Spice up your tradition with Yemenite Gingerbread
A spicy twist on a traditional ashkenazi cookie
Shalom from Israel,
During my army days, I got used to downing super sweet, muddy Turkish coffee several times a day. "Hurry up and wait" was the MO, which left plenty of time for coffee prep. Nearly every tank carried a coffee kit - gas burner, finjan, Turkish coffee, and sugar. My driver, a Yemenite Jew, surprised me one day by pulling out a bag of hawaij, a warm spice blend used for coffee. Cardamom and ginger dominate the mix, with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and sometimes mace playing backup. Think of it as a spicier pumpkin spice - works amazingly as a substitute, too.
Ginger, interestingly, is one of the spices that ties together nearly all Jewish cultures. Yemenite, Moroccan, Indian, and Ethiopian Jews use it in both savory and sweet dishes. For some reason, the Ashkenazim missed the memo on savory ginger but went to town with ground ginger in desserts like ingberlach (ginger-carrot candy), teiglach (pastry balls cooked in honey), lekakh (honey cake), and lebkuchen (honey-sweetened gingerbread).
Lebkuchen is often seen as a German Christmas cookie adopted by Jews in the 16th century (specifically for Sukkot since the cookies included dried fruit and nuts). Yet, in her comprehensive, "The Book of Jewish Food," Claudia Roden notes that honey-sweetened cake appears in Jewish sources as early as the 12th century where it was a custom for young boys attending school to bring a piece of honey cake on the first day. That's a good four centuries earlier than commonly thought. Go Jews.
Given ginger's role as a culinary bridge across Jewish cuisines, whipping up a traditional Ashkenazi cookie with Yemenite spices just made sense - especially to celebrate or usher in the new year.
Shana tova u’metukah, may it be a sweet new year ahead,
Harry
Lebkuchen Temeni (“Yemenite” Gingerbread)
INGREDIENTS:
Pastry:
1 cup (340 grams) honey
3/4 cup (150 grams) of brown sugar
3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons Hawaij blend (see recipe below or purchase Hawaij blend for coffee)
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 cup of finely diced candied ginger (optional)
Hawaij Spice Blend:
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
Mix all the ingredients well and store in a sealed glass jar.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare the dough:
In a small saucepan, dissolve sugar in honey over low heat (about 5 minutes). Cool.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and hawaij spice blend.
Mix egg and lemon juice into cooled honey mixture.
Add candied ginger if using.
Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough.
Refrigerate covered for 2 hours or overnight.
Before baking:
Let dough stand at room temperature for 40 minutes until malleable.
Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
Line two baking sheets with oiled parchment or silicone mats.
Shape cookies:
On a floured surface, roll dough to ¼ inch thickness.
Cut into about 25 pieces and shape into balls.
Place balls on prepared baking sheets.
Bake:
Bake until firm and lightly colored, about 25 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Ice the cookies:
Mix sugar, vanilla, and water to make a spreadable icing.
Spread over cooled cookies.
Let stand until icing is firm.
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