The Sabbath

The Sabbath is the Jewish day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation. It is a holy day, and according to Orthodox laws no work or business of any kind is to be permitted. It begins on Friday before sundown and ends at nightfall on Saturday evening. Joelle Bahloul says of the Sabbath in Algeria, “Sabbath time was ... a time of intensified conviviality as dense and rich as the food that was served.” The Sabbath is ushered into the home by the lighting of the candles; a blessing, or kiddush, is recited over the wine and the bread is blessed. The Sabbath dinner is a festive meal. Since no cooking, which is, of course, work, is permitted until sundown on Saturday, the Saturday midday meal has to be prepared before sunset on Friday. In the days when there was no refrigeration, freezers, or microwave ovens, these religious rules inspired great ingenuity. Cooks came up with creative culinary solutions. Dishes were cooked slowly over very low heat, buried in the hamin, or “oven,” for many hours, even overnight. Thus we have the famed d’fina of North Africa and loubia from Syria and Lebanon. Their textures are meltingly soft, flavors mellowed after long hours of cooking.