Recipes transcend time

Jewish food. If the phrase conjures up visions of brisket, chicken soup and gefilte fish, you're not thinking broadly enough.

Gil Marks' new cookbook, "Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World" (Wiley, $29.95 hardcover), is a fascinating and comprehensive look at world Jewish cuisine.

Marks caught the culinary bug as a youngster. "My father and grandfather could do nothing in the kitchen; in fact, my grandfather literally set his house on fire trying to make coffee," he recalls. "My mother said, 'My kids are not growing up that way.' So all my brothers and sisters, we can all hold our own in the kitchen."

Marks was working as a guidance counselor and preparing gourmet meals for his friends for fun when a local kosher caterer enlisted his services. From there, he became involved with food writing, including a stint as the founding editor of Kosher Gourmet magazine, and eventually, cookbooks. "Olive Trees and Honey" is his fourth cookbook.

Marks chose vegetarian recipes as a topic this time because "when you're not dominated by meat, you really can explore different spices. Vegetables and grains and the colors and the flavors can be very, very interesting."

Beyond the culinary considerations, Marks sees Jewish cuisine as a crucial link between the Jews of yesterday and the Jews of today.

"One of the ways to understand culture better than anything else is food, because it touches everyday life, as well as periods of celebration," he says. "So when you eat the dish, you literally get a sense of - an understanding of - that community. You literally get a taste of the community that created these dishes, by seeing the dish and tasting the dish.

"So you can take a few different ingredients and you literally transcend time. When you eat this dish that your grandparents or great-great grandparents did, you're transcending time, which is one of the things that Judaism does so well."

Italian Rice Cake
(Bomba di Riso)

Marks writes, "Traditionally, Italian Jewish housewives tended to cook large batches of risotto for the Sabbath and holidays and then used the leftovers to make assorted dishes, most notably bomba di riso ... Serve this as a main course along with a tomato sauce, vegetable stew or green salad, or as a side dish."

5 cups vegetable stock or water
2 1/2 cups risotto rice, such as Carnaoli, Vialone or Arborio
2 tsp. table salt or 4 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch (about 20 threads) of saffron or 1/4 tsp. ground tumeric (optional)
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or 3 cups shredded mozzarella and 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

In a large saucepan, combine the stock, rice, salt, and, for a yellow color, the saffron. Cover and bring to a boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, without removing the lid, until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. The cooking time depends on the age and type of rice. Spread over a flat tray and let cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-cup baking dish or a 9"x2 1/2" ring mold.
In a large bowl, combine the rice, eggs, Parmesan, butter and, if using, the nutmeg. Spread half of the rice mixture in the prepared dish, scatter with the cheese, and top with the remaining rice mixture. Or, mix the mozzarella and ricotta into the rice mixture instead of layering it.
Put the dish in a large baking pan and add about 1 inch of boiling water to the pan. Bake until set and golden, about 25 minutes. Run a knife along the inside of the dish to loosen the rice. Place a large serving platter over top, invert and remove the dish. Serve warm.

Sephardic Bean Stew
(Hamin)

Marks writes, "Sabbath stew (hamin among Sephardim, cholent among Ashkenazim) is one of those dishes that people seem to either adore or disdain. ... I count myself among the hamin-lovers - unless it comes out dry, the fatal flaw of any Sabbath stew. Sephardic versions, with myriad variations, possess splendid nuances of flavor that I find appealing."

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 onions, sliced
14 ounces (about 2 cups) dried white beans or dried large lima beans; or a third each (2/3 cup) white beans, lima beans and dried chickpeas, picked over and rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 cup wheat berries, spelt berries or barley
6 boiling potatoes, quartered; or 2 boiling potatoes, 2 carrots and 2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2-4 tsp. ground cumin or 2 tsp. cumin and 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2-4 tsp. ground turmeric
ground black pepper to taste
9 cups of water, or 7 cups water and 2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp. table salt or 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
4-5 dates, pitted and chopped (optional)
6-8 large eggs in shell, washed well (optional)

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sautÇ until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the beans and bay leaf. In layers, add the wheat berries, then the potatoes. Sprinkle with the garlic, cumin, turmeric and pepper.
Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer over medium-low heat until the beans are partially soft, about 1 hour.
Add the salt and more water to cover by 2 inches. For a sweet touch, add the dates. If using, put the eggs on top, pushing them into the liquid. Cover tightly. Place on a blech (a thin sheet of metal set over the range that acts as a heat diffuser) over very low heat or in a 200-degree oven and cook overnight or for at least 8 hours. Serve warm.

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