots and potato straws. It is seasoned with dried chilies, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, cloves, ginger, garlic and dried apricots.

I haven't figured out the sides yet.

I might try the Nigvzis Torti (Walnut-Raisin Torte) that Abra tried in the Georgian Feast

[scubadoo97]

Miriam, have you ever had bazargan? It's a bulgur wheat/nut salad

Here is a recipe I found online. I don't have measurements for my own bazargan but I use a regular small onions, half sauteed and half raw diced fine, and substitute pomegranate syrup for the tamarind concentrate. Some people use ketsup instead of the tomato paste. It works well and you can tailor to your taste of course. I like a a couple of tbs of cumin in mine. It's one of those salads that gets better as it sits so can be made ahead.

Bazargan: Bulgur Wheat and Walnut Salad - pareve

The recipe which follows is a family recipe from Lisa Ades, a

documentary filmmaker. The recipe appeared in an article about

Jewish-Syrian cooking in the December '97 SAVEUR magazine.

According to the article, this is one of the signature dishes of

Syrian-Jewish cooking. It is a meze or side-dish.

Karen Selwyn

* * * * * * *

Bulgur Wheat and Walnut Salad (Bazargan)

1 1/2 cups fine-grain bulgur wheat

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup parsley

2 scallions, green parts only, finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

pinch cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

salt and freshly ground pepper

Place bulgur wheat in a large bowl. Add 2 cups water and 1 tablespoon

oil. Set aside until water is absorbed, approximately 20 minutes. Add

walnuts, pine nuts, parsley, and scallions to bulgur wheat.

Meanwhile, combine tamarind and 1/3 cup warm water in a medium bowl. Add

remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, tomato paste, cayenne pepper, and lemon

juice to tamarind mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Pour

liquid over bulgur wheat and toss gently.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours. Adjust seasonings

with salt and cayenne pepper.

Serve with wedges of toasted pita bread.

[Swisskaese]

That sounds delicious scubadoo97. I will have to try that.