Tu Bishvat
I have been married to an Ashkenazi for more blissful years than I care to remember (I’m afraid counting will make me look ancient, so please don’t make me!), and I have happily taken on all my husband’s customs, for every holiday. And my family is delighted to sample all of my cooking, spanning the whole spectrum, with a welcome bias toward our Sephardi Cuisine. But there is just one day I wax nostalgic for our Moroccan banquets: Tu Bishvat. Ha, here’s one day I wish I could be a defector of sorts. Growing up, it was always a sumptuous feast! Is it any wonder I get a little wistful when my husband texts me every Tu Bishvat morning, “don’t forget to get a new fruit!”?
Cooking with fruit, both fresh and dried, is not just something seasonal we do in honor of Tu Bishvat, the celebration of Fruit Trees. In our Moroccan Cuisine, Cooking with Fruit occurs just as often as baking with fruit, and produces countless wonderful easy soups, salads and tajines. Cooking with Fruit is fun and healthy, and packs lots of flavor and nutrition. Wait till you taste that Moroccan Lamb Dried Fruit Tajine!
Enjoy this wonderful Tu Bishvat menu, which I have made at several of my cooking demos! I am giving equal time to Moroccan and other dishes. I am offering here four different fruit salads, one more amazing than the next. Don’t treat this fruit cake like some fruit cake, you hear? It’s the best!
