At the restaurant Friday evening, “the Judeo-Moroccan dafina seduces with its textures and generous tastes”

OOpened in May near the Gare de l’Est in Paris, the Friday evening restaurant offers a taste of Shabbat cuisine. Traditional Jewish recipes are served in a brasserie style. One of them stands out: “The dafina is prepared on Friday afternoon, then simmers until Saturday evening. Thus, we enjoy a hot dish without lighting the fire, a gesture prohibited during the Sabbath. explains Keren Afriat, co-founder of the place with Jérémie Bankhalter (she is Sephardic, he is Ashkenazi). “My mother, nicknamed “Auntie Lydia” by the whole family, is the expert in this stewed dish. Even today, I run when she does. »

Dafina combines rice, wheat, chickpeas, eggs, beef and two kinds of stuffing, one sweet, the other salty. This Judeo-Moroccan dish is reminiscent of Eastern European cholent. In this establishment, once ordered, it takes a little time to appear. This is in good faith. It finally arrives in a tagine dish.

When you lift the lid, the recipe reveals all its ingredients, harmoniously arranged in shades of yellow, orange and brown. Enough to horrify nutritionists, who recommend not combining proteins and starchy foods… let alone not mixing so many!

Hearty and consistent

The first bite (of the wheat) reveals the flavor of the entire dish, where the clove seems to dominate. We can then compose forks according to what we like. “As a child, I only ate rice and potatoes,” remembers Keren Afriat. “Traditionally, we take from the big family pot. You can refill your dafina for hours… before a welcome nap! »

Hearty and consistent, the dish seduces with its textures and generous tastes. The potatoes are so tender and sweet that they are reminiscent of sweet potatoes. The egg is almost acrid because it was placed raw in the pot and cooked for a long time, absorbing all the flavors of the other foods. The sweet stuffing tastes like cinnamon. At the bottom of the dish, the broth, which has become almost a sauce, moistens what we eat.

Salty and peppery, the oil is seasoned with turmeric and paprika – “the yellow and red of Moroccan cuisine” – as well as cumin and date honey. It is on this binder that we place the chickpeas, the beef and the eggs in their shells. “On the other hand, rice, wheat and stuffings are cooked with their own sauces, wrapped in aluminum, cut at the end of cooking, burning your fingers,” specifies Keren Afriat. More and more liberal Jews are eating Shabbat at restaurants. And taste the dafina a bit like at “Tata Lydia”…