Beautiful/Butch/Balabusta (In honor of Judith)
Flaming Feta Lentil Fritters with Mole and Cream
A Culinary Midrash
(published on
clickonjudaism.com)
This Culinary Midrash was created when my friend, Tami Miller Krichiver approached me to come up with something for her Rosh Chodesh group to experience in honor of Kislev. In thinking about what the most significant thing to most American Jews is about Kislev, we of course came up with Chanukah. It seemed appropriate, given the target audience (women), to celebrate Judith who is often looked to as the strong female hero of Chanukah. This recipe also focusses on the celebration of moving from darkness to light – another significant theme of Kislev and, of course, Chanukah.
An Abridged Version
of the Story of Judith
When the Jews are being oppressed– our civilization in danger of extinction, yet again - Judith, a pious widow, gets herself all dolled up and heads over to the enemy camp, men’s jaws dropping around her on her way. She arrives with the message that “…God has sent me to do things with thee at which the whole earth will be astounded (11:16).” She beguiles him with her sensuality and wit, and entertains him with her homemade culinary concoctions and libations until he drinks himself silly. “And Holofernes was enraptured with her and drank exeedingly much wine, more than he had ever drunk in one day since he was born (12: 20).” Passed out from his drunkness, he is fully vulnerable and she chops off his head.
A Femme Fatale and the Scheme She Cooked
Up
Oral legend has it that Judith, who had brought her own food, maintaining her strict kosher diet, served Holofernes dairy products including especially salty cheese (further inducing the oppressor’s drink consumption). Thus, this recipe centers on Feta Cheese, common in the region to this day and chock-full of salty pleasure. Other ingredients selected for this Culinary Midrash such as lentils, thyme and cumin have also been selected for their regional prominence. While the egg and flour are present for practical purposes, they also represent, respectively: feminity and the notion of “ain kemach ain Torah” – if there is no flour, there is no Torah. I included mint in the fritter not only because it is common in middle eastern dishes, but also because I was really drawn to the sensation of mint. It’s cool, beguiling spirit opens our eyes and tickles and enlivens those places inside us from which passion erupts. So, here, mint is the sexiness which Judith employs to overthrow the Israelite’s oppressor-du-jour. And then there’s garlic. Garlic in so many cultures – including Ashenkanzic Judaism – is used for protection and healing. In keeping with the theme and the gastronomic traditions of Chanukah, this dish is fried. This, like potato latkes of the American tradition or sufganiot (jelly doughnuts) in the Israeli tradition, celebrates the miracle of the oil that is said to have lasted eight days as our ancestors rebuilt and/or re-dedicated The Temple in Jerusalem.
The mole (of Mexican origin) represents darkness, Kislev is the darkest month – it’s also nice that this sauce has a significant cumin content. More importantly, the chocolate content is very important in this recipe as chocolate is often associated with female sexuality. Judith’s sexuality is central, no matter how you look at it. As put by Judith Kates in her essay “Judith, The Hidden Heroine of Hanukkah” in A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration by Noam Zion and Barbara Spectre, “Even more surpisingly, her tools of rescue are not only her faith, brilliant intellect and eloquent speech, but also the femaleness of her body, that very sexuality apparently mobilized in the text to represent vulnerability and victimization.” So here we honor one important indisputable fact that Judith proved: Sex Sells, Baby!
The cream topping it all as described below represents both light – as well as the milk products served by Judith.
Shortcut Mole
3 TBS butter or margarine (or oil)
3 TBS flour
3 TBS chili powder
2 to 3 Cups of warm veggie broth
1 heaping TBS natural peanut butter
At least 1 TBS cumin (add more to taste)
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
˝ cup unsweetened cocoa powder r
Chopped or powdered garlic to taste
Make a roux by melting butter in a small skillet, add flour and brown. Add chili powder, then cocoa, then peanut butter, and then gradually whisk in broth. Season to taste. Set aside.
Canola oil for frying
2 cups cooked Lentils
1 ˝ cups crumbled Feta
3-6 cloves of Garlic, chopped
˝ TSP dried or fresh chopped Mint
Pinch of Thyme
1 Egg
3 TBS Flour
Heat oil in a medium or large skillet. In a large bowl combine remaining fritter ingredients. Place by tablespoonfuls into hot oil to fry. Allow to brown well on both sides and drain on paper toweling. To serve, remove paper toweling and place all fritters on a flame-proof platter, drizzle a high-alcohol content liquor around the sides and light.
This flame can represent so much. It can be the flame of Holofernes’s attraction to Judith (and of course the alcohol can be the strong brew Judith served him); or Judith’s illuminated brilliance and strength; all the aspects of the light of Chanukah; or our own illuminating experience as we study Jewish text and bring it closer to our lives.
When the flame dies out, serve fritters covered with the mole and a dollop of sour cream – diners’ tongues can go from darkness to light as the pleasure of the mole, mixed with cream, meets their tastebuds. Makes 12 fritters.