Cristiana's Plums Far, for The Recipe-Tionist

The first step, was trying to understand Flavia's recipe-tionist rules.

Once I got it, I went to surf Cristiana's blog.

I've been surfing for hours.

I was looking for a recipe that was possible to make with the ingredients found here and that I could interpretate in kosher way, changing only one ingredient.

I was going to throw the towel when I ended up here.

The far. A french recipe. 

Intrigued by the use of fresh plums instead of dried, I continued reading.

I have to say that I am not a romantic person and I barely and rarely feel moved, but while I was reading, I saw my own grandmother.

I've found her light blue eyes, her tiny body moving in a small kitchen, her skills in the kitchen. Everything seemed easy looking at her.

I remembered her anger, "like a tiger" as Cristiana writes, when my sister Sarah died, so prematurely. The only difference is that my grandmother could not go on, she died of sorrow, two months later.

Unfortunately, she didn't left us a recipes notebook, she cooked by heart, I was only sixteen when she past away, not interested yet to learn about the kitchen mysteries. 

When I was measuring the milk for the far, I suddenly remembered the noise.

I could still hear the scrape of it. The long sound. Metal on metal.

Shrill like a scream, piercing the morning chill, and my dreams. Its sharp persistence disallowing silence and sleep. My grandmother emptying the porridge pot in the kitchen, cleaning carefully, edge to curved edge, with a spoon. The rule was: no waste.

I remembered the sullen complaints: my elder sister burrowing her head under the pillow and I pulling the covers over mine, in vain.

Every morning. My grandmother prepared porridge every morning, so we did not need an alarm clock in school time.

I have to admit now that all of a sudden, I miss that gray, gloopy mess.

But Cristiana's grandmother's far is much better:

 Fresh Plums Far

300 g fresh plums

200 g flour

150 g sugar

4 eggs

500 ml milk

1 tablespoon Armagnac

100 g butter

pinch of salt

Wash plums, cut in half and take out the bones. 

Warm the milk with the butter, until butter is melted. Allow to cool.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Add eggs and let the flour absorbing the eggs. 

Add the milk, working with an hand whisk in order to have a mix like the crêpes mix. Add the Armagnac. Set aside, for one hour.

Preheat oven at 180°.

Grease a 22 cm tick border tin and put the prunes on the bottom.

Cover with the dough and cook 45 minutes.

Serve cool.

Alsatian Schenkele or Lady's tights. Mardi Gras in Alsace.

Schenkele, the Alsatian almond and kirsch flavored fritters. Mardi Gras in Alsace.

New Delhi, February 2017

Mardi Gras in Strasbourg smells like Hanukkah in Jerusalem. 

The smell of frying food is everywhere. Especially sweet fried food.

Schenkele, also called Lady's tights, are a must in this period.

When I was pouring the clarified butter in the frying pan, my husband showed up in the Kitchen.

-Are you going to fry again?- the doctor asked

I looked at him, with my best big smile.

-You said frying is good for the liver (but not for memory, I'm afraid)

-No, I said it's not bad if you don't eat it often. You will end killing me.

(Don't tell him but it's exactly the goal I married him for)

-You're not forced to eat the Schenkele, my dear. I will make a fruit salad only for you.

(Big Deal. He won't eat my Schenkele. What a pitty. There will be more for us)

-Schenkele????

Now, guess who ate a lot and wanted more.

His Alsatian genes are stronger than his willpower. It's clear. 😃

You have to know that in Alsace we observe very closely every calendar's celebration. No matter if you're Jewish, Christian or Muslim, if you're Alsatian, any excuse is good to enjoy special foods.

Indeed, if the primary meaning of a religious celebration can sometimes be lost along the way, the greedy tradition remains, in turn, intact.

When Mardi Gras approaches, you can find thus fritters everywhere and in all the shapes in Alsace. In fact, "Boules de Berlin" (Sufganyoth, Kraphen, Donuts or Berliner Pfannkuchen), Roussettes de Strasbourg (kind of Angel wings), Apfelkiechle (apple fritters) and Schenkele are the best seller in all the region's pastry shops in this period.

Why this madness about donuts and fritters in February?

This tradition is typically the legacy from a Catholic religious practice that is non longer necessarily observed, but whose food rituals has endured.

Rituals, even if they loose their religious meaning, retain the power to gather people. No matter which is your faith, Mardi Gras is an excellent pretext for gorging on donuts and fritters without guilt!

So, I say, it would be so wrong to deprive yourself. Isn't it?

Anyway, if it's not your G-d who will hit you on your fingers for your excess of gluttony, then the scale, your cholesterol levels or your favorite skinny jeans will soon make you call to order.😇

Finally, the calendar festivals have the merit of putting a little order in what could be quickly become total anarchic. Just imagine if it was the period of cakes, candy apples, donuts, fritters, chocolate eggs, bredele and Christmas log all the year long!

No, it's better non to imagine all this considered. 

It must be admitted that seasonality makes all the charm of certain specialities. With no doubt, these Schenkele flavored with Kirsch, deliciously soft inside and so crispy outside, are more appreciated as their consumption is occasional but...

...as I use to say, after all there are many pants sizes but only one life.

Don't you think?

Enjoy!

Schenkele (Lady's tights)

I use to make this for Hanukkah Festival and eat it somewhere else in this period. But being in India, I missed the aroma of fried sweets flooding the streets so I decided to make and share it.

The particularity of these pastries is that, unlike other fritters, they keep crunchy for days. Some people use to roll the Schenkele in a mix of sugar and cinnamon just after frying when still hot. In my family we only use sugar for sprinkle. Modern variations include orange or lemon zest instead of kirsch, but honestly, I've never seen a citrus tree in Alsace.

Last, but not least, I've fried in clarified butter because I like most. You can use the grease you want.

For about 50-60 pieces

4 eggs
250 grams sugar
125 grams butter
2 tablespoons Kirsch
125 grams almond meal
pinch of salt
500 grams flour

grease for deep frying (I used clarified butter)
sugar, to sprinkle

Melt butter and stir in the kirsch. Let it cool slightly.
Whisk the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. When eggs will be fluffy, add the melted butter and liquor, making sure it has cooled, or you will risk to "cook" the eggs. Add the almond meal and salt, as well. Combine.
Add the flour in several batches. You have to obtain a smooth but still sticky dough. Fold it in cling wrap and let in the fridge for 2 hours.
After this time, you will have an easy to work dough.
Flour your hands and take a small piece of dough (about 20 grams each), roll in your hands to make a cylinder shape (5 to 6 cm long and 2 to 3 wide) and press the ends in order to form points, as shown in the picture.

Lay your raw Schenkele on a floured surface.
When done, heat your frying grease at 160°C. Temperature is very important here, because if your oil is too hot, you will have a colored surface, but a raw inner. So, try to maintain a constant temperature while frying. What I did, was put my frying pan at high heat until it reached the ideal temperature, then I lowed the fire always keeping an eye on the thermometer.
Fry non more than 10 to 12 pieces at batch. They first tend to sink and stick on the bottom of the pan, then they will float; that's why you must turn very often to cook evenly.
If the temperature is the right one, it will take up to 10-20 minutes to cook your Schenkele until golden brown and perfectly cooked in the center.
They will crack during the cooking time. Don't worry, it's absolutely normal. They have to.
When done, transfer each batch to a plate lined with paper towel and sprinkle with sugar immediately, before they get warm.
Eat warm or cold with any moderation!
It's just for one day. 😊

Almond Baklava. Grocery shopping in New Delhi: a real adventure.

Almond Baklava: grocery shopping in India is a real adventure. Or a Mission, I dare to say.

New Delhi, Febraury 2017

India: it's not a bed of roses, but what a bouquet of experiences... (read a sigh here)

New Delhi is not an easy place to be. 

It's a tentacular, complicated city. Dirty and polluted. Poor to make you cry.

I have not the same romantic idea of India as my niece and husband. I just can't.

According to them, India is amazing, colorful, beautiful, magic, meaningful, incredible, peaceful and safe. That is, the perfect place to be.

Yes, if you are a cow.

I'm not saying that I'm unhappy here, on the contrary. It's just that I can't see only all the good as they do. This city can be a nightmare, just only for that simple thing as grocery shopping is.

The thing I like the most here is spending time with mi niece. Only the both of us. I'm eager to make up for lost time, trying to spend as hours as possible with her, cooking, chatting, going out or simply in silence, looking into each other eyes, trying to find things in common. We already found a lot, beyond DNA matters and physical features.

One is that we both are passionate about markets. Food markets, firstly.

The first two times I've been here, she was severely ill, so she couldn't show me the city as she would want to do. Now she's recovering, always like a roller coaster, but there are days when she feels fully in shape and loaded with powerful, infecting energy. It's when I understand why my husband can't live without her and is totally fine only when she's around, since the day he met her.

-Let's go to INA Market- she suggested, one of those good days. -But you have to get yourself psychologically ready-she added.

I admit that I was afraid and worried in front of her proposition and the snigger in her face.

Before I continue my story, you have to know that there is not a supermarket in Delhi. Not even one. Every neighborhood has its own market and there are several specialized markets in the city. One for clothes, one for jewels, one for organic vegetables, and so on. If you need something specific, you have to move from one to another, otherwise you can find basic products just nearby. Things like season vegetables and fruits, milk and some other staples.

When I say market, don't immagine the European open air kind. Those markets are squares with little, dark shops all around. You can find jewelers, fashion boutiques, hairdressers, coffee bars and little basic groceries full of Indian stuff with unpronounceable names.

If you need to buy fish, meat or simple European food, like pasta for example, you have to take your car and have a nice time in Delhi's traffic jams.

It takes more than half an hour to cover 5 kilometers and reach this INA Market, but it seems to be worth it, judging by Michael and Ele's tales. I have to admit that I thought it was a bad jape, knowing them.

I was wrong. Kind of.

INA Market is a real Ali Baba's cave for foodies. You can find whatever you want from almost any country and if don't see it in your sight, they will find it for you. However, if you are a prissy person, this may not be the right place for you. It's always Delhi, it's always India: dirt, hawkers, homeless people and beggars jump immediately to the eye while you are concentrated doing the giant slalom through the stray dogs in the aisles.

A truly Indian experience.

This colorful, crowded indoor market is really exciting, with small shops full of packaged imported foods and local dry goods merchants. When you arrive at the parking, an army of coolies (porters) move close to you with a big smile, ready to carry your choices in a basket while you shop for few rupees. You have to choose among about fifteen guys: I chose the less intimidating one.

In a huge and multi-colored fruits and veg stall I saw some packages of Indian Buffalo Mozzarella in a fogged fridge and I asked for it.

-Don't- Ele said- Don't buy cheese here because you can't know how long it has been under the sun, before reaching that fridge.

-Right. So where do you buy cheese?

-In Meher Chand Market, just 4 kilometers from here

Great, another mission only to buy cheese. Ok, I can live with it.

After we got our fill of fruits and vegetables, always with the guy following us with his plastic basket, we had a random walk until reach the fishmongers side. Amazing. Less choice compared to the Tel Aviv fish markets, but much better and fresher compared to Strasbourg. Plus, fish are sold whole, so you can recognize what is kosher and what is not before they ask you if you want it in fillets. Since I have a retired surgeon at home, who wants fillets? He will make a better job than nobody else.

In a muddy lane in the back, you have the butchers. Mutton, goat, chicken and pork meats are available here. All the meat are halal and sellers are muslims, except for the pork, of course. The floor is wet, the odor is disgusting and a huge community of flies lives there, despite the fans and the electric fly zappers. Hygiene? Not available. 

At least, you know that meat is fresh. You have the option of choosing your live animal and they are so kind to kill and cut it just in front your eyes.

Now I understand why the majority of Indians are vegetarian.

-Tell me you never buy meat here.

She laughed.

-No. I buy kosher chicken from the Chabad Community and other Halal meats from a Japanese store which are...

-Let me guess...far and away?

Her laugh answered my question.

I can make it, I feel it. I will need to join her daily yoga class, but I will make it. Breath long and deep...

That day I bought a lot of almonds from Kashmir. They have a very pleasing aroma and a great texture. 

Yesterday, we all had a very bad day. Especially Ele. Then I wanted to try to cuddle her in some way.

I know for sure that her favorite sweet treat is Baklava.

The only problem is that I didn't know if phyllo pastry is available here. The homemade one is good, but sincerely, not the same.

I was afraid to ask

-Where can I find phyllo pastry?

-In the Modern Bazaar. 

Modern. Sounds so comfortable.

-And...where is it? 

-Just a few minutes from home

Yeah!

Long post, I hope you enjoyed my distress. But you maybe came here for the recipe...
Here it goes:

My Almond Baklava

There is not only one baklava recipe, there are thousands. The only thing they have in common is the dry fruits filling in a crunchy phyllo pastry shell, with a sticky flavorful syrup. This is my favorite one, with almonds only, orange blossom flavored.

for a 27x35 cm pan:

500 g almonds
4 tablespoons sugar
150 g butter
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
500 grams phyllo pastry

for the syrup:

500 g sugar
250 ml water
juice of 1 big lemon
about 2 tablespoons orange blossom water

If using frozen pastry, let it thaw completely before.

Preheat the oven at 180°.

In the meanwhile, chop the almonds. You can do it carefully in a food processor, but I like do it by hand, with a large knife, especially when I'm upset or angry, like I was. Those thinks work better than yoga for me.

Transfer the chopped almond in a bowl and mix with 4 tablespoons sugar.

Melt the butter along with the oil. Pour about 4 tablespoons of this mix on the almonds and mix well. Grease a the pan with oil or butter. Carefully, open and unfold the pastry sheets, place a dump cloth on them to prevent it from drying out.

Gently handle the phyllo dough sheets one by one, taking care to not to tear or damage it.

Place a sheet in the pan and brush it with the butter and oil mix. Place another sheet on the top of the first one and brush it, too. Do the same with the half of the package. You must to have a bottom of at least 10 phyllo sheets. Be careful to press the pastry on the edges and corners of the pan to make it adhering. Cut the pastry that pass over the edges of the pan. Scissors are the best tool for this task.

When you finish placing the half of the dough, place the almonds on it in an even layer. Make sure the almonds cover the entire pan.

Cover with the others phyllo sheets, greasing again one by one with the greasy mix. Brush the last one, too. Don't forget.

Normally and traditionally, at this point you have to cut the baklava in diamonds shapes. With a sharp knife, cut 6 rows across the long side. Then cut diagonal rows, first from a corner to the opposite one, then parallel to that row across the rest of the baclava.

Or you can do like me, I just cut in squares.

Bake for 1 hour or until golden and crisp. If after one hour it's not golden rise the temperature to 200° for some minutes, it will take the right tan.

During the baking time, make the syrup. Mix water, sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the orange blossom water. Let cool.

Take the baklava off the oven and let cool. When syrup and baklava are both cooled, drizzle the syrup all over the baklava. 

Refrigerate at least for 1 hour before serving.

Notes: I use to make baklava only with almonds because I like it more than other variations. You can also mix pistachio, walnuts and almonds or make it only with pistachio. Rose water water can be used instead of orange blossom one. Pistachio baklava with rose water is very common in Iran.

You can replace the sugar syrup with an honey or silan syrup and add spices like cinnamon or cardamom. For a Parve baklava, just substitute butter with more extra virgin olive oil.