A botanical text written in the 16th century by the Spanish converso, doctor, physician and botantist Francisco Hernandez called History of the Plants of New Spain, mentions maize (corn), which he calls “Indian Wheat” and tortillas which he calls “Pan de Indias” (Indian Bread). He found the process of nixtamalization (corn soaked in an alkaline solution, cooked, and hulled, in order to increase its nutritional value), a process used in 16th century in Mexico to get the best tortillas. Salsa verde was already consumed before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century, making this dish of Passover Indian Wheat and Herb Crackers with Salsa Verde one with deep historic roots.
Print
Passover Indian Wheat and Herb Crackers with Salsa Verde
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
An ode to a historical recipe.
Ingredients
For the crackers:
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp celery leaves, chopped
- ½ cup arugula leaves, chopped
- ½ cup masa harina
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup masa harina (to flour the parchment paper)
- 1 tsp coarse salt (to sprinkle)
- 1 tsp chili flakes (to sprinkle)
For the salsa verde:
- 5 Mexican green tomatillos with husks
- 5 green chiles Serrano or Jalapeño (use regular hot green chili for substitution)
- 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro and/or parsley, roughly chopped
Instructions
For the crackers:
- Preheat oven to 310 degrees.
- Combine all ingredients except for the coarse salt and the chili flakes and put the ball of dough in a plastic bag and freeze for 10 minutes.
- Flour a piece of parchment paper with corn flour, place the dough in the middle, and flour the top of the dough. Place another parchment paper over the dough.
- Roll the dough out between the two sheets of parchment paper until the dough is thin (about a tenth of an inch), and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Place the parchment paper with dough on top of a baking tray. Remove the top parchment paper and sprinkle the dough with the chili flakes. Press carefully with a rolling pin or with your hands so the flakes stick to the dough.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into cracker shapes. They can be round or square. Do not remove them from the parchment paper. Sprinkle with the coarse salt.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes and then broil for 3 minutes. Be careful not to burn them.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before separating the crackers.
For the salsa verde:
- Heat an iron skillet to medium-high heat and sear the tomatillos, chiles, and garlic cloves for about 4 minutes, turning occasionally. Set aside.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos. They should be soft to the touch.
- Take a blender or, better, a molcajete (or a mortar), and grind the cloves of garlic (without their peel) with the chiles until it forms a paste. Add the salt and half of the chopped cilantro/parsley and half of the charred tomatillos.
- Grind for a minute or two. Add the other half of the tomatillos and keep grinding, but not too much; you do not want a homogeneous paste. Add the remaining chopped herbs and stir.
- Pour in a bowl if ready to use, or in a sealed jar and store in the fridge.
Recipes appear in Jawhara-Piñer’s books, Matzah and Flour: Recipes from the History of the Sephardic Jews, and Sephardi: Cooking the History. Recipes of the Jews of Spain and the Diaspora, from the 13th Century to Today. To dig deeper into Jewish food history, read Jawhara-Piñer’s Jews, Food, and Spain: The Oldest Medieval Spanish Cookbook and the Sephardic Culinary Heritage.
Recipe and Story by Hélène Jawhara-Piñer
Food Styling and Preparation by Julia Platt Leonard
Photography by Gabriella Marks
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.
