A SAVOURY DELIGHT FOR SHAVUOT
Shavuot. Maybe our favourite festival of all from a food perspective, although — sadly — it only lasts two days! Shavuot was biblically a festival of gratitude held at the end of the seven weeks of the omer, dedicated to the wheat harvest in ancient Israel, which was marked by bringing the first loaves of bread to the Temple in Jerusalem. Once the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, such offerings were not possible. Over the next few centuries, as the Jewish people dispersed across the world, diaspora communities started celebrating the festival in a different way. It became associated with the story of Moses receiving the Torah — that when he came down from Mount Sinai, with the new kashrut laws in hand, there was no kosher meat ready to eat so a dairy meal was the only option. In modern times, Shavuot is celebrated by eating dairy foods like cheesecake and blintzes; the Jewish people have always loved marking a festival with a special dish or food and this was no exception.
Frojalda is the traditional Shavuot bread baked by Jewish Turkish families. We included it in our fourth book, Now for Something Sweet, in the savoury chapter.
This thick, cheesey foccacia-style loaf has a super crisp buttery edge, and a chewy almost-crumpety inside, studded with feta and topped with melted cheese. It is extraordinary. We found this recipe by Janna Gur when we were scouring the local library for Jewish cooks from around the world; we wanted to ensure we had seen every recipe that had been published in the global Jewish community. We fell in love with Jewish Soul Food: From Minsk to Marrakesh and this was just one of the many recipes that got a post-it note on the page.
Check out the recipe for Kolac: Dried Apricot, Ricotta and Crumble Slice
Ingredients
Method
- You will need an extra large rectangular (preferably non-stick) roasting pan or deep tray, 40 x 30 cm (17 x 12 in).
- Combine the flour, yeast and water in a large bowl and knead with your hands or with the dough hook in an electric mixer until a very soft, almost runny dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Add the feta cheese and mix through the dough.
- Pour half of the melted butter into the pan. Pour the dough into the butter, flatten with a spatula and your fingertips and top with the remaining butter, making sure the dough is covered with butter on all sides.
- Cover with another roasting pan or deep tray, facing down (so that the dough has room to rise) and then cover with a towel for 2 hours or until doubled in volume.
- Preheat the oven to 200C conventional (390F).
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the dough and bake for 35 minutes or until golden and crisp on top and bottom. Remove from the pan onto a board and cut into large squares to serve.
- Best eaten warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheat for 15 minutes at 200C to serve.
- Serves 12.
