A canopy of chamomile, rosemary, and lavender hung drying from the ceiling, perfuming a stone patio where almost a dozen diners gathered on a balmy evening in February. The herbs weren’t just for decoration. Estrella Benmaman uses them to season the meals she serves guests in her home on the southern outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. This particular evening’s four-course menu included cream of pea with mint, roasted red peppers, grilled eggplant, fish encased in a sugar-dusted phyllo shell, and oriza, a wheat stew that Sephardic Jews have been eating since at least the 13th century.
Oriza - Moroccan Wheat Stew
March 16, 2021
Ingredients
- 2cups whole wheat (left to soak overnight)
- ½cup pearl barley or white beans (or both) (left to soak overnight)
- 3sweet potatoes, diced
- 2whole heads of garlic
- 4onions, julienned
- 2Tbsp paprika
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 1lb chunks of meat of your choosing (optional)
Yield: Serves 6
Preparation
- Step 1
Begin by frying the onions in olive oil until golden, then take out the onion.
- Step 2
If preparing with meat, sauté the meat in this same oil. Take it out when done.
- Step 3
Add the paprika to the oil and now sauté the grains and legumes (if using) that have been soaked overnight. After a few minutes, return the meat, add the sweet potato and whole heads of garlic.
- Step 4
Add enough water to cover it, add salt and pepper and cover tightly with lid.
- Step 5
Cook it for several hours on a stove top with a low flame. Wheat should be tender but still a bit chewy.
- Step 6
Right before serving, take out the garlic bulbs. Add the fried onions back to the stew. Peel open the cloves; the garlic will have cooked to a buttery consistency, to smear on good, crusty bread.