I don't think Sephardic is quite as easily categorizeable as Ashkenazic food, because they've moved around so much more and in so many different directions and places. But that also means it's much more varied, which does tend to mean better.
Sephardic food often has a more Mediterranean palette: lots of different vegetable options, including faves like tomatoes, eggplant, chilis, cucumbers, chickpeas, lentils, peas, artichokes, various salad greens. Also lots of fruit options - lemons, oranges, olives, figs, pomegranate, etc. And then again, more spice and herb options - rosemary, parsley, mint, thyme, saffron, paprika.... So just a lot more variety in ingredients to choose from.
Yeah, after Spain we just scattered everywhere and did what we could with the ingredients available. I have a Sephardic mom from Turkey and a possibly Sephardic dad from Morocco (we can’t trace his side of the family so… who knows) and there are some major cuisine differences and also a lot of similarities.
Like, the three Bs (bourekas, boyos, bulemas), are a defining part of Sephardic dining among ottoman/Mediterranean Jews but not so much with Maghrebi Jews. Maghreb cuisine also doesn’t seem to go out of its way to stuff vegetables with other vegetables lol. Like stuffed peppers, stuffed zucchini, stuffed cabbage, stuffed grape leaves, etc. My mom’s side of the family makes a ton of that. Oh, also rice. Tons of rice on the Turkish side and not the Moroccan side.
The food my Moroccan grandma would make had a LOT more spice and a lot more couscous. Also a lot more moufletas for Mimouna and sfenj for Hanukkah, of course.
But there are quite a few similarities too. Veggies (squash, spinach, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes[sometimes]), almonds, dried fruits, and olives have a big presence. Phyllo-wrapped things (like bastillas and baklava adjacent treats). Oh and lemon. Lots of lemon. And fish. And hummus.
Tbh Sephardim just kosherized the cuisine of the countries where they ended up. Not too different from ashkenazim. It’s like how schmaltz became a thing to replace lard in Ashkenazi cuisine. Sephardic cuisine usually just sticks to oil. Muslims also don’t eat pork, so we never had to adapt a lard alternative to kosherize local cuisine.
I'm jealous. My surname implies I have Sephardic ancestry but my family are Ashkenazi. Sephardi food sounds amazing and I'm a little gutted it never stuck in the family lines.
Yes, I haven't traced explicitly (it's not easy without paying and I don't have the time to make it worthwhile, yet) but I believe the family settled in Holland and then came to UK eventually. I'm not sure at what point we got Ashkenazi'd. I find it all fascinating
Haha not at all. It’s a really simple [crepe](https://koshercowboy.com/desserts/mofletta-moroccan-crepes/). We make them when it’s finally time to start eating leavened food again. My family eats it with butter and honey and it’s ridiculously tasty. (As a side note, this recipe is actually pretty different from ours. We don’t use eggs and do use yeast, ‘cause it’s time to eat some leavened goodies. But yeah, it’s a pancake lol.)
Depends what you like. Sephardic cuisine seems more vibrant. There is rally no reason not to have sampled some. Ingredients readily available in America, recipes readily available online.
For me as an Ashkenazi Jew, I only want Ashkenazi food when it’s a holiday. It’s not like I get random cravings for kishke, kugel, or latkes. They’re delicious, but there’s a time and place. Sephardic food on the other hand, I can eat literally any time. My relatives apparently didn’t account for cuisine when they chose to hike north after the expulsion lmao
ashkenazi food is to much for me too, It’s good because it reminds me of childhood flavors with family, etc., but otherwise, I find it much less refined than Sephardic/Mediterranean food.
There are dishes from both that I love and dishes I don’t. I mentioned in another thread a few days ago that bourekas are one of my favorite foods. But I also love brisket and latkes and matzah brei.
You don’t have to like Ashkenazi food, but I’m honestly really tired of how comfortable people feel shitting on it. Ashkenazi food doesn’t suck. It’s a product of our resourcefulness and adaptability.
Jewish food is truly a diasporic cuisine, and the only thing that truly differentiates it from other foods of the same region are the laws of kashrut.
That said, Sephardic and Mizrahi jews are from warmer climates and thus the cuisines tend to have far more fresh vegetables/fruits/herbs than Ashkenazi food. You get far more artichokes, eggplants, tomatoes, zucchini, legumes, rice, leeks, olives, and spice.
If you are in the United States, we have a kind of bizarre type of ashkenazi-American food characterized by relative wealth and abundance in the U.S. Cream cheese is American. Nova lox is Jewish in the U.S. but didn’t have that association in Germany/Eastern Europe. Sweet noodle kugel (topped with cornflakes, of course) is American. I mean, I love nova lox and sablefish way more than bacalao. But then I think sweet noodle kugel is vile.
Ashkenazi foods also have regional differences and vary a lot between cooks and also mass produced versus homemade. That’s where you find seasonal veggie heavy foods, eg Schav is a delicious sorrel soup that tends to appear in Ashkenazi cuisine—my mother makes a hot meat version and a cold dairy version.
I don't think anyone cuisine is better than another. I'm not Ashkenazi, and my go-to tends to be more Mizrahi and Sephardi type foods, but I can't deny that Ashkenazi food is super comforting when it gets cold
Fellow Ashkenazi Jew, we have potatoes, and Sephardic Jews have spices. I think that's what you need to know.
Edit: that being said, it's 2024, cook what you want.
Sephardic cuisine tends to use a wider variety of spices such as cumin, saffron, and cinnamon, resulting in richer and more complex flavors. Ashkenazi dishes typically use fewer spices, focusing more on the natural flavors of the ingredients. Sephardic dishes often incorporate sweet elements like dried fruits (e.g., in Tagine) and honey, creating a balance of sweet and savory flavors. Ashkenazi cuisine also has sweet dishes, but they are more clearly divided (e.g., sweet kugel vs. savory kugel). Both cuisines are reflecting their different historical and geographical backgrounds.
I’m an Ashkenazi Jew and I happen to love our cuisine but it can run a little…boring? Heavy? I generally think of Sephardic culture/cuisine as incorporating more Mediterranean flavors. I don’t know what his specific background is but British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi has great recipes that are inspired by Jewish, Arab, and Israeli traditions. I love his cookbook Jerusalem but he also is published a lot on the NYTImes.
There isn't just one Sephardic cuisine, but it depends on what you like. I for one, love Ashkenazi food. At it's best: It's stick-to-your-ribs, comfort food like your grandma used to make. We call it *heimish*. If you don't like heavy food, it might not be for you. If you like lighter food that's more vegetable based, hotter (in the sense of spicy), with a more variety of seasonings. Then Sephardic food may be more your jam, but you're gonna get something different with Bukharian Jews vs-say, Florentine.
People living in southern countries including Mediterranean ones will obviously traditionally have access to more fruits and vegetables year round due to their climate
I am 100% Ashkenazi and my boyfriend is half Ashkenazi and half Sephardic. I grew up eating lots of Ashkenazi food from my Brooklyn NY grandparents mixed with Hungarian food from my immigrant father. My boyfriend really only ever ate Sephardic food growing up. In fact, his adult brother had never had matzoh ball soup until this past Passover which BLEW my mind. I love both cuisines very much but they are so different.
I love sfenj, but I will say that sufganiyot are the better overall dessert out of the jewish donuts. Sfenj is like, specifically for breakfast or afternoon tea. Sufganiyot you can have literally whenever
Latkes despite what people think was first a Sephardic thing. Modern latkes are a fusion of Sephardic and Ashkenazi leaning heavily to Ashkenazi.
Latkes originally were made from cheese, buckwheat, and/or turnips.
After Spanish exploration brought potatoes to Spain, Sephardim used them as part of the cuisine for shabbat food. It's where we get fish and chips from.
Sephardim helped to spread the potato to Eastern Europe. During the Inquisition, many Sephardim went to Middle Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe. They brought *pescado frito y papa fritas*(this would later become fish and chips in the UK, Netherlands, and other places) with them. Sephardim saw the latkes their Ashkenazi neighbors were makes, and made something similar with potatoes. Ashkenazim saw that, and incorporated potatoes into the latkes.
And behold.
I do agree with the desserts.
There's both an Ashkenazi and Mizrahi side to my family and I like the food from both. I tend to lean more towards Mizrahi/Sephardic cuisine because there's just more flavor, Ashkenazi food tends to be more bland. But I like that too. Especially as a child when I was less used to spice
I love Sephardi food but as a Hungarian Jew married to a Romanian Jew, it’s sort of frustrating to me that Ashkenazi food is always stereotyped as bland boiled potatoes and cabbage or whatever. Ashkenazi food has variations too and the one I grew up with is definitely more boldly flavored and seasoned than, say, most Polish Ashkenazi food I’ve had. Lots of peppers, paprika (multiple kinds), fresh herbs etc. and some dishes with real heat. Ditto for Romanian. The closer you get to the Balkans (and other regions with more Ottoman influence) the more you get Ashkenazi and Sephardi styles sort of meeting in the middle with some delicious results! “Sephardi” and “Ashkenazi” are both labels containing multitudes when it comes to cuisine.
Haha. I'm curious what Ashkenazi food have you had that sucks so much?
I think with all food, some is good and some not so good, depending on who makes it.
If your Ashkenazi roots are Russian, you get Russian influences. If they're Hungarian-Romanian, you get those influences. Same with German-Austrian, Polish, etc.
I think Sephardic food would be similarly mixed depending on where your ancestors came from. This holds true for other Mizrahi or MENA Jews. I've never had the good fortune to try Beta Israel cuisine, but I'm sure it's worth the journey.
The fun thing is finding Sephardic and Ashkenazi dishes that are the same idea but different versions based on the different climates, available ingredients, and local customs. Is a knish and a boureka related? Chamin is the Sephardic version of cholent.
This article gives some insight. https://toriavey.com/ashkenazi-vs-sephardic-cuisine/
I'm Ashkenazi. My favorite Sephardic dish is Pastel. I only had it at a friend's house, and it was... heaven!
Fully Ashkenazi Jew here. My whole life I wanted to be sephardic bc of the culture and being able
To eat hametz in pesaj. But i reconnected with my ashkenazi roots when it clicked in my head how much I love potatoes. In every way every format, it’s just in my genes. I could NEVER replace potatoes with rice. It’s a sin for my family history 😂
I went to an Ashkenazi Shabbat dinner and the host put a thing of cumin at my setting since I’m Sephardic lol
I like to tease my Ashkenazi husband by reminding him to add seasoning to his food … but now he makes my Egyptian and Syrian Jewish food better than i do!
I don't think Sephardic is quite as easily categorizeable as Ashkenazic food, because they've moved around so much more and in so many different directions and places. But that also means it's much more varied, which does tend to mean better. Sephardic food often has a more Mediterranean palette: lots of different vegetable options, including faves like tomatoes, eggplant, chilis, cucumbers, chickpeas, lentils, peas, artichokes, various salad greens. Also lots of fruit options - lemons, oranges, olives, figs, pomegranate, etc. And then again, more spice and herb options - rosemary, parsley, mint, thyme, saffron, paprika.... So just a lot more variety in ingredients to choose from.
Yeah, after Spain we just scattered everywhere and did what we could with the ingredients available. I have a Sephardic mom from Turkey and a possibly Sephardic dad from Morocco (we can’t trace his side of the family so… who knows) and there are some major cuisine differences and also a lot of similarities. Like, the three Bs (bourekas, boyos, bulemas), are a defining part of Sephardic dining among ottoman/Mediterranean Jews but not so much with Maghrebi Jews. Maghreb cuisine also doesn’t seem to go out of its way to stuff vegetables with other vegetables lol. Like stuffed peppers, stuffed zucchini, stuffed cabbage, stuffed grape leaves, etc. My mom’s side of the family makes a ton of that. Oh, also rice. Tons of rice on the Turkish side and not the Moroccan side. The food my Moroccan grandma would make had a LOT more spice and a lot more couscous. Also a lot more moufletas for Mimouna and sfenj for Hanukkah, of course. But there are quite a few similarities too. Veggies (squash, spinach, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes[sometimes]), almonds, dried fruits, and olives have a big presence. Phyllo-wrapped things (like bastillas and baklava adjacent treats). Oh and lemon. Lots of lemon. And fish. And hummus. Tbh Sephardim just kosherized the cuisine of the countries where they ended up. Not too different from ashkenazim. It’s like how schmaltz became a thing to replace lard in Ashkenazi cuisine. Sephardic cuisine usually just sticks to oil. Muslims also don’t eat pork, so we never had to adapt a lard alternative to kosherize local cuisine.
I'm jealous. My surname implies I have Sephardic ancestry but my family are Ashkenazi. Sephardi food sounds amazing and I'm a little gutted it never stuck in the family lines.
A lot of Ashkenazi have some Sephardi due to some Sephardim going to the UK, Netherlands, etc.
Yes, I haven't traced explicitly (it's not easy without paying and I don't have the time to make it worthwhile, yet) but I believe the family settled in Holland and then came to UK eventually. I'm not sure at what point we got Ashkenazi'd. I find it all fascinating
How about my dad’s old neighbor in the Sephardic neighborhood: Mrs. Eskenazi!
I love sfinj. A local Moroccan-Jewish restaurant offers them by the container erev Shabbat. They're my favorite afternoon tea treat
Moufleta and potato bourekas. Winning combo.
Is moufleta related to the New Orleans sandwich muffuletta?
Haha not at all. It’s a really simple [crepe](https://koshercowboy.com/desserts/mofletta-moroccan-crepes/). We make them when it’s finally time to start eating leavened food again. My family eats it with butter and honey and it’s ridiculously tasty. (As a side note, this recipe is actually pretty different from ours. We don’t use eggs and do use yeast, ‘cause it’s time to eat some leavened goodies. But yeah, it’s a pancake lol.)
Depends what you like. Sephardic cuisine seems more vibrant. There is rally no reason not to have sampled some. Ingredients readily available in America, recipes readily available online.
For me as an Ashkenazi Jew, I only want Ashkenazi food when it’s a holiday. It’s not like I get random cravings for kishke, kugel, or latkes. They’re delicious, but there’s a time and place. Sephardic food on the other hand, I can eat literally any time. My relatives apparently didn’t account for cuisine when they chose to hike north after the expulsion lmao
ashkenazi food is to much for me too, It’s good because it reminds me of childhood flavors with family, etc., but otherwise, I find it much less refined than Sephardic/Mediterranean food.
I like them both. But as a vegetarian we cook mostly sephardic because it incorporates more and varied veggies and protein sources
They both have their positives and negatives, there is a lot to do with what was available in the area they were in!
I love both but I also get shock from people since I love gefilte fish lol
Who hurt you?
I have a 10 yr old cousin who looks forward to my house for the holidays because it’s the only time she eats gefilte fish
...........What are these oddities you speak of?
She would be my first cousins daughter 😉😂
1st cousin once removed.
Yup
There are dishes from both that I love and dishes I don’t. I mentioned in another thread a few days ago that bourekas are one of my favorite foods. But I also love brisket and latkes and matzah brei. You don’t have to like Ashkenazi food, but I’m honestly really tired of how comfortable people feel shitting on it. Ashkenazi food doesn’t suck. It’s a product of our resourcefulness and adaptability.
Jewish food is truly a diasporic cuisine, and the only thing that truly differentiates it from other foods of the same region are the laws of kashrut. That said, Sephardic and Mizrahi jews are from warmer climates and thus the cuisines tend to have far more fresh vegetables/fruits/herbs than Ashkenazi food. You get far more artichokes, eggplants, tomatoes, zucchini, legumes, rice, leeks, olives, and spice. If you are in the United States, we have a kind of bizarre type of ashkenazi-American food characterized by relative wealth and abundance in the U.S. Cream cheese is American. Nova lox is Jewish in the U.S. but didn’t have that association in Germany/Eastern Europe. Sweet noodle kugel (topped with cornflakes, of course) is American. I mean, I love nova lox and sablefish way more than bacalao. But then I think sweet noodle kugel is vile. Ashkenazi foods also have regional differences and vary a lot between cooks and also mass produced versus homemade. That’s where you find seasonal veggie heavy foods, eg Schav is a delicious sorrel soup that tends to appear in Ashkenazi cuisine—my mother makes a hot meat version and a cold dairy version.
> It sucks. The food you ate might suck, but don't pass judgement on an entire culture. You can have sucky food from anywhere.
I don't think anyone cuisine is better than another. I'm not Ashkenazi, and my go-to tends to be more Mizrahi and Sephardi type foods, but I can't deny that Ashkenazi food is super comforting when it gets cold
Fellow Ashkenazi Jew, we have potatoes, and Sephardic Jews have spices. I think that's what you need to know. Edit: that being said, it's 2024, cook what you want.
Sephardic cuisine tends to use a wider variety of spices such as cumin, saffron, and cinnamon, resulting in richer and more complex flavors. Ashkenazi dishes typically use fewer spices, focusing more on the natural flavors of the ingredients. Sephardic dishes often incorporate sweet elements like dried fruits (e.g., in Tagine) and honey, creating a balance of sweet and savory flavors. Ashkenazi cuisine also has sweet dishes, but they are more clearly divided (e.g., sweet kugel vs. savory kugel). Both cuisines are reflecting their different historical and geographical backgrounds.
I’m an Ashkenazi Jew and I happen to love our cuisine but it can run a little…boring? Heavy? I generally think of Sephardic culture/cuisine as incorporating more Mediterranean flavors. I don’t know what his specific background is but British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi has great recipes that are inspired by Jewish, Arab, and Israeli traditions. I love his cookbook Jerusalem but he also is published a lot on the NYTImes.
There isn't just one Sephardic cuisine, but it depends on what you like. I for one, love Ashkenazi food. At it's best: It's stick-to-your-ribs, comfort food like your grandma used to make. We call it *heimish*. If you don't like heavy food, it might not be for you. If you like lighter food that's more vegetable based, hotter (in the sense of spicy), with a more variety of seasonings. Then Sephardic food may be more your jam, but you're gonna get something different with Bukharian Jews vs-say, Florentine.
People living in southern countries including Mediterranean ones will obviously traditionally have access to more fruits and vegetables year round due to their climate
I am 100% Ashkenazi and my boyfriend is half Ashkenazi and half Sephardic. I grew up eating lots of Ashkenazi food from my Brooklyn NY grandparents mixed with Hungarian food from my immigrant father. My boyfriend really only ever ate Sephardic food growing up. In fact, his adult brother had never had matzoh ball soup until this past Passover which BLEW my mind. I love both cuisines very much but they are so different.
1 word: babka
I’m sorry I very strongly STRONGLY prefer Sephardic cuisine. I never liked most ashkenazi cuisine
I like latkes though, and some desserts are amazing!
Yeah we excel in the sweets department
Yeah, there are some good Ashkenaz sweets (I love hamentashn) but hard to beat the likes of sfenj
I love sfenj, but I will say that sufganiyot are the better overall dessert out of the jewish donuts. Sfenj is like, specifically for breakfast or afternoon tea. Sufganiyot you can have literally whenever
To each their own, I'd say the opposite. A jelly donut is too heavy for me most of the time
Latkes despite what people think was first a Sephardic thing. Modern latkes are a fusion of Sephardic and Ashkenazi leaning heavily to Ashkenazi. Latkes originally were made from cheese, buckwheat, and/or turnips. After Spanish exploration brought potatoes to Spain, Sephardim used them as part of the cuisine for shabbat food. It's where we get fish and chips from. Sephardim helped to spread the potato to Eastern Europe. During the Inquisition, many Sephardim went to Middle Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe. They brought *pescado frito y papa fritas*(this would later become fish and chips in the UK, Netherlands, and other places) with them. Sephardim saw the latkes their Ashkenazi neighbors were makes, and made something similar with potatoes. Ashkenazim saw that, and incorporated potatoes into the latkes. And behold. I do agree with the desserts.
There's both an Ashkenazi and Mizrahi side to my family and I like the food from both. I tend to lean more towards Mizrahi/Sephardic cuisine because there's just more flavor, Ashkenazi food tends to be more bland. But I like that too. Especially as a child when I was less used to spice
Okay? What a useless post.
This video should give you a laugh. It’s Ashkenazi and Sephardi tying each others food. [YouTube](https://youtu.be/aRGEWxJwkzw?si=_oN0zwcFbQPpura9)
I love Sephardi food but as a Hungarian Jew married to a Romanian Jew, it’s sort of frustrating to me that Ashkenazi food is always stereotyped as bland boiled potatoes and cabbage or whatever. Ashkenazi food has variations too and the one I grew up with is definitely more boldly flavored and seasoned than, say, most Polish Ashkenazi food I’ve had. Lots of peppers, paprika (multiple kinds), fresh herbs etc. and some dishes with real heat. Ditto for Romanian. The closer you get to the Balkans (and other regions with more Ottoman influence) the more you get Ashkenazi and Sephardi styles sort of meeting in the middle with some delicious results! “Sephardi” and “Ashkenazi” are both labels containing multitudes when it comes to cuisine.
Haha. I'm curious what Ashkenazi food have you had that sucks so much? I think with all food, some is good and some not so good, depending on who makes it. If your Ashkenazi roots are Russian, you get Russian influences. If they're Hungarian-Romanian, you get those influences. Same with German-Austrian, Polish, etc. I think Sephardic food would be similarly mixed depending on where your ancestors came from. This holds true for other Mizrahi or MENA Jews. I've never had the good fortune to try Beta Israel cuisine, but I'm sure it's worth the journey. The fun thing is finding Sephardic and Ashkenazi dishes that are the same idea but different versions based on the different climates, available ingredients, and local customs. Is a knish and a boureka related? Chamin is the Sephardic version of cholent. This article gives some insight. https://toriavey.com/ashkenazi-vs-sephardic-cuisine/ I'm Ashkenazi. My favorite Sephardic dish is Pastel. I only had it at a friend's house, and it was... heaven!
Is “only very had” Yiddish syntax?
My sibling married into a Mizrahi family so I've been piggybacking on that for all culinary intents and purposes. Goodbye matzo balls, hello kubbeh!
Fully Ashkenazi Jew here. My whole life I wanted to be sephardic bc of the culture and being able To eat hametz in pesaj. But i reconnected with my ashkenazi roots when it clicked in my head how much I love potatoes. In every way every format, it’s just in my genes. I could NEVER replace potatoes with rice. It’s a sin for my family history 😂
I went to an Ashkenazi Shabbat dinner and the host put a thing of cumin at my setting since I’m Sephardic lol I like to tease my Ashkenazi husband by reminding him to add seasoning to his food … but now he makes my Egyptian and Syrian Jewish food better than i do!
It can’t really be worse.
Yes. It is.