Lahamajene — minced lamb baked on bread with tamarind

When American president Barack Obama urged Israel to go back to the borders of 1967, I was not surprised by the outcry that followed. However, while global pundits weighed the pros and cons of the suggestion from a geopolitical perspective, I looked at it from a different angle. What, I asked myself, would it do to the food of the region.

My conclusion was short and sweet — not much. If you look at the confluence of Jewish and Muslim food in Syria, you’d know what I mean. The number of Jews in Syria may have dwindled considerably over the years — many have migrated to the United States, South America and Israel — but the food of the community has long been assimilated in the cuisine of Syria, and vice versa.

Ataif Makhli — fried pancakes with ricotta, nuts

It’s a subject that Sujan Mukherjee has been studying for a while. The executive chef of Taj Bengal in Calcutta is ready with a Syrian Jewish menu at the Souk, which is the hotel’s Mediterranean-West Asian speciality restaurant. It includes such delicacies as the Lahamajene — which is a dish of minced lamb baked on bread with tamarind — and Khudra Makhli, or vegetables tossed in sumac, a spice with a tart flavour.

What I find interesting about Syrian Jewish food is the mix of influences. The cuisine, for instance, includes rice and dried fruits — ingredients that you don’t generally find in other regional Jewish food. Then, since mixing meat and dairy is taboo among the Jews, Syrian Jewish food uses oil instead of butter or lamb fat, common cooking mediums used in Syrian Muslim food.

The food has traces of Moorish and Spanish influence as well. In the late 15th century, when Sephardi Jews were expelled from Spain, many reached Syria to build their lives all over again.

Khudra Makhli — Vegetable fries tossed in sumac

Not surprisingly, with so many influences, the Jewish food of Syria has been showcasing the best of different cultures. A meat pie called Bastel is believed to have come from the Iberian region, and the word itself from pastelles, which are pockets with fillings. Another Syrian Jewish dish with an Iberian past is called Kalsonnes B’rishtah or cheese dumplings. This is not very different from the Italian tortellini. Some food gurus in fact believe that the word Kalsonnes has been derived from the Italian calzone.

Like communities elsewhere, the spice trade led to the use of different kinds of ingredients that came from remote regions. Syrian Jewish merchants brought in spices from East Asia and what was then Persia. Spices such as cinnamon, cumin, saffron and allspice went into the local cauldron to enhance the taste of food. Rose water and lime were again common ingredients, emphasising flavours and tartness.

Clearly, the Jewish community in Syria liked their dishes to have a sweet and sour flavour, which accounts for the heavy use of tamarind in the food . Tamarind-based sauces, in fact, are one of the recognisable features of Syrian Jewish cuisine. For instance, the Kebab Garaz (a stew-like dish that is a speciality of Aleppo, which had a large Jewish population once) makes good use of the flavour and taste of tamarind. The minced lamb dish of Lahamajene, again, is tartly flavoured with tamarind, as is the Bamia B’mishmosh, a vegetable dish of okra cooked with prunes, apricots and tam-arind sauce.

When it comes to desserts, I have a real passion for West Asian sweets. Souk’s Ataif Makhli — a dish of fried pancakes with ricotta cheese and nuts — sounds good. But my favourite West Asian sweet of all times is the Baklava, which I first ate at Nahoum’s in New Market in Calcutta — a city landmark started by a Jewish family that originally came from West Asia. The Baklava, as every sweet lover would know, is a delicious concoction of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and topped with honey. Our regular supply of Nahoum’s Baklava came from a young friend called Rupali who once lived in Calcutta, and now traipses across the world.

Shalom — or peace — I shall say to her when we meet. It’s a Hebrew word that stands for hello and goodbye as well. For the food of the region, of course, it’s hello all the way.

Kebab Garaz (serves 4)

Ingredients:

For the meat balls: l500g minced lamb l100g pine nuts l25g allspice l45ml olive oil lkosher salt to taste

For the sauce: • 300g chopped onion • 100g dark sweet pitted cherries • 25g tamarind concentrate • 45ml lemon juice • 15g sugar • 5g allspice powder • 150ml grape juice • 200ml meat stock

Method: To make the meat balls, combine the minced lamb with pine nuts and the allspice powder in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Knead thoroughly by hand. Form into
2-in-long balls shaped like torpedoes. In a medium-sized saucepan, sauté the meat balls in olive oil over medium heat. Remove the balls and set aside. Use the same saucepan to make the sauce. Sauté the onions over medium heat for 4-6 minutes till translucent. Add tamarind concentrate, lemon juice, meat stock, sugar, allspice and grape juice. Stir frequently. Boil and reduce. Add the meat balls and the cherries to the sauce. Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour to thicken the sauce. Served in crispy pita bread cups with chopped parsley and scallions.

Bazargan (serves 4)

(Tangy tamarind and cracked wheat salad with walnuts and pine nuts)

Ingredients: • 250g brown burghul or cracked wheat • 50g chopped onion • 45ml lemon juice • 45g tomato paste • 100ml tamarind concentrate • 50g castor sugar • 100ml olive oil • 45g Aleppo pepper (or any other pepper) • 30g cumin powder • kosher salt to taste • 30g chopped walnuts • 30g chopped pine nuts • 100g chopped parsley • whole walnuts and pine nuts for garnishing

Method: Clean and soak the cracked wheat in warm water for 20 minutes. Add all the ingredients barring the nuts and parsley. Soak overnight. Mix in the chopped walnuts, pine nuts and parsley. Season if required. Garnish with whole walnuts and pine nuts. Serve chilled with pita bread.

Photographs by Rashbehari Das