Adeena Sussman is #Cooking_History: A Modern Twist on Middle Eastern Flavors
In honor of the Jewish New year, Adeena Sussman shares a new recipe inspired by a cookbook that helped new immigrants to the Land of Israel adjust to the local cuisine.
Pomegranate Mint Iced Tea, photo and recipe by Adeena Sussman.
If you speak to a new immigrant in any country, they will undoubtedly have much to share regarding the challenges they have faced on their journey. From learning a new language to adjusting to a new set of cultural norms, new immigrants need time to acclimate and begin to feel at home.
Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel in the 1930s found that adjusting to the realities on the ground was no simple task. For the newly immigrated housewife who, while caring for her household and cooking for her family, encountered a new set of ingredients, limited resources, and different cooking methodologies, the adjustment to the Middle Eastern kitchen proved to be particularly challenging.
Dr. Erna Meyer, a veteran immigrant to the Land of Israel at the time and a teacher of cooking and nutrition at the WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) Domestic Science School, understood these challenges and set out to create a guide intended for the fresh-off-the-boat housewife on how to navigate local ingredients and cooking techniques. “How to Cook in Palestine” introduced local ingredients like eggplants and mint leaves in an approachable and unintimidating manner as Dr. Meyer explored their uses and developed several methods of preparation for each ingredient.
“How to Cook in Palestine,” by Dr. Erna Meyer. From the National Library of Israel collection.
“There is an inexpensive green on the market used to a great extent by Arabs and English people, the fresh green leaves of which if added to a salad give it an entirely different taste,” wrote Dr. Meyer. “It is also excellent for spicing vegetable and meat sauces. The Arabic name is ‘nana,’ English ‘mint.’”
Dr. Meyer encouraged her readers to dive into the wonder that is Middle Eastern cuisine and invited the newly immigrated to let go of their expectations of recreating their European kitchen and embrace the beauty of local custom and cuisine.
The modern Israeli kitchen draws its inspiration from the same local ingredients and bright, sunny flavors explored by Dr. Meyer in “How to Cook in Palestine.” Adeena Sussman, a professional recipe developer and renowned food writer with a passion for soulful home cooking lives just a few steps away from the bustling market of Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv. Adeena recently released her debut solo cookbook, “Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen” (Avery, September 2019), a book which features 120 recipes that showcase local ingredients prepared with a wide-reaching embrace of global influences and immigrant traditions, all adapted for the home cook.
Adeena Sussman in her kitchen. Photo by Dan Perez.
Starting with basic Middle Eastern ingredients combined with her unique flair, Adeena’s book inspires the modern home cook to venture forth and discover the unique flavors that stem from the Israeli kitchen.
In honor of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the National Library of Israel has embarked on a journey to bring some of the oldest and most interesting recipes from the Library collections back to the forefront. Inspired by “How to Cook in Palestine,” Adeena Sussman, who moved permanently to Tel Aviv in 2015 and experienced life as a new immigrant herself, developed a modern and fresh recipe utilizing the same local ingredients that inspired Dr. Meyer.
“I loved looking through the Wizo cookbook and seeing the throughlines that connect the cookbook’s origins to the present time,” said Adeena. “The huge impact women have had on Israeli society on every front; understanding the importance of cooking as a way to connect to a land and a culture, and a celebration of the luscious bounty Israel has always provided.”
Using mint leaves and pomegranate juice, this iced tea recipe brings with it a pop of color and freshness that belongs at your holiday table. Starting with a base of brewed tea, Adeena adds pomegranate juice, a nod to the custom of eating pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah as they symbolize righteousness and fruitfulness. The bright sprigs of mint serve not only as a beautiful garnish but add that unique twist to what is surely going to become a staple at your dinner table.
Pomegranate Mint Iced Tea, photo and recipe by Adeena Sussman.
Pomegranate Mint Iced Tea
2 herbal tea bags of your choice, such as lemon verbena, mint, or green
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
3 cups of water
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, plus more for garnish
1 lemon, cut into thin rounds
1 bunch mint
Fresh ginger, sliced
Ice
Brew the tea bags in 1 cup of hot water until room temperature, 15 minutes. Transfer to a large pitcher and add the pomegranate juice and water. Drop in the pomegranate seeds, ginger, and lemon rounds, then fill the pitcher with ice and tuck in a generous amount of the mint, leaving some for garnish
To serve, fill glasses with ice, then add 1 lemon round, a sprig of mint, and some pomegranate seeds to each glass. Fill with tea and serve immediately, Shana Tova!
Before immigrating to Palestine and prior to the Nazi’s rise to power, Lachmann presented his research on Arabic music at the World Conference for Arabic music in Cairo in 1932. He met many Jewish musicians there, including Jewish Iraqi musician and composer Ezra Aharon, who represented the music of his country on behalf of the king of Iraq. Ezra Aharon immigrated to Palestine in 1934 and became one of Lachmann’s principal subjects of research and a major figure in Eastern music circles in Jerusalem and the rest of the country. Palestine Radio began its broadcasts in 1936 with a musical segment featuring Ezra Aharon playing the oud. He established the Arab Music Orchestra and composed many songs and compositions. Ezra Aharon, like Lachmann, did not think that his immigration to Palestine would prevent him from ever returning to Iraq, but political and military developments would soon reshape the region.
Before leaving Berlin Lachmann sought to establish a research center for Oriental-Eastern music and contacted representatives of the Hebrew University. He received a reply from the president of the university, Dr. Yehuda Leib Magnes, who invited him in 1935 to establish an archive for Eastern music. The intention was to establish a sound archive that would record and analyze recordings, with a studio, recording equipment and a sound technician.
And so, in 1936, Lachmann arrived in Palestine with a British government certificate, bringing with him copies of recordings made in Tunisia which had been stored in the Berlin sound archive. These were recordings made by Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, “the father of Jewish musicology” who had resided in Jerusalem from 1907 to 1921. He also brought copies of other recordings he had made, and records of Oriental music from both the Near and Far East that he had acquired for the archive. In addition he obtained funding to employ a sound technician who would work alongside him. This man went by the name of Walter Schor.
Robert Lachmann in a recording session
Lachmann’s work continued for about three years. The university had difficulty dealing with his personality as well as his research and goals. The budget he was allocated was renewed annually, until the end of 1938, when he was informed that funding would be cut off.
The Hebrew University, founded in 1925, did not understand the importance of Lachmann’s research and although when he arrived in the country he began to study Jewish music as well, the university’s administration did not see any point in the continuation of his research at the time
Once in the Land of Israel, Lachmann made some 800 recordings of Eastern music on tin records. The subjects of the recordings as he described them in his notes were: “Samaritan Music”–233 records; “Jewish Music: Kurds”–12 records, “Yemenites”–75 records, “Western”–51 records, “Other Communities”– 25 records, “Contemporary (Popular) Music”–34 records, “Arabic Music”: “Bedouins”–23 records, “Rural”–119 records, “Religious Music”–39 “Women and Children”–9 “Eastern Urban Music”–92 records, “Christians”–42 records, “Gypsies”–6 records, “Others”–9 records, Total: 769 records.
Tin records recorded by Robert Lachmann
Recording no. 2 – The song “Yefe Nof” performed by Ezra Aharon (vocals and oud)
Recording no. 3 – Musical piece performed with the oud
In 1936 and 1937, Lachmann was invited to present a series of lectures on the radio in English. The musical demonstrations were taken from the tin recordings, and he hoped that in this way, he would help spread Eastern music along with his teachings, as well as obtain additional funding for his work.
Recording no. 4 – Lachmann at the end of his series speaks about his financial crisis
For years, all of Lachmann’s recordings were preserved by his student Dr. Edith (Esther) Gerson-Kiwi. She continued his work and maintained the Eastern music collection until the establishment of the National Sound Archive by Prof. Israel Adler as part of the National Library in 1965. For years, Gerson-Kiwi refused to hand over Lachmann’s material, until finally in the 1980s she transferred Lachmann’s recordings and her own to the Sound Archive. The archive containing Lachmann’s writings, notes and letters is in the Music Department and is accessible to researchers and visitors under the catalog number MUS26.
One could say that Lachmann was the spiritual founder of the National Sound Archive of the National Library. Generations of ethnomusicologists have continued on his path, with many continuing to study the musical field Lachmann devoted himself to—the music of the East.
Lachmann studied Hebrew and was interested in the tradition of Jewish musical performance—the pronunciations, liturgical hymns (piyutim) and women’s songs. He was especially interested in the songs of the Samaritans which had an ancient and magical sound.
Among his writings are handwritten pages in vowelized Hebrew, of lectures he transcribed into Hebrew for himself about the foundations of Jewish music, which, it can be assumed, he read aloud. Interestingly, he never recorded himself speaking in Hebrew.
He writes in “Lecture no. 1: the Foundations of Jewish Music – Reading the Bible A (Mus 26 C 19)”:
Handwritten page by Lachmann of his vowelized Hebrew lectures with notes in German
My lectures will deal with the music of Eastern Jews. Although it is not my intention to bore my listeners with details about the traditions of the various communities, I think it would be more useful to address the main elements of this music. Perhaps my listeners are hoping for a short, definitive answer to a favorite question: what is Jewish music? However, one of the aims of my lectures is to try to prove to them that there is no short, conclusive answer to this query.
I will not give them a definitive answer because the subject has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Jewish music consists of parts that have not yet been clarified, such as the cantillations and songs of Kurdish Jews, and perhaps the most interesting, the cantillations of the Karaites, and more. Before researching these, it is impossible to come to an absolute conclusion. There are certainly people for whom it is sufficient in this regard to rely on their beliefs and feelings and not on facts for the sake of drawing conclusions. But as we have decided, we must rely more on facts than on beliefs and feelings.
And secondly, I cannot give a concise answer to the question of the essence of Jewish music. Jewish music has undergone many changes and influences. Apart from that, each of its forms has its own social circumstances and musical principles and all will need to be addressed.
If we want to talk about Jewish music we must first of all think of the Bible. Indeed, the cantillation of the Bible is unique and there are doubts about whether it can be called music at all … there was and still is a tendency among the Eastern nations to see music as a force which can have a negative influence on the human spirit…
Lachmann goes on to discuss Samaritan music, which he views as ancient and having a magical power which he apparently did not find in Jewish music. He continues:
According to the magical approach, one can influence the natural spirits with certain special actions. Among these, the most important is the uttering of magical incantations. These chants are spoken by healer-shamans who are responsible for the health of the society and its success in the hunt as well as all important social issues in general. But in their belief, he [the shaman] is not the active force in all of these situations. He is just the vessel being used by the spirits to achieve the necessary magic. It is understandable then that the conjurer cannot utter the magical sayings in his natural voice.
This disguising of the voice is found also among the Samaritans and the wonderful impression left on the listeners from their style is achieved by the disguised voice. In other words, there are remnants of the magical approach in the Samaritan cantillation. Moreover, Samaritan cantillation is the only cantillation among the Near Eastern churches that preserves these clear remnants.
The next lectures will be devoted to the following topics: Foundations of Jewish Music 2 [Cantillating the Bible]; Foundations of Jewish Music 3 [Traditional Secular Music of Eastern Jews]; Foundations of Jewish Music 4 [Contemporary Jewish Music, the Definition of Jewish Music].
We learn from a newspaper article that Lachmann lectured on Eastern music in various circles, and these audiences also found it difficult to understand the broad contexts connecting Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Eastern Jewish music.
Lachmann died of an illness on May 9th, 1939. A telegram was sent to his brother in London from the university’s president Dr. Yehuda Leib Magnes. Walter Schor disappeared without a trace and conspiracy theories still abound about his actions in Palestine among those who knew him. Some say that he was accused of espionage. Lachmann was 46 years old at the time of his death. His research and recordings tell the story of Jerusalem and its voices. The establishment of the Archive of Eastern Music was ahead of its time but left its mark and has influenced the research and collection of Jewish and Israeli music in the Land of Israel and the State of Israel to this day. Robert Lachmann, an intellectual Jew, rooted in German culture, a lover of Eastern culture, a believer in science, died poor and alone and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. From there he looks on and listens to the old and new voices of the East and of the Sound Archive of the National Library.