I am an Ashkenazi Jew who was born and raised in Canada (albeit on the West Coast,where it rains nearly every day but rarely snows ) but I love Moroccan-Jewish food and I hate the cold. When the night-time temperature in Tel Aviv falls to 10 degrees Celsius (AKA early May in Toronto), I pull out the cashmere scarves, polar fleece jackets and thermal socks. And then I head out to eat harira soup at Suzanna in Neve Tzedek. This thick, lemony soup filled with garbanzo beans, lentils, tomatoes and chunks of beef, and seasoned with cinammon and cumin, is one of the few bright spots in the admittedly short cold season. It was introduced to Israeli cuisine by Moroccan Jews, and now it's one of those cross-cultural dishes that everyone loves, whether their grandparents came from Warsaw or Casablanca.
This weekend, I'm going to make some and invite a few people over to share it with me. I might even fry up a few latkes as a side dish. Consider this my contribution to fusion cuisine and winter weight gain.