A soup steeped in Sephardi symbolism

Every Rosh Hashanah, my mother, Rica, made a special and delicious simanim soup, which contained all the “simanim” (signs), symbolic vegetables that are used in the Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder. Rooted in Kabbalah and with a clever play on the Aramaic names of the vegetables, at the seder, Sephardim say blessings over these vegetables, which include butternut squash, zucchini, and Swiss chard.

My mother and father were born in Larache, an ancient port city founded by the Phoenicians on the northwestern coast of Morocco. Providentially located where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean, Larache is the most important city in the Tetouan-Tanger region of Morocco. Larache is also where my ancestors found refuge after the expulsion from Spain in 1492.

My paternal grandfather, Salomon Emquies, was the proprietor of a spice shop – so appropriate that Sharon and I are the Sephardic Spice Girls. My maternal grandfather, Moshe Bensabat, was the chief rabbi of Larache. He was the mohel, the shochet, and conducted all the weddings.

One of the last wedding ceremonies that he performed before he made aliya was that of my parents. Soon afterwards, my parents moved to Casablanca, where my two older brothers and I were born.

When we emigrated to Los Angeles, my parents brought the jewellery that both sets of grandparents had gifted my mother. They brought the menorah they had received as a wedding gift from her parents. And they brought with them the rich religious traditions of their childhood homes.

A treasured Spanish Moroccan custom, this recipe has been handed down over generations. This soup includes apples for a “sweet year”, as well as beef cheek meat or beef neck bones, which symbolise the ram’s head and the fervent wish that we should be “the head and not the tail”. In making this soup, my mother would soak the leeks and Swiss chard. She would peel the apple, carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnip. She would patiently chop all the vegetables. Then everything would slowly simmer with the meat in a big pot.

After the brachot, my mother would serve this nutritious, flavourful soup as the first course of our meal, a tasty connection to the many generations that came before us, passing down the faith and the Mesorah (oral Torah).

Over time, as more and more of my family became vegetarian, my mother started making this soup without meat. This year, I want to go back and make my mother’s original recipe. To accommodate all my guests, I will cook the meat cheeks separately in my pressure cooker, then the meat eaters can add it to their bowl of soup.

This recipe makes a very large pot, so you should have enough to serve this soup for two meals at least. Store soup in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for five to seven days.

Ingredients

For the meat:

3–4 lb beef cheek meat

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

½ tsp white pepper

pinch of saffron (optional)

1 cup water

For the soup:

¼ cup olive oil

4 leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced thinly

1 bunch Swiss chard, with stem removed and chopped thinly

2 cups butternut squash, cubed (or acorn or Delicata squash)

1 large green apple or quince, peeled, and cubed

2 large zucchini, peeled and diced

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large turnip, peeled and cubed

4 celery stalks, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 parsnip, peeled and diced

½ small cabbage, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp chicken consommé powder

½ tsp white pepper

1 tsp turmeric

salt, to taste

Instructions

For the meat: in a pressure cooker or large pot, add oil and warm over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for five minutes. Add meat, bay leaf, and spices. Cook for one hour in a pressure cooker or until tender in the pot;

For the soup: in a very large pot, warm oil over medium heat, then add sliced leeks. Sauté for five minutes until they start to soften;

Add all the ingredients, except Swiss chard, zucchini, and butternut squash (set them aside);

Pour enough water to cover the top of the vegetables. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, then lower heat to medium and simmer vegetables for one hour;

Add the zucchini and butternut squash. Simmer for another 30 minutes;

Add the Swiss chard, and continue to cook on a simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.