COOKING

SUPERIOR
FISH CO.

Right in Your
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).4 / THE
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$2.99 lb.

0

Certified by the National
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5

exp. 6/11/88

■

Comes to your home or office
with the garage-on-wheels

BOAT RUN
SHRIMP

$4.50,„

exp. 6/11/88

, -UP
I MAN

3.99 m

Valet service that doesn't
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.

exp. 6/11/88

LC,

SUPERIOR FISH CO.

House of Quality

Serving Metropolitan Detroit for Over 40 Years

309 E. 11 Mile Rd., Royal Oak, MI • 5414632

Mon: Wed. 8.5
Thurs. & Fri. 8.6
Saturday 8-1

Parking in rear

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= 398-3605

RS
G 1-1OU
p.m

& SONS
IT
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•
6718 Orchard Lake Rd.

:T..
Daily 1%00 'am.-6..00
asn. 00 pm.
Sunday 7:00
YOU GET THE
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• 851-8020 *

Sinai Natural Casing

HOT DOGS .

1

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$339 lb.

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Fresh

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I I I

5 4 99 lb.

GRANNY SMITH APPLES. .

FRESH
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DAILY

j

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California New Long

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68

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1988

249

lb,

Yemenite Cookery From
A Renowned Israeli Chef

GLORIA KAUFER GREENE

Special to The Jewish News

W

hen my husband
and I visited Israel
several years ago,
we first learned about the ex-
otic fare offered at a few res-
taurants in the Yemenite
quarter of Tel Aviv. Our
Yemenite meal proved to be
one of the best on our trip,
and we instantly became fans
of this wonderful cuisine.
However, upon returning
home, I found it exceedingly
difficult to locate Jewish
Yemenite recipes printed in
English. Now, I am pleased to
report that the owner and
chef of Zion Exclusive, one of
the most well-known Yemen-
ite restaurants in Tel Aviv,
has recently co-authored a
fascinating cookbooK that
provides ample opportunity
for anyone to cook "gourmet"
versions of this fare at home.
"The Yemenite Cookbook"
by Zion Levi and Hani
Agabria (Seaver Books, New
York, 1988, $22.95 hardcover,
226 pages) in a delightfully
eclectic collection of unusual
recipes, folktales, and com-
mentary on modern Israeli
and Yemenite culinary
habits.
In some ways similar to Mo-
roccan and Persian cooking,
Yemenite dishes frequently
feature unexpected combina-
tions of foods such as fruit
with meat, unusual mixtures
of spices and herbs, and large
quantities of a wide variety of
vegetables and fruits. Thanks
to its emphasis on fresh pro-
duce as well as its minimal
use of foods high in saturated
fat and cholesterol, Yemenite
cookery is said to be very
healthful.
In the introduction to their
cookbook, the authors note
that "Yemenite Jews fre-
quently live beyond the age of
100, and have remarkably
low cholesterol and blood
pressure levels. Their diet is
thought to be largely respon-
sible for their excellent
health."
"The Yemenite Cookbook"
has about 200 recipes, most
complete on one page and
relatively easy to follow. The
directions appear to be
straightforward and well
written. A few of the slightly
more complicated recipes are
illustrated with line draw-
ings. The longest chapters in
the cookbook are those featur-
ing "salads" and "memuleh"
(stuffed foods), presumably
because these two types of
dishes are always on the

typical Yemenite table. While
many of the most appealing
recipes in the book can be
found in theses chapters, The
Yemenite Cookbook has
tempting recipes in just about
every section.
Several recipes call for
either zhoug or shatta, hot
pepper mixtures that are vir-
tually indispensable in a
Yemenite household for both
cooking and tableside season-
ing. According to the authors,
these mouth-burning con-
diments are thought by some
to burn calories and also ward
off disease and strengthen the
heart (see the recipe for zhoug
below). The condiments are
easy to prepare and can be
stored for several months in
the refrigerator. And, as you
might expect, a little goes a
long way — at least for
non-Yemenites!
The book is capped with a
chapter on "Legends and An-
cient Medicinal Tips" which
gives several examples of how
foodstuffs have been tradi-
tionally used as therapeutic
aids.

I recommend "The
Yemenite Cookbook" anyone
who is interested in trying a
delectable Jewish cuisine
that is probably much closer
to that eaten by our biblical
ancestors than anything from
Eastern Europe, and who
wants to definitely add some
"spice" to meals. The recipes
seem to be kosher; however,
leg of lamb, which is called for
in a few recipes and is avail-
able kosher in Israel, may be
rather difficult if not impos-
sible to find kosher locally.
And a few recipes call for
sauteing chicken livers with-
out suggesting that they be
broiled first to kasher them.
Because it is so rare to find
a Yemenite Jewish cookbook,
one of my small disappoint-
ments with this one is that it
does not give much back-
ground material about the
relationship between the rec-
ipes and Jewish culture. For
instance, I would have liked
to know which dishes are
eaten on certain holidays or
for other religious occasions,
and if any ingredients or
recipes have cultural sym-
bolism. Perhaps, the authors
didn't include such informa-
tion because their recipes are
primarily reflective of dishes
served in a restaurant rather
than at home.
I would also have preferred
to see less salt (and chicken
bouillon granules) in some of

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