For us Moroccans, it is customary to eat a stew with olives at memorials, because they are a symbol of the circularity of life • For me, olives symbolize love and longing, so my pot of olives is also a pot of joy
Lamb cubes with onions, olives, tomatoes and beans // Photography and styling: Assaf Carla
Photo:
Assaf Carla
It was a summer day on the big holiday. My friends and I, 12 years old, are getting ready to ride a bike to the Monfort Fortress, which is up Nahal Kaziv. From a very young age I was a person of nature, one who could not be closed at home and always wanted to go out and look for interest. Nature calms me, intrigues, fertilizes the imagination. I'm a man of the environment.
Kziv River cycling route is approximately 10 kilometers, with steep ups and downs, as proved by the well-known proverb "Every drop is for the purpose of immigration." The challenge is on the way back, with steep increases need a lot of power.
With little side road, a mischief Children and believing that everything would be fine, we set off.On the way back, when we were delayed due to a puncture in the bicycle wheel, I remembered that I had told my parents not to worry, and I promised them to come back by four in the afternoon, to attend my grandfather's memorial.
Of course my parents were worried, and I was stressed that I would be late, but I was not stressed out of their concern - I was worried that the pot of olives they make at the memorial service would be eliminated. Almost every Moroccan knows and knows that there is nothing more delicious than the olive remover of the memorials.
The smell of cooked olives is a special smell. I remember Grandma Esther at home always had such a smell. With the first rain, after the harvest, the Arab villages around began to conquer the olives and prepare the olive oil. Grandma would soak the olives several times, in order to remove the bitterness, and already at this point the house would be filled with this insane smell. Grandma used to store the pickled olives in large plastic barrels in the warehouse, and before a meal that included olives I remember she would seat Mom and anyone who could "grab" them to knock out the olives and take out the pits.
Our memorials are characterized by a chicken stew with olives and a minimum of spices, in order to mark mourning and not joy. Olives, egg and lentils are a food of mourning, as they are believed to be round foods that symbolize the circle of life.
Because at memorials we eat an olive stew, at home we do not eat olives on Saturday evenings or holidays.
But the years do their thing and for me the olives evoke pleasant love, joy and longing, so I prepare such a dish on Saturday evening as well.
But wait, what about Grandpa's memorial?
While we were trying to fix the puncture a tractor suddenly appeared, the driver agreed to load the bike on the bucket and us to cram into the cab, and we arrived at the memorial very late, exhausted, hungry and sweaty.
And the olives, what about them?
Mom made sure to keep me a sweet bun and a disposable plate laden with an olive stew, so for me it was a real pot of joy.
Chicken stew with Kalamata olives and pickled lemon
Ingredients:
√ 6 fresh chicken legs
√ 1 cup Kalamata olives cooked 3 times in water
√ 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pickled lemon
√ 4 coarsely chopped celery stalks including the leaves
√ 1 teaspoon salt
√ 1 teaspoon black pepper
√ 6 cloves chopped garlic
√ 1/2 pepper Chopped spicy
√ 1 teaspoon cumin
√ 1/2 thinly sliced lemon with the peel
Fry the garlic and pepper in a large pot for 3-2 minutes, arrange the chicken in the pot and the rest of the ingredients around it.
Add spices and water to three-quarters of the height of the chicken and vegetables, and bring to a boil.
Lower the flame and cook for an hour and a quarter with the lid half closed.
Taste, add salt if necessary, and before serving, "water" the chicken with the sauce from the pot.
Syrian olive salad with fennel leaves and anchovies
Ingredients:
√ 2 handfuls of pitted Syrian olives
√ 1 small slice of finely chopped fennel
√ 1 small hot pepper (red or green) finely chopped
√ 1/2 jar of good quality anchovies
√ 2 handfuls of coarsely chopped fennel leaves
√ juice of one lemon
√ 1/4 teaspoon salt
√ 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
√ 1/4 cup olive oil
Mix all the ingredients except the olive oil, lemon, salt and black pepper, season with a little salt (very little, the olives and anchovies are salty) and the black pepper, add a little of the oil in the anchovy jar and the olive oil, squeeze the lemon in and mix well.
Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, and transfer to a flat and beautiful serving bowl.
Diced lamb with onions, olives, tomatoes and beans
Ingredients:
√ 500 g cubes of lamb (shoulder or neck)
√ 2 medium onions thinly sliced
√ A handful of beaten Syrian olives decided 3 times in water
√ 3 tomatoes cut into quarters
√ 6 tablespoons olive oil
√ 10 cloves of peeled garlic
√ A large handful of beans or beans Clean green
√ teaspoon and a half coarse salt
√ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
√ 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
√ 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
√ 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
In a large pot, fry the pieces of meat until golden and remove to a side dish.
In the same pot, fry over medium heat the sliced onion until golden, stirring constantly, so that it does not burn.
Return the pieces of meat to the pot and sprinkle the tomatoes, olives and garlic between them.
Cover the meat with water (up to the height of the meat), sprinkle over the spices and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and cook for about an hour and a half, with the pot covered.
Please note - in the middle of cooking, check that the liquids do not run out, and if so, add another glass of water.
After an hour and a half, add the beans and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
At the end of cooking, I like to put the pot without a lid in the oven to brown for about 10 minutes.
shishabat@israelhayom.co.il
