What an opportunity!
I often share my love and connection to tradition and the special place it has had in my life. Growing up, tradition was the essence of our celebrations, carrying beautiful stories and meaningful customs. It was a steady force that represented comfort and, in many cases, filled up the empty place of a mother in my life. As I became a mother myself, tradition became my guidance in leading our family and connecting our children to our family story, our roots, and our customs.
Sephardi tradition and specifically Tunisian tradition, wisely goes above and beyond to put the focus on children and making them an essential part of holiday preparation and celebrations. From fun kitchen activities and delicious symbolic dishes, it always calls to join in, participate, and put a mark on what was, what is, and what will come… Tradition makes it clear that we are a part of an ongoing string of life.
And it just happens that today we are making cookies on a string!
The Tunisian name uses words taken from children’s world: “Shek”, literally means to bundle and “T’fa-Tef”, which refers to a variety of small items, or knickknacks usually related to children.
(These cookies are also traditional to some Libyan families and are named “Shkakh”)
The cookies’ preparation is yet another excellent example to how tradition gives a special attention to children, gathers the next generation, and weaves in the connection to roots and heritage. The highlight of the activity is forming the cookies’ shapes and its meaning. Each family has their traditional shapes and symbols, mainly inspired by reading the Psukim verses from the Torah story of the Har Sinai event when the people of Israel received the Torah. Some popular shapes are little Torah shapes, the two tablets, Hebrew Alpha-Bet letters; as well as Shofar, ladder, bird, eyeglasses, and scissors, all with a special metaphoric meaning to the love and connection towards the Torah.
Even shapes of ear, hand, and eye referring to the people of Israel during the event and their collective response of “Na’ase VeNishma” נעשה ונשמע – “…we will do and we will be obedient” (literally: ‘we will do, and we will hear’).
In our house, I encourage my children to add and think of additional shapes. Since then, we added to our repertoire, meaningful numbers such as, 2, 10, 40, and 7, Jewish star, mount Sinai shape, flowers, or hearts that express our love towards the Torah… We also made cookies shaped like clouds, lightnings, and fire.
You will need:
2 Eggs
¾-1 (200 gr.) cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Paste or Extract
½ cup Canola Oil
2½ (500 gr.) cups Flour
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
½-1 Tbsp. (5 gr.) Fennel Seeds
1-1½ cup (150-200 gr.) Sesame Seeds
¼ tsp. Salt
*A hand spice grinder (mortar and pestle) or an electric spice mill.
*A string or a ribbon to tie up the cookies together.
*A straw to create the small hole in each cookie.
Let’s get to work!
I love that all I need is a whisk and a bowl 🙂 In my mind, it makes it all much simple and spontaneous activity, but if it makes your life a little easier, you may use an electric or a standing mixer.
Start with the eggs; for best results, make sure they are at room temperature. Whisk the eggs well while adding the sugar gradually.
Whisk until the mixture becomes light and airy. Add the vanilla paste and canola oil and continue whisking into a unified mixture.
Let’s combine the dry ingredients: sift the flour into a medium sized bowl, add baking powder and salt.
I LOVE fennel seeds! Their unique aroma is sweet and mysterious…
This is also why I love grounding them using a simple mortar and pestle; I enjoy every bit of this activity… of course you may use any spice mill that makes you happy. Ground the fennel seeds with lots of love, they are the ones which make our cookies’ taste so special.
Time to add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture together with the ground fennel seeds and sesame seeds.
Mix and knead just until it all becomes a unified dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest and chill for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator. This will make the dough easy to handle when forming the cookies.
Now, the real fun starts! That’s besides eating the cookies of course… 🙂
This is your time to be creative and make any shape or design; traditional shapes and symbols we mentioned above or/and whatever comes to mind when thinking about the special moment of receiving the Torah and all it means to us…
The cookies are each shaped by hand individually and patiently, but if you wish, you may also use cookie cutters; I happen to have some shapes that fit perfectly, such as Jewish star, a hand, and scissors…
If your cookies’ design already have a “hole” or an opening to it, great! If not, create a hole in each cookie to fit in the string/ribbon after baking. You may use a straw or another utensil.
Place the cookies gently on baking sheets with parchment paper; some of the delicate designs I finish on the baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated oven (I like using convection) at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes and rotate the pans if needed. Be sure to adjust baking time if you choose a different size or thickness to your cookies.
Allow the cookies to cool just a little before weaving them onto a string or a ribbon.
And now to my favorite part, which is almost like a little ceremony 🙂 putting each cookie necklace around my children’s neck.
If you are not using the cookies right away, keep them in a sealed container.
Enjoy the cookies and this special time of year!
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Quick Recipe:
Sesame & Fennel Cookies on a String-
Whisk Eggs and Sugar into a light and bright blend.
Add Vanilla Paste and Canola Oil and mix until unified.
Sift Flour into a medium bowl and combine with the rest of dry ingredients: Baking Powder, Salt, ground Fennel Seeds, and Sesame Seeds.
Mix and knead lightly to form unified dough.
Wrap in plastic and set aside in the refrigerator to rest and chill for 20 minutes.
Form cookies (don’t forget to create a hole if needed) and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes (depends on size).
Allow cookies to cool before removing and weaving into a string/ribbon to create necklaces.
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