Source: jewishrefugees.blogspot.com - Sunday, January 10, 2016 From cheese to baby showers, Turkish Jews, who fled Spain in the 15th century, have customs peculiar to their community. Karen Gerson Sarhon of the Turkish-Ottoman Sephardic Cultural Research Center explains to the Daily Sabah: Karen Gerson Sarhon in her Istanbul home Daily Sabah: Could you talk about Sephardic cuisine and "kashrut" (kosher), referring to Jewish dietary rules? Karen Gerson Şarhon: There are foods eaten only by Jews and unfamiliar to other communities. For instance, "Atramuz" is a kind of chickpea known as a "Jewish bean" in Turkey. Only fishmongers sell it and it is still consumed in Spain. There is also a fish that Jews frequently prefer eating. We call it Gaya fish; however, it is generally called rockling fish. When we were little, fishmongers used to visit our neighborhood on Thursdays as they knew that the Jews would buy the fish for Friday dinner. Traditionally, we ate fish on Fridays. I do not know why rockling fish is preferred among Jews. Spanish Jews consume that fish, yet it is not a tradition among other Jewish communities. I have always wondered whether the name of "kashar" cheese is related to our culture or not. Once I directed this question to history professor Rena Molho, who came from Greece. She told me that this cheese is called "kashkaval" in the Balkans. Moreover, she said this type of cheese was introduced to Anatolia by the Jews. She also said the cheese stays fresh for a long period All Related
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