A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land

Cookbook

A Biblical Feast
Foods from the Holy Land

By Kitty Morse

A Biblical Feast A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey.
—Deuteronomy 8:8

What did the people of the Bible actually eat? This query might have aroused only passing interest in most people, but to Kitty Morse-native of Morocco and author of seven cookbooks-it was a fascinating question. Her search for answers began in the Bible and resulted in her new cookbook, A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land.

Morse found that food, drink, and communal meals were so essential to physical life in the ancient Mediterranean that the authors of the Scriptures employed them in symbolic ways to convey ideas of spiritual life, growth, and sense of religious community. "Food is often used allegorically in the Bible to transmit a spiritual message," Morse writes, "The universally known example is Jesus' offering of bread and wine, symbolizing His body and blood, at the Last Supper." While this symbolism is spiritually moving, it is grounded in real day-to-day nourishment of the body.

In A Biblical Feast, Morse presents a fascinating overview of what the peoples of Scripture ate and why. She includes descriptions of the 84 primary foods mentioned in the King James Bible. While a few of these ingredients may not figure in contemporary diets-locusts, pygarg (probably a species of gazelle), and manna (three kinds are described)-many are frequently used in today's kitchens: fish, poultry, lentils, garlic, leeks, almonds, and honey.

A Biblical Feast The ancient Hebrews usually began their day with a light breakfast consisting of milk, a piece of bread, and perhaps butter or cheese. They ate their main meal in the evening. Supper may have begun with something pickled in brine or vinegar to stimulate the appetite. This was followed by a simple pottage, or a stew of seasonal herbs and garden vegetables, thickened with whole gram or gram meal.

Morse writes her cookbook in a similarly straightforward fashion. She divides the recipes in A Biblical Feast into four sections, including:

Simple Dishes

Cumin-Laced Garbanzo Bean Spread
Lentil Salad with Watercress and Goat Cheese
Leeks with Olive Oil, Vinegar, and Mustard Seed

Main Meals

Lamb and Fresh Fava Bean Stew
Jacob's Pottage of lentils, Barley, Mustard Greens, and Mint
Pomegranate Honey-Glazed Grilled Fish

Breads and Desserts

Ezekiel's Bread
Dried Fruit, Cinnamon, and Red Wine Compote (Harosset)
Abigail's Fig Cakes

Basics and Beverages

Morse also includes helpful techniques for such things as preparing fava beans and seeding pomegranates. Just in case the reader runs short of appropriate beans, nuts, spices, or good olive oil, she lists nineteen sources for specialty ingredients.

With A Biblical Feast, Morse provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of an ancient peoples whose profound spiritual legacy still lives with us today.

A Biblical Feast
Foods from the Holy Land
By Kitty Morse
Ten Speed Press
Paperback, $14.95
Hand-tinted polaroid transfer photos
Includes bibliography and index
ISBN: 0-89815-965-2
Information provided by the publisher.