Friday's Iraqi Gharooq: A Family Recipe and a Memory of Home

Gharooq, a famous Iraqi fried patty, is traditionally eaten by Iraqi Jews on Friday lunch or at the Shabbat meal, often alongside tbit from the oven. In recent years, some people have also started eating it inside sabich. The article is presented by David Carmi and tells the story of his late grandmother, Nana Shulamit, who would begin preparing it in her home in Kfar Shalem on Friday mornings.

Carmi describes the smell of potatoes boiling as his grandmother mashed them with well-fried onion slices, then mixed in parsley, eggs and spices, following the recipe passed down from her mother in Baghdad. She said the secret was the onion, and turmeric gave the dish its color and flavor. He recalls her pausing at the window, remembering that the light in Kfar Shalem was different from Jerusalem, where her mother had cooked in a large pot and entertained neighbors in Silwan with stories from Baghdad.

When she flipped the patties in the pan, the oil would bubble and the scent of turmeric and parsley would take her back to childhood and the sweet Fridays before everything changed. When the family sat down, she placed the hot patties in the middle of the table and quietly said, "My mother would have been proud of me."

The article also includes a recipe for authentic Baghdad-style vegetable and potato gharooq. The ingredients are 5 medium potatoes, 1 grated potato, 1 large onion, half a bunch of parsley, 2 large eggs, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric or hawayej, 1/2 teaspoon Iraqi baharat, salt and black pepper, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs or 3 tablespoons potato flour, and oil for frying. The method calls for frying the onion, boiling and mashing the potatoes, mixing everything into a dough, chilling it for about 30 minutes, and frying flat patties until deep golden brown. They are served hot with amba mixed with tomato salad. Carmi will also appear at the Sharona complex in Tel Aviv to sign his book, "Shulchan Iraqi," between June 15 and 18 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.