As the Jews of Spain left Iberia, the largest number found safe haven in the Ottoman Empire. There the foods of the Sephardim, with recipes remembered and carried by the women, found a wonderful match with Ottoman cuisine.
Perhaps we can create our own seven species… qualities for this time to help us focus on what we need to find in abundance within ourselves.
What better way to celebrate the abundance of the harvest than by stuffing vegetables with an abundance of meat, rice, vegetables and fruits! No wonder stuffed foods are a traditional favorite for Sukkot, the festive fall holiday, for Jews from around the world.
The first cold soup I ever tasted I hated. For years. How unfortunate that it was introduced to me (dare I say pushed on me?) by the two women I admired most, my mother and my small-but-mighty Russian grandmother.
