Aye Chef - Cooking with style

Hrayme (Hebrew: חריימה) is a traditional North African dish consisting of meaty sea fish and a red hot sauce. This dish mostly shows at Libyan or Tunisian Jewish cuisine.

For this dish it is best advised to pick fishes with a lot of meat, such as:
Epinephelus (לוקוס), Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (פלמידה לבנה), Mullet (בורי) or a Nile perch (נסיכת הנילוס).


It is not very difficult to prepare, but beware, this dish is very spicy so if you are not into this kind of food, don't try it. Also, it is very important to choose fresh fish of good quality, since otherwise the flavor will be somewhat missing.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 fish (2-3 kg)
1/2 cup corn oil
6 tablespoons filfel chuma
3 tablespoons paprika, submerged in olive oil
10 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon caraway seeds, minced
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon salt
4 tomatoes, crushed
3 cups water or tomato juice
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
3/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Clean the fish. Cut slices, with the bone, of about 1.5 cm. Unless you like the head, remove it. Put aside.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a wide large frying pan, then add filfel chuma and all dry spices. Stir for 1 minute. Add garlic and stir for another 3 minutes. Add rest of the ingredients, bring to boil and cook over small flame for 10 minutes. If you like the head, add it and continue to cook for 20 more minutes. Add the fish, bring to second boil, cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and leave covered for 20 minutes. When serving, squeeze some lemon juice to taste.

Original recipe by: Rafi Cohen.

Filfel chuma, (Hebrew: פלפלצ'ומה‎), also spelled pilpelshuma (lit: "pepper garlic") is the typical hot sauce of Libyan Jewish cuisine. It is made from powdered sweet and hot peppers and crushed garlic. Other ingredients, such as ground caraway seeds, cumin, lemon juice and salt are sometimes added. It serves as a condiment and as an ingredient in dishes such as salads, meat, fish, legumes and rice, and egg dishes such as shakshouka. It is very similar to the Tunisian harissa.

I  was usually buying the stuff, as it is available in Israeli supermarkets quite freely, but recently I found out that it is quite easy to make at home, so here is a nice recipe for it.

Ingredients: (makes 1 cup)


10 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon high quality hot paprika (cayenne pepper)
4 tablespoons high quality sweet paprika
1 level teaspoon ground caraway
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup oil, plus more oil, to cover
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Mix the ingredients into a smooth paste. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a sterilized jar, cover with two tablespoons of oil to prevent spoilage, and store in the refrigerator. It keeps for a long time.

Sangria (Spanish: sangría; meaning "bloody") is a wine punch typical of Spain. It normally consists of:

• a light, dry, young, acidic, unoaked, fruit forward red wine, usually from the province of Rioja in Spain and of the Tempranillo or Grenache varieties; other reds that work well include French wines such as Gamay or Beaujolais, and Italian wines such as Grignolino, Bardolino, Dolcetto, Freisa, or Lambrusco.
• chopped or sliced fruit (often orange, lemon, apple, peach, berries, pineapple; occasionally melon, grape, or mango)
• a sweetener such as honey, sugar, simple syrup, orange juice, and/or fruit nectar
• a small amount of added brandy, triple sec, or other spirits
• and ice and carbonated soda, in some recipes

Usually it is best to drink sangria during summers since you serve it cold. Here is a simple and tasty recipe to make one at home.

Ingredients (serves 6):
1 bottle red Spanish wine
2 tablespoons white sugar
a bit of boiling water
1 apple
1 pear
1 peach
1 orange, not peeled
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup orange liquor
1/4 cup brandy
2 sticks cinnamon
4 whole cloves

First, we make sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in boiling water, then cook over low heat until it's of the right consistency. Leave to cool.

Cut roughly the apple, orange (with the peel), pear and peach and put inside a large bowl made from glass. Add liquor, brandy, orange juice, cinnamon and cloves. Pour the wine and lastly sugar syrup.

Cover the bowl with sticky nylon and refrigerate over night, preferably two.

Sangria is best served in high wine glass with a bit of ice and tonic water.

If you like me and prefer to use natural ingredients for your dishes, then this post is spot on. Many baking recipes require you to use a Vanilla extract, but most of the commercially available kinds are not 100% natural and contain sugar water to make it sweeter. If you use it mainly for baking, then there is no need for that. Today I am going to teach you how to make your own, 100% with ease.

Ingredients:
3 vanilla beans
1 cup good vodka
Glass container with tight lid

Take a sharp knife and cut each bean in the middle, opening them. Put the beans inside glass container and cover with vodka. That's it, easy.

Give it a good shake once in a while, say each week or so. It can last from 2 months and until you are tired of it.

Hamin (חמין) (pronounced ḥamin), the Sephardi version of cholent popular also in Israel, derives from the Hebrew word חם – "hot", as it is always served fresh off the stove, oven, or slow cooker. The origin of this name is the Mishnaic phrase tomnin et ha’hamin (Hebrew for "bury the hot water"), which essentially provides the Rabbinical prescription for keeping food hot for the Sabbath without lighting a fire.
While there are lots and lots of variations for this very popular dish, I personally like the Moroccan variation called the Schina (pronounced s'hina). You can read more about the different varieties on the Wikipedia.

To make hamin you will require a medium sized cast iron pot, similar to what you would use over a cooking fire while on camping, but without the 3 legs or it won't fit into the oven.

Ingredients:
2 cups humus chickpeas (preferably small, hadas brand is the best), soaked in cold water overnight
1 kilo rib or shoulder beef, cut into medium sized cubes
small potatoes, 2 per serving
eggs, 1 per serving
whole garlic head, not peeled
2 large onions, chopped rough
cooking oil
salt, pepper, turmeric (כורכום)
4 Mahjoul phoenix plant fruit (תמר)

A day before, put the humus into a pot with cold water overnight. It is a very important step and you cannot skip it or otherwise you will have stomach ache like you never experienced in your life.

In a medium sized cast iron pot heat the oil and fry the onion until starting to get slightly yellow. Add meat, and close from all sides. Add humus, potatoes and eggs. Cover with water until everything is covered and then add some more (about a finger). Add salt, pepper and turmeric. Put the garlic head in the middle and the phoenix plant fruits on the sides.

Bring to boil and cook over medium flame for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 150 Celsius and transfer the pot into oven. After about 2 hours reduce heat to 120 Celsius and leave overnight.

You will wake up hungry due to all the smells your house will fill with so take that into consideration :-)

If, like me, you are not a pro chef or familiar with the baking world intimately, then you might wander what is the illusive Apple Pie Spice Mix is. I was in the same predicament until I hit Google and found out. Now, you get to know it as well ;-)


Enjoy :)