Mimouna Recipes For The Post-Passover Moroccan-Jewish Festival
Mimouna recipes (also spelled: Mimuna recipes, Maimouna recipes, Mimounah recipes, and Mimunah recipes) include leavening in them, as the Mimouna festival takes place immediately after the close of the Passover / Pesach festival, and so leavening is permitted to be used in Mimouna recipes.
A Mimouna recipe will almost always be a recipe that contains sweet ingredients to symbolize the sweetness of physical freedom that the Hebrews' experienced after being saved from the pursuing Egyptian army at the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" on the seventh day after fleeing Egypt. But there are also Mimouna recipes for fish which symbolize the fish in the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds".
The following Mimouna recipes are just a sample of the many traditional Mimouna foods eaten at this joyous Moroccan-Jewish post-Passover or post-Pesach festival which celebrates the saving of the Hebrews by G-d at the "Red Sea" (or "Sea of Reeds") on the seventh day after the Hebrews fled Egypt. Mimouna foods symbolize prosperity and good luck and there are also foods that symbolize the "Red Sea" or the "Sea of Reeds" where the miracle that G-d performed for the Hebrews took place on the seventh day after the Hebrews fled Egypt, that is, the miracle of the "splitting" of the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" by G-d through Moses' strike of his staff on the Sea that allowed the Hebrews to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. For instance, there will be various Mimouna recipes for dates that are stuffed with marzipan and nuts, crepes dipped or coated in honey and butter called "mofleta", "mufleta", or "moufleta" which is traditionally the first food to be eaten after the Passover / Pesach festival for Moroccan-Jews, a white almond nougat called "zabane", fried raisins decorated with nuts and/or currant preserves, both called "mrouziya" or "marozia", a jam made from oranges, grapefruit, carrots, turnips, and beets known as "mazun", as well as Mimouna recipes for butter wafers. All of the above-mentioned Mimouna foods are placed on a table covered with a white tablecloth that serves as the centerpiece of the Mimouna festival in the Moroccan-Jewish household. Other foods that symbolize prosperity that are placed on the table include: a tray of flour containing seven gold coins in it and a full cup of oil in the center of the tray - usually chocolate gold coins are used, a plate of flour that is decorated with seven green bean pods, nuts and fruit such as almonds, apples, and oranges, honey, sheaves of grain that are scattered across the table, and milk jugs surrounded by vegetables and lettuce. In addition, Mimouna foods that symbolize the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" that are placed on the table include: fish or live fish on a plate with a bed of vegetables and lettuce. The seven coins that are placed in the tray of flour also symbolize the coins that were washed up on the shoreline after the Egyptian army drowned in the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" after the "split" waters came together while they were in the Sea pursuing the Hebrews, who had just emerged from the Sea when the two walls of water came together after G-d instructed Moses to strike his staff on the water again to "close" the Sea. As well, the number "seven" is reflected in the seven chocolate gold coins and seven green bean pods to symbolize the seventh day after the Hebrews left Egypt when the miracle of the "Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" took place.
Although Mimouna is a Moroccan-Jewish festival, Moroccan-Jews have migrated to other countries, including Israel, Turkey, France, and others, taking the celebration of the Mimouna festival with them.
There are many other Mimouna customs that don't involve Mimouna foods or Mimouna recipes. Our focus is on the Mimouna recipes and foods that symbolize the Mimouna festival. The following are just some of the many Mimouna recipes that reflect the spirit of the festival.
