you ever get overtaken with the need to eat a certain thing and your entire existence becomes that. and it's always the same food every few months basically
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The inside cover of my grandmother’s cookbook is inscribed with her handwriting, “Think of me when you cook.” It is a copy of the same spiral-bound book that has been given to all of the women in my family. “The Sephardic Cooks: Comé Con Gana” has somehow made its way from one synagogue in Atlanta to Sephardic communities and families from New Jersey to California. It has all the classic recipes, including a section titled “Main Dish Pastries.” These dishes are the cornerstone of the Sephardic tradition, desayuno.
The word “desayuno” literally translates to “breakfast” in Ladino, the dying Judeo-Spanish language historically spoken by Sephardic Jews. Yet, the meaning extends beyond that one meal. In Sephardic culture, desayunois a category of foods associated with the large Saturday morning meal that would be served after Shabbat, including egg dishes and savory pastries.
These desayuno foods are some of my favorite things to eat and the ones I most associate with my own family traditions. The blocks of crustless quajado (spinach quiche) that always seemed to be in my childhood freezer, ready to thaw for lunch. The doughy, cheesy spinach boyos my grandmother would have ready for our breakfast every time we traveled to visit her. The pasteles (mini meat pies) my great-aunt taught to a room filled with four generations of cousins at our family reunion last summer. The rice-and-cheese-filled bureka pastries my mom comes over to make with my kids and me.
While delicious and crowd-pleasing, these are also some of the most time-consuming recipes to prepare. I picture my great-grandmother standing in a friend’s kitchen as all the ladies of the community work together to knead mounds of dough, mix a vat of filling, fold and crimp sheets and sheets of burekas. Whether this is accurate or just my imagination justifying why it feels intimidating to make these by myself, desayuno pastries do not align well with today’s fast-paced, individual lifestyle. Save for the times my mom comes to bake with us (importantly, bringing a container of prepped filling), making dough and pastry from scratch is not happening in my kitchen.
I hope to be a part of the thread that keeps Sephardic traditions alive, yet I do not want to let perfection be the enemy of my intentions. I think my grandmother would agree. While she baked burekas with all of her grandchildren and always had a freezer full of freshly baked rosca (coffee rolls), she was never one to turn down a good shortcut. She developed her own boyo recipe featuring Hungry-Jack biscuit dough as the base and once described to me a full lentil soup recipe, only to end it with, “or you could just buy a can of lentil soup.” She loved when I would call her to share that I had tried a Sephardic recipe, such as cinnamon biscocho cookies or lemon chicken soup. Whether my attempts had been successful or a flop (like my rock-hard biscochos), her smile would be audible through the phone saying, “I’m just so glad you tried.”
As Sephardic culture and traditions fade and assimilate, food provides an important outlet to preserve history and share it with family and friends. More important than getting it right or spending hours in the kitchen is remembering our traditions, trying recipes, talking about or simply eating Sephardic foods, regardless of who made them.
In that spirit, I would like to propose lowering our standards, for the greater good of keeping traditions alive. Consider a desayuno with fewer parts or with a little help from the freezer aisle. Rather than the large spread my ancestors would prepare for days in advance, consider making one thing from scratch (though I won’t tell if you cook zero things). You could make a batch of burekas or a quajado, arguably the easiest of the Sephardic breakfast dishes, or even just prepare a pot of hard-boiled eggs. Supplement with frozen spanakopita, Ta’amti Bourekas or a Trader Joe’s Greek cheese spiral for a full table.
Nothing will taste quite like homemade pastries fresh from the oven and I still aspire to make them (occasionally). Yet, even when I munch a makeshift Sephardic meal, I will be thinking of my grandmother, just as she inscribed in her cookbook. As long as we are sharing food together, talking about Sephardic traditions, remembering meals and people who matter to us, I will call it desayuno. I think my grandmother would be proud.
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ameri nikad neće razumijet ljepotu jedenja bureka u dva ujutro nakon izlaska
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Second Week of November Eating <3
November 8-14. I went to a party on Friday and ate SO MUCH, and that energy carried into Saturday where I ate a lot at Shabbat lunch. I'm 132 right now and my goal was to be 130 by Thanksgiving and I should make it if I don't binge between now and then!
Wed: 834 calories
pumpkin bar - 130
ravioli and chicken breast salad - 666
milky way mini - 38
Thurs: 973 calories
chocolate - 191
miso soup and carrots - 196
wine - 586 (wine moms drink their calories fr)
Fri: 1,510 :( calories
grapes, raspberries, strawberries, tortilla chips, potato chips, chocolate covered pretzels, hummus, and guac - all around 885
quesadilla - 626
Sat: 1,392 :( calories
cauliflower, garbanzo bean salad, baked ziti, potatos, rugelach, and gummy candies - all around 1,139
miracle noodle pho - 68
chocolate, cheese stick, and miso soup - 185
Sun: 881 calories
apple and coffee - 194
salad and ravioli - 194
spicy salmon with seaweed, ravioli - 312 (I only ate half the spicy salmon bc mayo lite is so gross)
yogurt, cucumber with everything bagel seasoning - 181
Mon: 797 calories
Banana date coffee and potato bureka - 655
miso soup and apple sauce - 85
peanut butter filled pretzels - 57
Tues: 663 calories
Pumpkin bar and pb pretzels - 177
salad and ravioli - 293
Protein powder - 56
cucumber with everything bagel seasoning and miso soup - 127
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shavuot really is one of our best holidays because in one dinner i just had:
mushroom tortellini
homemade pizza
burekas
amazing challah buns
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3 5 11 18 💕
a specific color that gives you the ick?
i reeeeeeally dont like puke green
favorite form of potato?
my grandma esther's potato burekas!
on a plane, do you ask for apple or orange juice?
apple juice + tomato juice :]
your boba/tea order?
large strawberry slush double tapioca 👍
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In the spirit of Purim Estee has been on a baking streak making every type of hamantaschen imaginable and the most delectable burekas too. Our fridge and freezer are filled with tupperware upon tupperware of pastries
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OLIMPIJSKE KONTROVERZE – „VOLIM JUREKA VIŠE OD BUREKA“
Tamo gdje je um neustrašiv i gdje je glava visoko podignuta; Tamo gdje je znanje oslobođeno; Tamo gdje svijet nije podijeljen uskim domaćim zidovima; Tamo gdje riječi izviru iz dubina istine; Tamo gdje neumorna borba pruža ruke ka savršenstvu; Tamo gdje bistri potok razuma nije zalutao u turobnoj pješčanoj pustinji zamrlog naselja; Tamo gdje ti vodiš um u vječno uspinjuću misao i činjenje – Na…
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Burekas With Kashkaval Filling Recipe | Ashley's Recipes
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