Here in Israel, Passover ended last night, and just as soon as we were able to wash all the dishes and pack up all the pots and kitchen items that we use only on Passover, we headed over to a neighbor for a festive post-Passover Moroccan get together called a mimouna. In order to host a party of this kind at one's home directly after the holiday one first of all needs to be very efficient in the kitchen, and one needs a few extra pairs of hands!
So when I arrived at my friend's home, I was relieved to see that there were four women working quickly to prepare the mimouna treat, according to the above recipe, which is called mofleta. Mofleta is eaten with honey, butter and preserves, and it is prepared with such dedication each year as the first leavened product after Passover, as it brings blessings into the home. It was so much fun watching my Canadian born friends (who all speak English, French, Hebrew and some even a Jewish dialect of Moroccan Arabic!) of Moroccan decent slaving away with joy, and I have to say, these were the most delicious mofleta I have ever tasted! They prepared 5 kilos worth of mofleta, and were already thinking about next year, with a goal of 8 kilos worth!
Photo above: Mofleta dough is made, shaped into small balls, (the ones in the photo were, I was told shaped by a helper who really didn't know what she was doing.....they should be much more ball shaped) and then then each ball is pushed into the shape of a very thin pancake with the hands, and lots and lots of oil to aid in the process. Oil on the hands, oil on the counter, a plate of oil ready and waiting! This was the detail that I hadn't quite understood when watching mofleta preparation years ago, and so when I prepared mofleta myself I used a rolling pin, horrors of horrors! Next time I'll do it the right way (maybe, if I can bring myself to use all that oil!)
Photos above: On the left, one places the rolled out mofleta onto a stack of mofleta that have already been baked and are left in the pan. On the right, one then flips over the whole stack such that the raw mofleta will now be on the bottom!
Got it? If not, don't worry, just get yourself invited to a mimouna sometime, or try to learn from someone who really knows! For a recipe in English, see my previous post here, in which I actually used whole wheat flour instead of the traditional white flour, which you may prefer. Enjoy, and feel free to ask questions if you have them!
