Adafina

The popularity of stews in Spain has its origins in the Jewish tradition of dafina eaten on Friday evening. Many recipes call for huevos haminados, a version of hard-boiled eggs. The eggs, cooked in their shells, are dyed a deep reddish-brown color by the onion skins that are usually included in dafina.

• 1-1/4 cups dried chickpeas
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 whole cloves garlic
• 1 pound beef or veal marrow bones
• 3 pounds beef brisket, short ribs, or chuck roast, cut into 4 pieces
• 12 to 16 medium potatoes (4 to 5 pounds), peeled, OR 1/2 cup bulgur
• 5 to 6 pitted dates OR 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric OR 6 saffron threads, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 1 recipe kouclas (dumpling, 2 options below)
• 6 to 8 large eggs, in shell

METHOD

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Drain.

Heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.

Add, without mixing, chickpeas, garlic, bones, meat, potatoes or bulgur, dates or honey, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric or saffron, salt, and pepper. Place kouclas (dumpling) in center of dafina and arrange eggs around it. Add enough water to cover.

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, occasionally skimming the foam, for 1 hour.

Tightly cover the pot, place on a blech (a thin sheet of metal placed over the stove top) over low heat or in a 225-degree oven, and cook overnight. Or transfer to a slow crock-type cooker set on low to cook overnight.

Serves: 8 - 10

Contributor: Elinoar Moore

The sabbath adafina of Spanish Jews was a kind of stew or hotpot, which belongs to the same family of dishes as the Catalan escudella, the Andalusian cocido and olla, l'ollada from the French Roussillon, the famous cassoulet as well as the pot-au-feu and bollito misto. Adafina has died out among the Sephardic Jews who left for Turkey and Greece, but it is still popular among Algerian and Tunisian Jews as tafina, a sumptuous meal reserved for festival days and most often made by Jewish housewives on Friday and kept warm over the ashes of a kannuna, a brazier, to be served for Saturday lunch. It is sometimes accompanied by couscous.

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