Episode 3: Food as Memory

December 25, 2025 - 5 Tevet 5786“Food is our grandmothers’ love language”Episode SummaryIn this episode we delve into memories deeply associated with the kitchen, from the aromas and tastes to the wisdom and culture passed down while cooking. Our grandmothers poured hours into making food to fill the stomachs and hearts of their descendants, but it wasn’t just that – it was hours spent with other women, supporting each other and lifting each other up. Join us as we delve into these memories and discuss how we keep this culture alive. Please like, comment, or leave a review on your podcast platform or send us an email at [email protected] Your encouragement helps us carry these ancestral stories into the world — story by story, grandmother by grandmother. Share Your Story Every family holds a universe of memory. If you’ve carried a song, a story, a proverb, a photograph, a silence — we welcome you to share it with us at [email protected] Stay Connected Instagram: @ayuni_voices Support Our Voices Ayuni is a labor of heart and heritage. Become a supporter: Your contribution helps us document what was almost forgotten — and amplify what must be remembered. www.tinyurl.com/JuNiTDiDonate Sponsor an episode: reach out at [email protected]. Thank you to Oshrat Haim for the opening vocals. You can see Oshrat on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQURf3eoiUUD3hMqC4Ey0QA Instagram, Facebook, and Apple Music.Stay Connected- Instagram: @ayunivoices- YouTube: @JewishUnityDiversity- Jewish Unity Through Diversity registration: https://www.unitytdiversity.com/contact-donations Sarah’s Nana’s T’bit Recipe: 1. Chicken Stuffing - Inside Rice Ingredients: 1 cup Jasmine rice (rinsed and soaked for 15 min) 1/4 cup mincemeat or small chicken or meat pieces 2 big tomatoes diced 1/2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp cardamom 1/4 tsp pepper 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp turmeric Method: Mix all the stuffing ingredients together in a bowl.  2. Chicken Preparation Notably the stuffed chicken in t’bit is called chashwa. Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, cleaned. Method: Stuff the whole chicken cavity with the stuffing and sew, with a sterilized needle, the cavity, skin to skin, closed.  Note - Optional easier versions Instead of sewing the cavity, close with toothpicks. You can opt to skip the chicken stuffing completely and just cook pieces of chicken within the outside rice, following steps 3 and 4.  3. Base Sauce of T’bit Ingredients: oil for pan 1 small onion chopped 4 cloves of garlic chopped 4 tomatoes chopped small 1/2 a finger of ginger chopped small or grated 2 tspn salt 1/2 tspn pepper Heaped tablespoon of tomato paste 1/2 tspn paprika 1/4 tspn cinnamon 1/2 tspn baharat* 3 1/2 cups of boiling water (720 ml) Method: Heat a drizzle of oil at the bottom of a big pot, just enough to cover the surface. When hot add one at a time in order, starting with the onion, the garlic, then the ginger. Sauté until golden. Add the tomato, salt, pepper, tomato paste, paprika, cinnamon and baharat: Add the stuffed chicken and crisp on each side for about 4-5 minutes.  4. T’bit Outside Rice Ingredients: 4 cups rice 1 tbsp salt (Soak in water for 2 hours. But if you don’t have time 20 minutes should be fine. Drain.) Method: Remove browned chicken from the pan and set aside. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl with the drained rice and mix. Layer about 1/2 of the mixture in the bottom of the pan 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) at the bottom. Place chicken, breast side up, and nestle in the rest of rice. Add 3 1/2 cups (720 ml) boiling water to just about cover. Optional add washed eggs in their shells (as many as you like) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer on a small fire. Cover the pot until cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Cover pot with parchment and lid and put in a low oven (about 110 C or 230 F) or on a hot plate, before Shabbat until Shabbat lunch. Beware that the hotplate isn’t too hot and may burn the bottom. If on hotplate cover with towels or blanket.  Hilbeh – A San'ani version ½ cup finely ground fenugreek seeds ¼ cup diced tomatoes Place ground fenugreek seeds into a bowl Cover with water Rinse three times over the course of three hours Leave fourth round of water in the bowl and add tomato, leave in refrigerator overnight Pour out water Cover risen mixture with new water (ok if tomatoes rinse out) and whip until it peaks In a separate bowl prepare zhug (if you don’t like spicy, you don’t have to add the zhug) 2 heads of garlic – finely minced Mix of fresh and dried hot peppers finely minced – to taste 2 pieces of dried coriander- ground Water to cover Blend well In a third bowl prepare to grind together ¼ cup black pepper ½ cup freshly ground cumin 4 pieces “hel” 2 cloves Whip together all three mixtures in a large bowl until slime-like Enjoy! Links & Resources Linda Dangoor, Flavors of Babylon: A Family Cookbook Linda Dangoor, From the Tigris to the Thames Oded Halahmy, Iraqi Cooking: Exile is Home Sarah Sassoon, This is not a Cholent For Sephardic and Mizrahi recipes and food stories check out Sephardic Spice Girls https://sephardicspicegirls.com/