In sweet dishes, they'll use saffron, cinnamon or ginger. "Meats served with fruits like quinces, pears, apples or dates. The unique taste comes from "a mixture of spices," says Roden. There are Spanish, Portuguese, Berber, Arabic and Ottoman influences in their cooking. Many Jews in Morocco are of Spanish descent, their ancestors having found their way to North Africa during the Inquisition. Jewish Moroccan women are legendary for their cooking, notes Claudia Roden, author of "The Book of Jewish Food" (Knopf, 1996). Fez native Danielle Mamane, co-author with Kitty Morse of "The Scent of Orange Blossoms" (Ten Speed, 2001), a book of Jewish Moroccan cuisine, drips orange blossom oil in the mofleta and dips it in a mixture of sugar, warm water and butter, then caramelizes it. Samy Ymar, 60, president of Rockville's Magen David Sephardic Congregation, serves mofleta with honey and strawberries. The food most anticipated is mofleta, a delicious thin dough fritter of flour and water, usually dipped in honey. Tradition also calls for eggs, bean stalks, dates and coins to be placed atop the flour to represent good things for the new year.
On top of that "we put leaves of wheat to represent abundance, greens and flowers to show spring blooms, dates and honey for a sweet life, fish for fertility, a bowl of milk and white flour for purity," says Amsellem, who welcomes 20 to 30 people each year on Mimouna (pronounced mih-MOO-na). Sundown on the last night of Passover signals the end of the holiday's prohibition on eating chametz, leavened foods. "The women would run from synagogue to set the tables," says Suzanne Amsellem, 69, of Silver Spring, recalling her youth in the Jewish quarter of Fez, Morocco, when the women would race home to prepare for the feast. Doors are thrown open, people sing and dance in the street, and well-wishers stop by to laugh, drink and share the bounty of foods set out to herald a sweet and successful new year. A tradition of Moroccan Jews, Mimouna, held on the last night of Passover, is a celebration of liberty and friendship as well as a way to greet the spring.
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