A TASTE OF JEWISH MUSIC FROM—ANYWHERE: JAFFA
(in the musical / film Kazablan)
Seth Ward
22 February 2021
FOOD AND DRINK
Each program in this series has featured food and drink—a recipe and a drink recommendation. These are somewhat obvious for Kazablan. This movie is often called a “Bourekas” film—a moniker for melodramatic films from the 1960s through 1970s and 80s that focused on ethnic tensions, and featured Sephardic and Mizrachi characters. Similar films portraying largely Ashkenazi communities were sometimes called “Gefilte Fish” films—also appropriate for Kazablan which features a memorable scene with this Ashkenazi favorite. Here is a recipe for Bourekas.
I adopted this recipe from a number of online sources. One of these is Tori Avey’s website:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/cheese-bourekas/.
Avey linked Bourekas to Purim. “These Cheese Bourekas are also a fun recipe option for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim is sometimes celebrated with a meatless menu in honor of Queen Esther, who became a vegetarian to keep kosher in the palace of her non-Jewish husband King Ahasuerus. Stuffed foods are traditional for Purim, as are triangle-shaped foods. These Cheese Bourekas are both triangular and meatless, making them a great choice for your Purim menu!”
Avey may have something here: Bourekas are similar in some ways to kreplach, although kreplach would normally be meat-filled, and boiled rather than baked. While I imagine most readers of this recipe are most familiar with kreplach on Erev Yom Kippur, most sources indicate that kreplach are eaten on Hoshana Rabba and Purim as well.
In order to make the bourekas Pareve, I used margarine rather than butter. Similarly, I made the filling without cheese.
BOUREKAS RECIPE
Pastry Dough
· 1 cup cold unsalted margarine (about half a tub)
· 1 teaspoon coarse salt
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
· 3 tablespoons ice water
Combine all the ingredients except the water in a food processor. Add a little water, then pulse, continue until dough rolls up into a ball.
Pack the dough into a plastic container or wrap in plastic and refrigerate for ½ hour or more.
Filling
· 2 russet potatoes
· ½ to 1 cup mushrooms, carrots or other vegetables
· 2 large eggs
· Salt and pepper, spices to taste
· 1 large egg yolk; 2 teaspoons water
· 1 tbsp sesame or poppy seeds for topping (optional)
· Sesame seeds
· Nonstick cooking oil spray
Preheat oven to 350; put parchment paper on baking pan(s)
Microwave potatoes until just able to be mashed; mash
Add mushrooms or other vegetables to taste, 2 eggs, salt, pepper and other spices.
Roll out pastry dough 12” X 12” or 12” x 8” sheets. There should be 2 if doing 12” x 12”, or 3 if 12” x 8” sheets.
Cut into 4” x 4” squares – this makes about 18 such squares, place on baking pan
Put filling on a corner of the dough: try to fill half the square along the diagonal
Fold one corner to the other, to make a triangle.
Use a fork to make indentations in two sides of each one
Mix egg yolk with a little water, brush onto each boureka, top with sesame seeds
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Enjoy!
Fans of the film should also consider Almonds and pistachios, baklava, gefilte fish and of course… goulash!
DRINK
Arak.
In the film, if you look closely, you can see glasses with a white liquid: add water to Arak and it turns white. However, you can also drink it straight or over ice.
SONG SHEETS
The song sheets that follow were taken from Internet sources and from Dovi Seltzer, Oseh Ha-Manginot, ”The Melody Maker” (Kineret, 2010), which includes a biographical narrative by Seltzer, words and musical notation for many of his songs, and comments on much of the music. Sometimes there are differences between the Hebrew texts and the transliteration in the musical notation, or the wording sung on the film.
YAFO
Words: Amos Ettinger. Music: Dov Seltzer
|
Come, and set your eyes |
Tavo, tasim einaim |
תבוא, תשים עיניים
|
|
You are in Jaffa, you are in Jaffa |
Atah nimtza beyafo, atah nimtza beyafo yafo, yafo, yafo, yafo yafati. atah nimtza nimtza beyafo, yafo, yafo, yafo. |
אתה נמצא ביפו, אתה נמצא ביפו |
|
Come, and tune your ears |
Tavo, tasim oznaim |
תבוא תשים אוזניים
|
|
You love Jaffa |
Atah ohev et yafo |
אתה אוהב את יפו |
Some may be interested to note that the lyrics and music for this section are in Melody Maker but not in the film. Here is the score for this section:
ROSA ROSA
Lyrics: Haim Hefer, Music: Dov Seltzer
This song was not in the stage musical. Seltzer writes that he composed it for Yehoram Gaon’s first solo performance; Israel Broadcasting (Kol Yisrael) “didn’t get the joke” but the public loved it and demanded Gaon sing it in his concerts. Note that Hefer wrote a third verse that was not included in the film. Interestingly, Yehoram Gaon sings about opening a store to sell “almonds and raisins” in the film, and not the pistachios of the published lyrics.
|
When I saw you as a little girl |
Ksheraitich yalda ktana
Milion prachim shalachti lach |
כשראיתיך ילדה קטנה |
|
Ah-Ah-Ah |
Akh akh akh |
אך אך אך |
|
I dragged bricks |
Ani sachavti levenim |
אני סחבתי לבנים |
|
I went through beatings for you
Rosa Rosa Rosa |
Makot halachti bishvilekh
Rosa, Rosa, Rosa |
מכות הלכתי בשבילך |
I chose this song, a great production number, largely because it is the piece my students at the University of Wyoming typically remember best, both in terms of the refrain and the critique of the gap between democracy’s promise and reality.
DEMOCRATIA
Lyrics: Amos Ettinger, Music: Dov Seltzer
|
Democracy is equality |
HaDemocratia zeh
shivyon |
הדמוקרטיה זה שוויון |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
If you have a serious complaint |
Im yesh lekha t’luna kasha |
אם יש לך תלונה קשה |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
The Sephardim are the majority here
|
Ha-Sefardim etzlenu rov |
הספרדים אצלנו רוב |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
What’s good about democracy is |
Ba-democratia mah she-tov |
בדמוקרטיה מה שטוב |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
That this area is ruled, |
Zeh she-bashetah poh sholet |
זה שבשטח פה שולט, |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
Democracy is progress |
Ha-Democratia hi kidmah |
הדמוקרטיה היא קידמה |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
In a democracy there’s always food |
Ba-demokratiah yesh mazon |
בדמוקרטיה יש מזון |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
|
Democracy is an office |
Ha-Demokratiah zeh misrad |
הדמוקרטיה זה משרד |
|
Demo Demo Democracy ... |
Dem Demo Democratia |
דמו דמו דמוקרטיה... |
Kol Ha-Kavod is probably best translated as “congratulations for this honor!” or “great job.” This song is last on the list only because it was covered recently in the Colorado Hebrew Chorale’s program on Yehoram Gaon, in the Marvelous Musical Men series.
KOL HAKAVOD
Lyrics: Dan Almagor, Music: Dov Seltzer
|
In the kasbah in midday
|
Bakasbah bachatzi hayom
|
בקסבה בחצי היום |
