The Turkish Passover Recipes Shared by Five Generations of Women

Shared by Alexandra Zohn
Recipe Roots: Izmir, Turkey > Mexico City > New York City 

Twenty years ago, when Alexandra Zohn was packing up her life in Mexico City to move to New York City, she brought just two kitchen items with her: a tortilla press and a heavy pan with small circular indentations. The pan, which was a gift from her grandmother Rita, is used for just one recipe in their family: buñuelos de Pesach, a sweet and savory matzo meal fritter served during Passover. 

Alexandra is the fifth generation of women in her family to enjoy the buñuelos recipe. It traces back to Rosa Cohen, her great-great-grandmother who was born in Izmir, Turkey and immigrated to Mexico around 1920. Alexandra never met Rosa, but her recipes and stories of her still sustain the family through her granddaughter Rita, who is now 93-years-old.

Rita, Alexandra’s grandmother, in the late 1960s.

Rosa was “a woman who taught herself to read when she was 60, because she hated that she couldn't read the newspapers and participate in conversations with others,” Alexandra explains. And, even when she was elderly, she preferred the company of young people. She would “go to a cafe and make friends with everyone,” Alexandra adds. 

Growing up in Mexico City’s Jewish community, with one Sephardic parent and another Ashkenazi, Alexandra says she was a “gastronomical Jew.” Adding: “Our Judaism was expressed through the food.” And cooking helped bind the family together. Every Monday, after school, Alexandra and her brother would go to Rita’s house. Their uncles, grandfather, and parents joined in for a late lunch Rita would prepare. 

“In Mexico, I think something very interesting happened to Jewish cuisine,” Alexandra explains. As Jewish families became more established, they hired cooks and nannies. Recipes from Jewish immigrant communities from Izmir, Syria, and Eastern Europe, blended with Mexican dishes and ingredients. Alexandra points to gefilte fish a la Veracruzana, a Mexican rendition of the Ashkenazi staple, made with tomatoes, onions, capers, and olives as an example. In her family, however, Alexandra says her grandmother Rita is a purist when it comes to recipes from Izmir, preparing nearly all of them the same way Rosa did a century ago. 

During Passover, that means making charoset made with apples, dates, nuts, orange juice, raisins, and a bit of matzo meal. There’s also sodra, which Alexandra compares to matzo brei with lemon, and, of course, the buñuelos. At Seder, there was always a selection of minas, matzo layered with savory fillings and baked, like a Passover lasagna. Among them was a vegetarian rendition with parmesan, spinach, potatoes, and cream cheese. 

Before Alexandra moved to the U.S., she spent time with Rita writing down her recipes in a notebook that also contains recipes from Alexandra’s late mother Esther. And, more recipes were jotted down over the phone like the one for the buñuelos and mina, ensuring Alexandra would have them with her in New York.

In recent years, Alexandra hasn’t made mina or buñuelos for Passover, as she, her husband, and kids typically fly to Florida to celebrate the holiday with family. This year, they will stay put in their New York home and host a small Seder just for them. “I haven’t made Passover for a long time,” Alexandra says. Fortunately, she adds, she’s already ordered the ingredients for the buñuelos.

Mina de Espinaka (Spinach, Cheese and Matzo Pie)

In Alexandra’s family, her grandmother Rita made mina with various different fillings. This rendition includes spinach and is a wonderful main dish for a vegetarian Seder.

Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Total Time: About 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 russet or 3 Yukon gold potatoes
1 tablespoon + 2 ¾ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 ¼ cups shredded parmesan cheese, divided
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 pound (2 large bunches) baby spinach, regular spinach or defrosted frozen spinach, finely chopped
About 8 plain matzo sheets (7-inch x 7-inch squares)
1 ½  tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil or vegetable oil, divided

Preparation
1. Place the potatoes into a pot. Cover with room teperature water and 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes and cool for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are still warm but easier to handle and peel the potatoes. Discard the peels. 

2. Make the “gomo” or potato mixture: Mash the potatoes with a potato ricer or fork into a large bowl until the potato mixture is smooth with no chunks.  Add 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, ¾ cup of parmesan cheese, 1 block of cream cheese and the beaten eggs into the potatoes. Mix well with a spatula until the mixture is smooth and uniform. Set aside. 

3. Make the spinach mixture: Place the chopped spinach into a large  bowl and add ¼ cup of parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoons of salt. Mix until the salt and cheese are evenly distributed with the spinach. Set aside.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 10-inch circular springform baking pan with 1 teaspoon of oil.

5. Fill a container large enough to fit one matzo sheet, with water halfway up to the rim and ¼ teaspoon of salt . Soak the eight matzos, one matzo at a time in the water for about 30 seconds, until each sheet is flexible yet still firm enough to hold its shape. Gently place each soaked matzo onto a kitchen or paper towel and remove any excess moisture. Set aside.

6. Assemble the mina: Line the bottom of the baking pan with two matzos, one on top of the other. Trim any edges as needed and use the matzo trims to fill up any gaps. Evenly spread half of the spinach-parmesan mixture on top of the matzos.  Add another double layer of moistened matzos on top of the spinach, gently press the matzos into the spinach layer to make space for the remaining layers. Spread the second half of the spinach mixture over the matzo layer. Place another double layer of matzo over the second spinach layer. Gently press the matzos into the spinach to make room for the remaining layer. Spread the potato mixture evenly over the matzo layer. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to make swirls on the surface of the potatoes to brown evenly in the oven. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of the parmesan cheese on top of the potato mixture and drizzle 1 ½  tablespoons of oil on top. 

7. Transfer the assembled mina into the oven and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the mina is deeply golden brown. Allow the mina to cool for about 5 minutes. Run the tip of a sharp knife along the outside edges of the mina to separate it from the pan. 

8. Unmold the mina and serve hot.

Buñuelos de Pesach (Sweet Matzo Fritters)

Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
4 sheets of plain matzo
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 tablespoon honey

Special Equipment
Cast iron Aebleskiver pan

Preparation 
1. Fill a container, large enough to fit the matzo, ¾ the way up with room temperature water, and add ¼ teaspoon of salt. Soak the matzo sheets in the salted water, one at a time for about 30 seconds until the matzo is soft but it can still hold its shape. Transfer the matzo sheets onto a towel and pat dry.

2. Squeeze and crush the matzos with your hands over a bowl, discarding as much water as possible. Place the drained and crushed matzo into a large bowl. Continue crushing the matzo well until there are only small pieces left. Add the eggs, parmesan cheese, if using, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix with your hands to form a smooth dough like mixture.

3. Place the cast iron Aebleskiver pan or a flat medium skillet over medium-high heat and fill each cavity half way with ¼ teaspoon oil, or add 1 tablespoon of oil if using a flat skillet. 

4. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to medium. Take about 1 tablespoon of the mixture to form a golf-sized ball and place into the cavities of the pan or into the skillet.

5. Cook fritters until golden brown on each side, about 3 to 5 minutes and use a skewer to flip the fritters in the Aebleskiver pan or a spatula to flip the fritters in the skillet. Transfer the fritters to a paper-towel lined plate. Continue frying the remaining fritters in batches.  

6. Once all the fritters are fried, drizzle 1 generous tablespoon of honey over the fritters and serve hot.