As a little girl, it always felt like I was the only Iraqi-Israeli girl in the world. It wasn’t that I was lonely—I had my family and my friends, but there just wasn’t anybody like me. Even the Jewish girls at Vaucluse Public School were Ashkenazi and Australian-born. My family had different customs and traditions, we ate different foods (bamia, brown eggs and baba tamar) and we spoke Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew in a country where it was considered rude not to speak English all the time and where there was no separation of religion and state. Sydney, Australia felt as far away from Iraq and Israel as the Earth is from Mars.

When I traveled to Israel, I met my first cousins from my father’s side of the family and it was a life changing experience. The fun and the camaraderie and the instant familiarity was a true gift. There was an immense comfort in knowing that there were kids my age who understood everything about me.

I felt that same feeling of familiarity this week, when I was baking with our good friend Mickey Kahtan. Her father knew my grandfather Aba Naji in Iraq. She and her family are longstanding members of Kahal Joseph where my brother is the rabbi, and are generous supporters of the Sephardic Educational Center. Mickey is a fabulous baker, who grew up learning to bake from her grandmother and mother. Every week, she lovingly bakes soft, fresh, chewy challah, delicious desserts and scrumptious cakes, including an orange cake that my family particularly loves. She bakes all classics of the Iraqi Jewish kitchen, including a perfectly flaky, crispy sweet baklava, a deliciously cheesy sambusak and the best baba tamar, crispy date-filled cookies. The best part is that you can pre-order any of her delicacies through her Instagram account @mickeybakes.

With Rachel is away in Israel, I reached out to Mickey for her help in baking a special, rather unusual bread for Shavuot. “Los Siete Cielos,” The Seven Heavens is a bread that was featured in the cuisine of the Ladino-speaking communities of the Mediterranean to commemorate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai on Shavuot. The bread is a mystical representation that features a central mound of braided dough (Mount Sinai) surrounded by seven strands of challah (the Heavenly clouds). It is decorated with Jacob’s Ladder, a bird, a fish, a hand and the two tablets.

It’s just beautiful and sure to be a conversation starter on your holiday table.

—Sharon

Shavuot is a very special celebration for my family. We all gather for lunch, which ends up lasting all day. My grandmother always made ka’hi, a traditional Iraqi puff pastry dessert that was served with kh’eimar, a special thick buffalo cream. We still make ka’hi and the table is filled with an array of dairy delicacies. The table is adorned with lots of fresh flowers and all the girls make their own fresh flower crowns. It’s all about spending family time together and creating special memories.

As I grow older, I find myself pouring more emotion and intention into everything I bake. Each recipe becomes more than just a set of instructions—it’s a reflection of memories, love, and purpose. A special connection to how much I loved baking with my Safta (grandmother). I’ve come to appreciate that every ingredient has meaning, each one playing a role not just in flavor, but in the story behind the dish. Baking has become a way for me to connect and share with my family and with others.

Baking bread is a special passion of mine. I take the time to knead the dough to a beautiful soft stretch. I weigh the dough into even size balls. I roll the dough using the bottoms of my fingers and the tops of my palms, making sure to start out in the middle and to roll out, again and again. I make sure not to let my shaped challah rise too long, because then it will lose its shape (and the symbols we baked for this Shavuot bread are so cute). I like to bake my challah at 380°F so that my challah has a dark, crispy exterior and a soft, fluffy interior.

—Mickey Kahtan

Seven Heaven Bread

2  1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

8 cups bread flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

4 eggs

¼ cup honey

3/8 cup avocado oil

1 egg, divided, for egg wash 

Preheat oven to 380°F.

Combine the yeast, water, and tablespoon of sugar in a bowl, then cover with a towel and set aside to proof for 10 minutes.

Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the warm milk, eggs, honey and oil, then add the proofed yeast and mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a working surface and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed.

Return the dough to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Set aside to rise for 2 hours in a warm spot.

Bread assembly:

Take a quarter of the dough and set it aside. Divide the remaining dough into two parts. Set aside one of the dough balls along with the other quarter of the dough and cover both with a towel.

Divide the piece of dough you are working with into four even pieces. Roll each into a strand and lay them in a tic tac toe pattern, over and under. Braid the strands by laying each strand over the other in one direction, then going in the other direction. Repeat until you have a round coil. Then place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Take the large piece of dough and separate it into seven strands, rolling each one longer than the next. Start by rolling the smallest strand around the mountain and continue until all seven strands wrap the round challah.

Form the remaining piece of dough into symbols to place on top of the challah, including the Ten Commandments, a Hamsa, a fish, a bird and Jacob’s ladder. Decorate with sesame seeds.

Beat the yolk in a bowl and use a pastry brush to egg wash all the symbols. Add the egg white to the remaining yolk and beat. Brush all over the challah.

Bake for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

– Sharon

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.