Inspired by an exhibition titled Sweet as Honey, the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem published a collection of recipes with the same title, in celebration of the High Holidays.
Located in Jerusalem’s Museum Row, the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem was founded by former Torontonians Batya and the late Dr. Elie Borowski.
A centre for cultural and educational programming, it is the only museum in the world displaying the history of the biblical period in the various lands of the Bible.
The holiday cookbook is illustrated with photographs of selected artifacts, objects from the biblical period, along with traditional and innovative recipes to make with honey.
The introduction notes that in ancient times, honey was made mainly from fruit. The first evidence of the collection of bee honey appeared in cave paintings from northern Spain, dating back to approximately 7000 BCE.
Along with the recipes, which include salads, chicken, meat, fish and challah, there is a section on how to make fig, date and grape honey. Most recipes in the cookbook, however, use bee honey.
Here are samples from the dessert section of the cookbook.
Prepare one day in advance.
Sift together:
4 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 tsp. ginger
Combine:
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. water
Boil the honey, sugar and water for five minutes, then add dry ingredients to the boiled mixture.
Mix in:
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 1/2 cups candied fruits
1 cup chopped almonds
Press dough into a ball, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for one or two days.
Roll out dough on lightly floured board and cut into small strips. Bake on greased baking sheet in moderate oven for 15 minutes.
When cool, glaze with:
2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp. boiling water
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat well. Spread on cookies while glaze is warm.
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
2/3 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
5 tbsp. honey
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour an 8-in.-sq. baking pan. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in dates and nuts.
Cream butter, stir in eggs and honey. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes. When cool, cut into fingers and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
For information on the Bible Lands Museum, visit www.blmj.org.
