Mimouna 2014

mimouna table in Israel

We did not have the opportunity to make it to a mimouna this  year.  While we usually have one cousin who holds the festival at her house (she is married to a Moroccan Israeli), she decided not to have one this year.  Even though we didn't get to one, mimouna events were held across Israel on Monday night, April 21, 2014, marking the end of Pesach. 

What is a mimouna?  Well, I'm not going to repeat the entire Wikepdia entry, which is linked above.  In short, it is a Moroccan-Jewish gathering marking the end of pesach (passover) which features various food items, especially mufleta (recipe link), which is, more or less, a form of fried dough.  I suppose it is like a beaver tail. It is traditionally eaten with some honey.  The mimouna  has become the quintessential celebration of Moroccan-Jewish culture in Israel (other than perhaps, the henna celebration before a wedding) and mufleta is seen as the represenative food.  Many Moroccon families host a mimouna, which is considered an open-door event.  People are not necessarily invited - they just show up at the house of their nearest Moroccan friend or cousin - and hope that they are hosting a mimouna this year....

President Shimon Peres at Mimouna

The mimouna has become an important political photo op in Israel.  the Prime Minister and the President of Israel both publicize their mimouna outings as do many other high ranking political officials.  Aside from the fact that these are fun events with lots of great food (and often some fine drinks as well), political leaders also like to support the Moroccan-Israeli community by enjoying their mimouna events very publicy.

Prime Minister Netanyahu - at mimouna 2014

One mimouna in Ashdod this year caused a bit of a stir.  Posters were circulated inviting people to attend a mimouna with Shas party leader Aryeh Deri along with the Mayor of Ashdod and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.  According to YNet News, the circulated invitations stated that event was "for men only."  This is particularly crazy given that is probably women who prepared mosf of the mufleta.  Moreover, it is not really a "religious" event per se, so it is hard to see what possible rationale there would be for holding a male-only mimouna.  

Most mimounas probably require the active participation of the women.  I tend to doubt that my Moroccan cousin could prepare mufleta himself though I'm quite certain that there are at least some Moroccan Israeli men somewhere who could.   

In any event, the hardest part of hosting or attending a mimouna to me seems to be the timing.  When do you change back all of your dishes from Passover to regular dishes?  If you are hosting a mimouna, how do you possibly do that quick enough to be ready for all of those guests to arrive?  Finally, how do you eat all that fried dough after 7 days of eating ridiculous quantities of pesach food?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions - other than to say "Tradition, Tradition" - in this case, Moroccan tradition....

And after all, the mufleta is quite tasty.

I hope that those who celebrated enjoyed their Pesach  holiday and that many managed to find their way to a mimouna.  If you did not, you have about a year to figure out how to make mufleta quickly and properly.