No Ruz: Persian
New Year
The Persian New
Year takes place on the spring equinox, March 21st. The holiday lasts
several weeks. The house is decorated with a table top ceremonial
display pictured above. Featured in this display are seven items
that begin with the Persian letter "seen" (the English letter
"S").
These items
all symbolize the themes of No Ruz which include the seven
good angels, heralds of life and rebirth, health, happiness,
prosperity, joy and beauty.
The special seven
are: sprouts, an apple, a hyacinth, sumac powder, garlic, senjed
(dried jujube fruit), samanou (a dish made from lentil flour and
sugar). Other items that are included in the display are: a
copy of the Koran, poetry by Hafez, an orange floating in water, a
goldfish, a bowl of milk, some coins, rosewater, a bowl of painted
eggs, branches of olive and pomegranate trees, candles, incense and a
mirror.
On No Ruz evening,
families gather and exchange sweets, coins, good wishes and hugs.
The last Wednesday evening prior to the new year, neighbors exhange
noodle soup and jump over a bonfire which is supposed to take away evil
and bring good luck for the new year.
The new year season ends with a
family picnic along a river or stream. A ceremonial casting
of the sprouts into the water completes the process of rebirth.
Feasting, singing and dancing follows.
Here's a recipe for the No Ruz traditional
food:
Noodle
Soup(Ash-e Reshteh)
1/4 cup red
kidney beans, soaked
1/4 cup navy beans, soaked
1/4 cup chickpeas, soaked
3 onions, finely sliced
3 Tbsp. oil
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
10 cups water
1/2 cup lentils
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup chives or scallions, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup dill weed,
chopped
1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
2 cups spinach(fresh or frozen), chopped
1 beet, peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 lb. flat egg noodles or Persian noodles(Reshteh)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup liquid kashke or sour cream, or 1/4 cup wine vinegar
*Gheimeh
Garnish 1/4 lb. beef, in 1/2 inch cubes 1 small onion, chopped 3 cloves
garlic, crushed 2 Tbsp. oil 1/2 cup water 2 Tbsp. yellow split peas 1
tsp. tomato paste 1/4 tsp. saffron, dissolved in 1 Tbsp. hot water 1/2
tsp. salt
*Mint
Garnish 1 onion, finely sliced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 Tbsp. oil 1
tsp. dried mint flakes
Soup instructions:
In large pot, brown onions in oil. Add salt, 1/4 tsp. of the pepper,
and
turmeric. Pour in water and add kidney beans. navy beans, and
chickpeas. Cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add lentils and broth. Cook 35
minutes. Add scallions, dill, parsley, spinach, and beet. Stir
occasionally and
cook 20 minutes or until done. Correct seasoning(add the rest of the
pepper if needed) and add more water if too thick. Add noodles, flour
and
cook until noodles are done--about 10 minutes. If using kashke or sour
cream, set aside a heaping Tbsp. for garnish. Stir 2 Tbsp. of soup into
remaining sour cream. Stir this mixture slowly
into soup. Reheat just before serving, adding more water if it's too
thick.
Gheimeh:
About 1/2 hour before serving, prepare gheimeh garnish. Brown meat,
onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in water and split peas. Cover and cook
20 minutes over low heat. Add tomato paste, saffron, and salt. Simmer
covered for 10 minutes.
Mint:
While gheimeh is simmering, prepare mint garnish. Brown onion and
garlic
in oil. Remove from heat. Crush mint flakes in hand and stir into
onion.
Pour soup into tureen, garnish with gheimeh and mint garnish and
reserved
sour cream by floating them on top.
Note: Persian noodles
(Reshteh) are available in Middle Eastern food shops. The author notes
that liquid kashke(whey) is available, but the quality isn't always
good,
so she uses sour cream. She also suggests making the soup a day ahead
of
serving. From Food of Life,
by Najmieh Batmanglij (Mage Publishers, 1986, Washington, DC)
Kulich: Russian Easter Cake
The traditional Easter foods are a nut and
fruit filled yeast cake called kulich and an accompanying sweet
cheese spread called paskha. Often the kulich and paskha
were carried to church and set out on long tables to be blessed by the
priest. (In the old days, the priest would often make a "house call" to
his wealthier parishioners to bless the food at home.)
The recipes for these delicacies are
involved and time-consuming. The classic kulich was
begun several days before Easter. It contained candied fruit, almonds,
and raisins. It was always baked in a special kind of pan-- tall and
cylindrical, sort of like a coffee can. When the cake was done, it was
decorated with white frosting drizzled down the sides. On the side,
spelled out in pieces of candied fruit, were the letters XB,
representing the Cyrillic letters for "Christos voskres" -- "Christ is
risen."
Next to the cake was the paskha,
presented carefully molded in a triangular shape. The letters "XB" were
also inscribed on this creation. Creating this delight took hours-- it
requires weighing down "pot cheese" with a heavy board to drain the
moisture and then pressing it though a sieve before the other
ingredients were added. The mixture contained more nuts and fruits,
vanilla flavoring and sugar.
Recipes!
An excellent recipe
for traditional kulich and paskha can be found in the Time-Life
Cookbook series Foods of the World: Russian Cooking by Helen
and George Papashivily, 1969.
But...
If sieving
pot-cheese and kneading yeast dough don’t fit in your daily planner,
you can use the "cheat" method below. (I ask forgiveness from serious
cooks and traditionalists!)
"Pretend" Kulich
- Mix up a boxed
pound cake according to package directions. Throw in some raisins,
chopped almonds, candied fruits. Use a little extra vanilla.
- Optional: Use a
pinch ( ½ teaspoon ) of powered saffron
- Bake in a bundt
pan according to package directions
- Make a thin
frosting of confectioner’s sugar, milk, vanilla and Crisco-- drizzle
over the top and down the sides when the cake is cool. Decorate with
fruit.
"Pretend" Paskha
- Mix (to taste)
raisins, candied fruits, almonds and a teaspoon of vanilla in a quart
of ricotta cheese
- Add sugar to
taste
I've never quite
been able to mold this concoction into a triangle shape, but it is easy
to spread in a shallow pan and create the traditional "XB" in candied
fruit pieces.
Certainly this is
not truly authentic --- but it gives the kids the idea! They enjoy the
day -- the food, the novelty, and learning about the unfamiliar and
beautiful traditions of the Russian Easter celebration.
Source---<http://www.teachersfirst.com/russ-easter.htm>
Foods
of Passover
Traditional Passover Foods & Their
Symbolism
Unleavened
Bread -- In their haste to leave Egypt and escape slavery, the
Israelites had no time to let dough rise for bread. Their only
provision was matzoh, which is made of wheat but not allowed to ferment
or rise. Matzoh is a perfect example of how the food we eat is
intricately woven into history, traditions and culture. It is the bread
of both slavery and of freedom.
Roasted
Lamb Bone -- The roasted lamb bone symbolizes the lamb that was
sacrificed at the Holy Temple of Jerusalem on the eve of the exodus of
the Israelites from Egypt. The blood of that ancient sacrifice was used
to mark the doors of the Israelites, so they might be "passed over."
Today, many families substitute a chicken or turkey neck for the lamb.
Whichever meat you choose, roast it in the oven until done, then scorch
over a flame, like a gas burner or grill. Jewish vegetarians have been
known to use a whole roasted beet instead of lamb.
Roasted
Egg -- Eggs symbolize the perpetual cycle of life, from birth to
death to re-birth. To roast eggs, first hard boil them, then, using
tongs, hold over a gas burner or candle flame.
Bitter
Herbs -- Fresh horseradish, without beets or vinegar, graces the
Seder plate to symbolize the bitterness of slavery.
Greens
-- Greens, usually fresh parsley or celery tops, represent re-birth and
spring.
Salt Water
-- The greens are traditionally dipped in salt water, which symbolizes
the tears of the Hebrew slaves.
Charoset
-- A traditional Passover dish, charoset consists of a mixture of
chopped fruits, usually apples, nuts, raisins, spices and wine. The
mixture represents the mortar Hebrew slaves used to make bricks for the
Pharaoh Ramses II.
Source--http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/passover/passover.html
Illustration above:
http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/rainbowcastle/sedermeal2.jpg
