Page:Wood - Foods of the Foreign-Born.djvu/88

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FOODS OF THE FOREIGN-BORN

Kolva is something like it:

  • 1 pound wheat
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup seedless raisins
  • ½ cup chopped almonds
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup mixed fancy candy

Soak the wheat in water for ten or twelve hours; wash well, and boil in newer water, but take away from the fire before it cracks. Strain and then spread over some white muslin over night. Then roast the flour in a pan by itself until light brown, and when sufficiently cold, add the sugar, also the almonds and the walnuts, which should be well chopped. Add this mixture to the boiled wheat, and mix in also the spiced fancy "grape shot" candy. (Serve cold.)

For constipation, fruit compotes may be prescribed. These are known as retchel. Wishneh, or cherry preserve, is made as follows:

  • 2½ pounds sugar
  • 1 pint plain water
  • 1½ pounds sour cherries, freed from the stones
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Boil the sugar in the water over a moderate fire until it gets cream thick, then add the sour cherries (without the stones), also the lemon juice; after a little boiling, take away from the stove and cool before placing in jars.

Note.—Retchel can be prepared from all kinds of berries and fruits, especially from figs, pineapple, and even pumpkin, in same manner as described above.

When vegetables are prescribed, it is well to remember that the Oriental cooks them with olive oil. They are known as basdis, and are used extensively with meat or cooked in olive oil, or both. One of the best dishes for a