Keftes, also known as Keftikes in
Sephardic cuisine, are ''
croquettes'', pancakes, patties, or
fritters
A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been battered or breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-fried. Fritters are prepared in both sweet and savory vari ...
, usually made with vegetables, and other ingredients. Sephardic ''keftes'' are not the same as the non-Jewish ''
kofta
Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in Balkan, Middle Eastern, South Caucasian, South Asian and Central Asian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced meatusually beef, chicken, pork, lamb or mutto ...
'' which are meatballs. ''Keftes'' might not contain meat, as opposed to the ''kofta'' which do contain meat.
Some ''keftes'' are eaten on
holidays due to the ingredients or method of cooking which may be associated with that holiday.
Varieties
* ''Keftes de karne''—ground-beef meat patties
* ''Keftes de espinaka''/''spinaka''—made with spinach
* ''Keftes de lentejas''—lentil patties
* ''Keftes de gayina'' or ''Keftikes de poyo''—chicken croquettes/chicken patties
* ''Keftes de patata kon karne''—potato and meat patties
* ''Keftes de pescado''/''pescada''/''pishkado''—croquettes made with fish and mashed potatoes.
* ''Keftes de prasa'' or ''Keftes de puero''—made with leeks
* ''Keftes de prasa i karne''—made with leeks and meat
Holidays
''Keftes de prasa'' are popular all year round at holidays
Rosh Hashana
''Keftikes de prassa '' or ''keftes de prasa i karne'' are also known as ''yehi rasones'' or ''yehi ratsones'' (Hebrew: "May it be Your Will"). The leeks in this dish are a symbolic food on
Rosh Hashana
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
because of the puns of the name of the food in Hebrew or Aramaic. Leeks or foods made with leeks are eaten during a special ''
seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
'' on Rosh Hashana as a demonstration of a particular wish to be God's will.
The symbolism of the leeks is the pun of its name in Hebrew, ''karti'', which is similar to ''yikartu'', meaning to be cut off.
RFCJ
recipe archive The ''yehi rason'' of ''karti'' is a wish that the enemies of Jews will be "cut off".
Hanukkah
''Keftes de prasa'' especially, or any ''kefte'' for that matter, are eaten at Hanukkah
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
because they are fried. ''Keftes de prasa'', which are made without meat, are pancake-like and are particularly suited to being oily as are most Hanukkah foods.
Notes and references
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External links
Cooking Light
Leek and Potato Fritters with Lemon-Cumin Yogurt
Bibliography
* A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen, Jennifer Felicia Abadi, Harvard Common Press
* The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook, Gloria Kaufer Greene, Crown, 1999
* Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, Joyce Goldstein and Beatriz Da Costa, Chronicle Books, 2000
* Sephardic Israeli Cuisine: A Mediterranean Mosaic, Sheilah Kaufman, Hippocrene Books, 2002
* The Sephardic Table: The Vibrant Cooking of the Mediterranean Jews, Pamela Grau Twena, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998
* The World Of Jewish Cooking: More Than 500 Traditional Recipes from Alsace to Yemen, Gil Marks, Simon & Schuster, 1999
Hanukkah foods
Rosh Hashanah foods
Sephardi Jewish cuisine