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A
fter eight days of not eating
chametz (leavened foods forbid-
den during Passover) all that really
matters to people at the end of the
holiday is stuffing as much pizza/
pasta/bread into their mouths as
they can and then probably collaps-
ing in a carb-induced food coma.
The big holiday finale is a lot more
exciting for Moroccan Jews who end
Passover with the celebration of the
Mimouna. Once Passover has ended
Moroccan Jews open up their homes
to each other and spend the night
going from house to house, also
known as Mimouna hopping, cel-
ebrating and feasting.
In Morocco, the celebration of the
Mimouna began on the afternoon of
the last day of Passover when Muslim
neighbors would bring flowers, milk,
butter, honey, green beans, stalks of
wheat and grain, lettuce, etc., to the
homes of the Jews.
According to Gil Marks, flour and
starter dough would also be included
in this gift, which would be used when
preparing post-Passover chametz
dishes for the Mimouna celebrations
taking place later in the evening.
The central element of this night is
the elaborate Mimouna table loaded
with a plethora of sweet dishes and
symbolic foods. The table would be
adorned with a white tablecloth, rep-
resenting purity. Various symbolic
foods were placed on the Mimouna
table, including a pitcher of butter-
milk, a large fish on a bed of let-
tuce or, if possible, a live small fish
in a bowl of water; a plate (taifur del
Mimouna) filled with flour and topped
with five or seven pea pods or green
beans, dates, and coins; and green
stalks of wheat. These symbolic
foods were meant to signify themes
of renewal, fertility, abundance,
blessings, and prosperity
by Kat Romanow
B
ut what does the word Mimouna
actually mean? There are a few the-
ories floating around and some people
think the word Mimouna is related to
the Hebrew word for faith, emuna.
That it is a celebration through which
people show they still have faith that
the redemption of the Jewish people,
which is supposed to happen in the
month that Passover takes place, will
happen one day. Although my favourite
explanation is that the word Mimouna
comes from the name of a North Afri-
can female she-devil or goddess (de-
pending on who you ask) who was con-
sidered to be Lady Luck and married to
the demon Maimon. This celebration is
a way to both honor and appease her.
The celebration of the Mimouna has
taken on various meanings for the Mo-
roccan-Jewish community in Canada. It
has come to be a way for people to up-
hold a tradition that has been an ongo-
ing part of this community for centuries
and functions as a way for Moroccan
Jews to preserve and display their Mo-
roccan heritage in a landscape in which
they have been the minority and have
gone through a long and often difficult
process of carving out their own place.
Furthermore, the Mimouna is an impor-
tant element in the maintenance of the
social network of the community. More
recently the Mimouna has also been a
way for Ashkenazi Jews to learn about
the rituals of the Moroccan Jewish com-
munity and for these two very different
communities to get to know each other.
A
aron Cohen picked up the chopping
knife in his youth as a scout, under the
name Castor Vaillant (Brave Beaver),
but it is only in his later years, after his
wifes passing, that he started cooking
religiously, as a means to bring his entire
family together. Born in Meknes and living
in Montreal since 1974, Aarons love for
food and entreprise inspired him to open
his own dehydration factory, a kosher wine
industry, an olive company and even im-
port-export of east-coast sea food.
Aarons Mufleta
1 kilo flour (8 cups)
2 tbsp active dry yeast
Warm water
2 or 3 eggs
Butter (can be replaced with oil)
1. Dissolve the yeast in cup of warm water. Add the sugar. Let it foam for 15
minutes.
2. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and gradually add water until the dough is
supple, slightly softer than regular bread dough.
3. Put aside and let it rise for 30 mins.
4. Soften a generous amount of butter (youll have to use it to grease the sur-
face where you are working, the dough, and the pan).
5. Generously pour butter onto a large working surface.
6. Separate the dough into egg-sized balls.
7. Flatten and spread each ball with your fingers until the dough is almost
transparent.
8. Use your fingers to spread butter over the surface of the dough.
9. Fold the dough by bringing the four sides inwards to make a square.
10. Put aside, and continue with the rest of the balls of dough.
11. Warm the pan
12. When pan is hot, reflatted the square of dough.
13. Cook until golden on both sides.
14. Enjoy drizzled with honey.
W
ith the flour and starter dough that was given to
them by their Muslim neighbors, Jewish women
would also prepare mufleta, a thin yeast pancake that
is a Mimouna delicacy. These pancakes are served
warm, spread with butter and honey.
Julie Kakons Orange Confite
(Candied Orange Slices)
4 large oranges
4 cups sugar
about 4 cups water
1. Remove the outermost layer of the orange rind with a microplane or fine grater,
and rinse the oranges in cold water.
2. Pierce the rind with a fork, all around.
3. Place the 4 oranges in a pan, and fill with water until oranges are covered.
4. Under medium heat, bring to a boil for 20-25 mins until the peel of the oranges
are soft.
5. Take the oranges out and let them cool down. When cooled, cut them into
quarters (or eighths).
6. Meanwhile, put sugar in a pan. Add water to cover the sugar. Bring to boil till
you have a thick syrup. Monitor for the color (it should not get brown). This should
take 30 mins.
7. Place the orange slices in the pan with the syrup. Cook for 30 mins.
8. Serve the oranges with the syrup on top.

My mother does something else, shes from Meknes, this is more

of a religious city and she makes what you call nougat, but its
called zaban. Now this is a delicious thing, she beats egg whites with
sugar until it becomes really chewy and then she will incorporate in
that grilled walnuts. And she lays it on a big platter and there will be
all little spoons around the table, everybody will take a spoon. and
eat it.

Esther, Montreal
Zaban
4 cups icing sugar
2 eggs whites
Juice of 1 lemon
cup of water
cup of almonds
cup of walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and
roast the almost and walnuts until
theyre golden brown, about 5 to 10
minutes. Separate the nuts in half.
For the Syrup: Place the water and
the sugar in a small pot and bring to a
boil over medium heat. Add the lemon
juice and let boil until the syrup reaches
242-248 degrees F on a candy ther-
mometer (this is the firm ball stage).
Let the syrup cool.
1. Whip the egg whites until peaks form.
2. Slowly add the syrup to the egg
whites and continue to whip the mixture
until you have a soft spoonable nougat.
This will take about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in half the nuts. Place in a bowl
and decorate with the remaining al-
monds and walnuts.
A
long with the more traditional Mimouna dishes, some famillies have developed
their own traditions for this holiday. One family integrated their fathers tradi-
tion of serving a Tunisian tuna sandwich at their Mimouna. The sandwich consists
of Italian style bread that is stuffed with tuna, peppers, squashed carrot salad,
tomato and artichoke salad, black olives, hard-boiled eggs, olive oil and some-
times a spicy condiment such as harissa.
Tunisian Tuna Sandwich
Italian style paninis
Canned tuna
Roasted peppers
Moroccan carrot salad (see below)
Marinated artichokes, cut into quarters
Tomato slices
Moroccan black olives
Hard-boiled eggs
Olive oil
Harissa
Split open the paninis, making sure that the two halves stay attached.
Spread each half of the panini with harissa and drizzle with olive oil.
Fill each panini with the canned tuna, roasted peppers, Morrocan carrot salad,
marinated artichokes, tomato slices, black olives, hard-boiled eggs.
Moroccan Carrot Salad
12 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
tsp. ground cumin
tsp. paprika
3 pinches cayenne
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
Salt to taste
1. Boil carrots and garlic in a pot of water over medium heat until soft, 68 min-
utes. Drain; let cool.
2. Transfer to a bowl, add cumin, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, lemon juice, olive
oil, parsley, and salt to taste; toss well.
I
t is traditional to have a whole fish on a bed of lettuce as part of the Mimouna
table but many people choose to serve fish dishes as well. A popular trend in
Montreal is to serve sushi at the Mimouna, much to the surprise of older genera-
tion. This speaks to the widespread love of sushi among North American Jews.
Moroccan-style Salmon
1. Rinse 4 servings of salmon and season with salt on both sides.
2. In a big shallow bowl, add the following ingredients:
cup oil
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 heaping tsp of tomato paste
1 small preserved lemon, cut into small pieces
tsp paprika
1/8 tsp crushed chilli peppers
3 5 crushed garlic cloves
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
3. Cover the pieces of salmon with the sauce and let marinate for a few hours in
the fridge.

4. Remove as much sauce as possible from the bowl, and heat in a pan with 1/2
a red & 1/2 a green pepper cut into strips. Cook over medium heat for about 8
minutes.

5. Place the fish into the pan and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until fish
is cooked through, lowering the heat after 5 minutes. If the sauce is too reduced,
add a little bit of warm water at the end.
Couscous au beurre
Chefa
2 cups of couscous (dry)
1 cups of almonds unpeeled
cup of butter
1 cup sugar
cup of oil
salt
cinammon
1 teaspoon orange water
1 tablespoon oil
C
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To prepare couscous for use in most dishes:
It is recommended to use a couscoussier to achieve the light, fluffy couscous that
makes this dish so good but if this isnt available, use the directions from the
package.
Put dry couscous in a bowl and cover with water. Drain immediately in a strainer and
return to bowl. Add a generous spoonful of oil and a pinch of salt. Mix with hands
and let rest. Over the next 30 minutes, aerate the couscous several times by run-
ning it through your hands making sure to eliminate all lumps make the couscous
rain back into the bowl. After 30 minutes, add water one more time and mix well. Let
it stand a few more minutes to absorb all the water. It is now ready to be steamed.
To steam:
Fill the couscoussier 3/4 of the way with water and bring it to boil. Place the top
piece on the couscoussier. When it starts steaming, slowly pour the couscous into the
couscoussier.* It should take 5-10 minutes to steam.
*if adding raisins, place these in the couscoussier before the couscous.
First rinse and dry almonds. Roast in the oven at low temperature for 20 mins. With
the help of a blender, grind 1/3 of the almonds, pound 2/3 and leave the rest for
decoration.
Put steamed couscous in a bowl. Add the butter, sugar, grounded almonds, cinnamon
and orange water.
Arrange in a beautiful serving plate in the form of a pyramid. Ornate the top of the
pyramid with pound almonds, and sprinkle the whole almonds all around.
* fruit jams can be added on the bottom of the pyramid: black raisins cooked in sugar
under low heat. or dried apricots, or dried prunes.
Couscous is a traditional Berber dish of steamed semolina, or
durum wheat. It is a staple food throughout Northern-African
cuisine and can be served in both savoury and sweet prepa-
rations.
Gilbertes couscous au
lgumes
Serves 6 or more
2 cups couscous (dry)
1 small green cabbage, quartered (or
a large cabbage)
1 butternut squash (or similar), peeled
and cut into large chunks
1 banana squash (or similar), peeled
and cut into large chunks
3-4 small to medium sized onions, halved
Several large carrots, peeled and cut
into large chunks
1 cups soaked chickpeas (or 1 can)
cup raisins (optional)
cup slivered almonds
1 pinch saffron*
Vegetable oil
About 2 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
* Dry out the saffron by wrapping it in
aluminum foil and putting it in the oven
on low heat. It can then be crushed in
the foil and will be easier to distribute
throughout the dish. Turmeric can be
used to achieve the same colouring (but
the taste will be different).
For the vegetables:
Cover the bottom of a large pan with oil.
Fill the pan with the large pieces of veg-
etable. Add sugar, a generous pinch of
salt, and most of the saffron. Cover the
vegetables completely with water and put
the cover on the pan. Bring to a low boil
and simmer until vegetables are tender.
Taste for seasoning. Add chickpeas and
some pepper and continue to simmer un-
covered until they are warmed through.
To serve:
Mix the remaining saffron and slivered
almonds into the couscous. Serve the
couscous in a deep dish with the veg-
etables around it and the broth from the
vegetables poured over.
G
ilberte Cohen-Scali was born in Fes, Morocco, and learned Moroccan cooking
in little spurts, when her mother would come visit her in Arizona where she
was living with her young family. When her mother passed away, Gilberte realized
that if she didnt do something, all of the recipes from that generation would be
lost. She spent 13 years collecting recipes from her community for a Sephardic-
Moroccan cookbook that was released in 2012 (La cuisine spharade marocaine
des grands jours et du quotidien). Find the video of Gilberte making her veg-
etable couscous and salade cuite on our website (www.rootsandrecipes.com).
About Roots & Recipes
Food brings us together; one shared meal prepared with love and slowly savoured
can produce countless memories. The Roots & Recipes project aims to collect the
family recipes and kitchen stories of first and second generation immigrants in
Montreal in an inter-generational web series called, Dishing Up the Past along
with live events where we will share our own stories, learn recipes from our col-
lective grandmothers and enjoy food prepared with love.
This multi-media project emerged out of a desire to find new ways of engaging
women who may not think they have a story to share, as well as a common desire
from the members of Roots & Recipes to collect the kitchen wisdom carried on
from generation to generation. We realized food is a neutral starting point to
delve into deeper issues of identity, memory and place.
Please contact us if you have a family recipe or food story to share in our
video series or on our blog.
Photos : Sophie Bertrand & Chloe Charbonnier
Layout : Rebecca Lessard
Cover Drawing: Sara Cohen-Fournier
Roots & Recipes is Sara Cohen-Fournier, Rebecca Lessard,
Kat Romanow & Myrite Rotstein