A different night
A native of Turkey brings Sephardic specialties to her Passover table in Chestnut Hill
CHESTNUT HILL -- Valya and Robert Shapiro host two kinds of Passover festivities. On the first night of the holiday, which commemorates the Jews' exodus from Egypt, the couple's son Bram, his wife , Jennifer, and their children, Leyla and Isak, and guests, gather at the couple's home for a traditional Seder. They follow the service in the Haggadah, the Passover prayer book, adapting it so it's enjoyable for the children. Those youngest members get to ask the ritual questions that begin, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"
Over the next six nights of Passover, which begins on Monday, the Shapiros have another tradition. They host casual gatherings for a half-dozen or so, Valya's way of sharing the Sephardic specialties she grew up eating in her native Turkey. Her friends are mostly of Ashkenazi c descent and familiar with Eastern European cuisine. "The foods are different from what they're used to," she says.
Sephardic food is abundant in fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh herbs, and seafood. In Turkey, leeks, spinach, zucchini, and eggplant are often main ingredients, not just side dishes. A light hand with seasoning makes the cuisine delicate, explains Shapiro. The most prominent flavorings are lemon juice, dill , and parsley. "And always olive oil," she adds.
For Passover, in particular, when wheat and other grains are prohibited, Shapiro relies on her repertoire of vegetable dishes, some of which contain eggs and cheese, others meat.
Valya Kazes was born in Istanbul in 1939, the only child of Louison and Isak, who were also born in Turkey, but traced their ancestors to Spain. They likely immigrated to the Ottoman Empire about the time of the Spanish Inquisition. The family spoke French at home and six other languages, including Ladino, an ancient Spanish that became the language of the Sephardim in Turkey and elsewhere in the region. All of Shapiro's mother's recipes have Ladino names.
Shapiro came here when she was 20 to study linguistics and theater arts at Brandeis University. She married Robert in 1961. Bram, 42, and his family live in Brookline; Stephen, 40, lives in Atlanta with his wife , Kimberly , and daughter , Sophie. Valya's parents moved here in 1964 and the extended family lived together until Isak died in 1989 and Louison in 1997.
Every Passover, Shapiro begins the meal with her mother's recipe for haroset, the traditional fruit and nut spread symbolizing the mortar the Jewish slaves used to build the pyramids. Rich in dates, raisins, walnuts, and apple, the mixture is bound with sweet wine. Next comes a leek and egg dish called prasifutcho, similar to a frittata or vegetable souffle. "It's a very typical dish of Turkish cuisine, which uses vegetables and cheese," says Shapiro. The recipe calls for both feta and kashkaval, a firm Balkan cheese whose flavor, she says, is similar to Parmesan or Greek kasseri.
What traditionally accompanies prasifutcho are huevos haminados -- three-hour boiled eggs that get their brown color from a lengthy simmer with onion skins and coffee grounds. "Every Sephardic Jewish home in Turkey has these eggs for Passover," says Shapiro. She makes at least 60 eggs to serve during the week.
Turkish meals consist mostly of smaller portions of many foods. "It's like a tasting menu," says Shapiro. For her family, Shapiro usually prepares mina de karne, a dish of ground beef or lamb, layered between sheets of matzo and topped with mashed potatoes. The recipe came from a Turkish professor living in France, who wrote a book on Turkey's Sephardic cuisine.
On the other nights, Shapiro might make fish with an egg and lemon sauce, lamb with spinach or green beans, and eggplant or leeks stuffed with ground meat.
Dessert is usually bimelos de Pesah, pan-fried fritters made from a matzo-based batter with golden raisins and pine nuts. Shapiro spoons lemon syrup over the little cakes.
As if all that cooking weren't enough, Shapiro brings some of her haroset and brown eggs to friends who can't attend her Passover dinners . "They've come to expect it," she says. 