Sukkot sweet treat

Recipe by Chef Dalia

It is that time of year again—the leaves have fallen, marking the change of weather, as October brings us into autumn. As the festivities begin and people start decorating, it can mean only one thing—the Jewish holiday of Sukkot arrives and it’s time to build a sukkah.

This is one of the many Jewish holidays that Jewish people understand and enjoy, while the rest of the world has no clue.

In Israel, Sukkot is a time to party with your family. Its eight days of intense happiness and joy after 10 intense days of praying for forgiveness during the high holidays. When Sukkot comes, you just want to party; you are so happy you lived through those 10 days. You build a sukkah and move in, like it’s your house for eight days, staying inside it most of the time; even sleeping in it.

In Israel, on the last day of Sukkot, called Simchat Torah, Israelis express the joy of having the Torah. In synagogues, men sing and dance with the Torah for hours.

They’re drunk with happiness, with the privilege of having the Torah.

“What do you do in the sukkah?” I once ask my husband, as the holiday of Sukkot approached. He said, “We eat, and we eat and then we eat again!”

On Sukkot, eating in the sukkah is itself the very essence of the holiday.

Thanks to Sukkot’s status as a harvest holiday, there’s a tradition to serve stuffed foods to celebrate the seasonal gift. For many, the custom extends through Simchat Torah, since pairs of tube-shaped foods resemble Torah scrolls. Of course, there’s no need to save these recipes for the holidays— they’re wonderful all year round!

I am a sweets lover (I am sure everybody knows that by now) so, for me, stuffed food is stuffed dessert. Here is my top one—kataïfi, which is shredded phyllo with nuts, halva and honey syrup.

Golden, crispy and amazingly moist, kataïfi is a delicious dessert, which, like baklava, is very popular in Israel. It’s an amazing dessert, made with roughly chopped almonds (and sometimes other nuts and dried fruit), scented with cinnamon, wrapped into buttered crispy kataïfi dough (shredded filo dough) and bathed in honey syrup. This not only adds a sweet finish, but also acts as a preservative, allowing the pastry to last longer. Simply amazing!

This great sukkot dessert symbolizes the plentiful harvest by stuffing your delicious pastry with additional flavorful fruits and nuts. One of my favorite desserts, kataïfi is a specialty that we reserve for special occasions. If not Yom Tov, then when? It is a bit time-consuming, but well worth the effort.

You simply cannot go wrong with this dessert. It’s great to serve when entertaining, because it can be made a few days ahead. Kataïfi is almost identical in flavor to baklava except, instead of phyllo pastry, shredded phyllo is used. Use your favorite ground nut combination to create this delicate dessert. I used almonds, walnuts and halva. Don’t give up on the halva— tahini-based, halva is an Israeli sweet that is good for you. It adds creaminess and tang to anything it touches, whether fresh or baked. It is so delicious.

Enjoy kataïfi in your sukkah (while doing that mitzvah)!

Personal Chef Dalia Hemed can be reached at daliahemed@msn.com

Kataïfi: Almond Walnut and Halva Pastry in Syrup

Yield: 24 pastries Ingredients

Syrup

• 1¼ cups water

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon honey

Filling

• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• 1 cup ground almonds

• 1 cup halva

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 pound kataïfi dough (defrosted per package instructions)

• ½ pound butter (melted)

Preparing the Syrup

1. Heat the water in a saucepan over low heat. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.

2. Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the honey. Remove from the heat. Set aside to cool.

Making the Filling

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling and blend well.

Preparing the Dough

1. Lay the long strip of dough out on a clean work surface and divide it into 18 to 24 pieces, gently spreading the strands out a bit if they clump together. Each piece will be used to create an individual kataïfi roll. Keep unused dough covered with a piece of waxed paper and a damp towel on top of that to keep it from drying out.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking dish.

3. Brush a strip of dough with melted butter. Place a tablespoon of the filling at one end of the strip and roll up into a cylinder, tucking in any stray pieces of dough. Take care to roll the pastry tightly so that the filling is securely enclosed.

4. Place the rolls seamside down in the prepared baking dish, close together, but not squashed, and brush well with remaining butter. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and crispy looking.

5. Remove from the oven, pour cooled syrup over the pastry and cover with a clean towel. Let cool about 3 to 4 hours as it absorbs the syrup.