Oogat Meshotet (Hermit Bars)

We've finally caught up in our Hebrew cooking elective with the final holiday of the month of Tishrei - Simchat Torah. This week we baked what is known in Israel as "Oogat Meshotet" (literally, the loner's cake). It's closely associated with Simchat Torah, and is featured in Israeli bakeries in time for the holiday, because an important ingredient is 613 pomegranate seeds or raisins, representing the 613 commandments in the Torah. Last week, I asked the students to raise their hands if they liked raisins, and only a few hands went up. We already used pomegranate seeds in the fruit salad we made last week, so I decided to "adapt" the recipe for our American taste buds. I substituted tiny semi-sweet chocolate chips for the pomegranate seeds. Lazy me - I opted to measure half a cup of the chips for each group instead of counting 613 for each table, but I explained the symbolism to the class and all agreed that chocolate chips (+/- 613) would make them think of the commandments as they enjoyed the final result.

As always, we began with "leerchotz yadayeem eem sabon" (wash hands with soap)

Leeshpoch et sheva ha'markeeveem al ha'shoolchan l'toch ha'ke'ara (pour the 7 ingredients on the table into the bowl)

Sheva ha'markeeveem al ha'shoolchan: kemach lavan v'kemach choom; beitza; d'vash; shemen; sookar choom, v'keesameem shokolad (the 7 ingredients on the table: white flour and "brown" (whole wheat) flour; egg; honey; oil; brown sugar; and chocolate chips

Achshav, l'arbev et kol ha'markeeveem ba'ke'ara b'yachad (Now, stir all the ingredients in the bowl together)

For some reason, spatulas don't stir as well as spoons...

...and fingers work even better than spoons!

Achshav, l'hoseef et shloshet ha'markeeveem ha'achroneem l'toch ha'ke'ara (Now, add in the final 3 ingredients into the bowl) - zangveel (ginger), keenamon (cinnamon), v'soda l'afa (baking soda)

l'arbev et ha'kol pa'am achrona (stir everything one last time)...

...v'la'seem et ha'batzek ba'machavat - l'chasot et kol tachteet ha'machavat (and put the dough in the baking pan - cover all the bottom of the pan)

U'va'sof, la'seem et ha'machavat ba'tanoor l'chatzi sha'a (And finally, put the baking pan in the oven for half an hour)

l'nakot et ha'shoolchan (clean the table)

v'lashevet leelmod mitzvot ha'kashroot (and sit to learn the laws of kashroot).

As noted above, I shared some of basic laws of keeping kosher with both classes this week. Now that the children know some of the basic laws, I asked them to think about what they are eating at home or when they eat out. It's OK if they and their families don't keep kosher - I told them it's a personal decision - but to make them more aware of the laws, I asked them to try to take note of what would conform to the laws we discussed, and what wouldn't. I'm also going to be sharing original recipes of some "Jewish" foods from around the world - the recipes used by non-Jews in the cultures which originated the recipes - and ask the students to note down the ingredients that would need to be substituted in order to make the final product kosher.