Like the "melting pot" of cultures that the City is, or whatever metaphor it is now identified with, cuisine and great food are no exception when it comes to her signs of diversity. Among the many influences and types of snacks, delicacies or simple local comfort foods there is surely and not surprisingly a strong Jewish signature. Yes, yes, there is of course the obvious bagel, the rather famous pastrami (which I will skip since I don't "do" meat) and many other things. But one thing that got me at first glance is the challah.
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| Challah (klingersbread.com) |
"Looking" tempting at me, from the windows of many bakeries and bagel shops (from the most rustic to the a bit too ubiquitous Hot & Crusty), there it was. This huge loaf of bronzed, tanned crust and a yellowish inside peaking out. With a little bit of a glaze (surely brushed over with eggs) and in sort of cluster of lumps. It looked just like... or well, it reminded me instantly of one of my forever favorite Portuguese sweet goodies, the folar-da-Páscoa or Easter bread. Every year I demand for its baking! Provided I am home of course to convince my mum to do so (which is not that difficult ;)) or to "treat" me because after all I happen to be home.
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| Folar-da-Páscoa ( tentacaodosabor.com) |
It's a very slighty sweet bread, of an egg-containing bread dough spiced with ground fennel seeds. On top of the loaf there is a cross of dough and under it there are 2-4 hard boiled whole eggs, hidden like eggs in a nest. It's such a simple and unambitious thing, but it absolutely drives my craving. In Old Amsterdam I found out, around Easter time, something similar named duivekater which was close enough to keep me happy but not enough to deter me from baking my own folar one Easter that I was neither home nor could "import" my mum to bake it for me.
The challah tastes similarly, but it is a bit lighter, fluffier in consistency and often it contains raisins or it's sprinkled with poppy seeds. The funny thing is the challah reminded me of folar, not only in taste and shape/color but also phonetically. Maybe the latter is kind of a mind leap, what would folar have to do with challah anyway? Nonetheless, old Portugal was an earlier "melting pot" which once hosted many Jewish people (that we infamously expelled and oppressed later on, thus furnishing the streets of Amsterdam and other metropoleis with some rather important Portuguese-Jewish entrepreneurs and thinkers). Maybe it is faint the possibility that challah and folar are relatives but I really like musing on the idea of that ancestral link... regardless, both breads make my taste buds extremely happy!
And in case curiosity takes over your own taste buds:
Hmmm, estando de dieta não posso ler estes posts!... Fico logo com vontade de experimentar as sugestões :)
ReplyDeleteAinda bem que essa é a reacção, mas como tu és disciplinada lês e esqueces ;)
ReplyDelete