Sarah Duwell, 89, bakes Sephardic treats with various family members.
Sarah Duwell puts almost nine decades of skill and love into baking Sephardic delicacies, especially significant this time of year because of the annual food-laden Chanukah Bazaar at Congregation Or VeShalom (OVS) where these goodies are sold.
She said, "It's so special for me to bake each week at the synagogue as a connection with the generations of my family and longtime friends. Even now, at 89, every time I roll out the dough and put it into the oven to bake, it reminds me of all the years that my family baked here together at this wonderful synagogue."
Sephardic cuisine, which includes a wide variety of baked goods, is a way to preserve cultural identity, and pass down family recipes and memories "la dor va dor."
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She continued, "An absolute favorite in any Sephardic household are burekas. I remember baking with my sisters, mother, and grandmother, and the amazing aroma that followed. I continued this tradition with my daughters and granddaughters."
Throughout the year, every Tuesday, congregants ages 2-92 of OVS, one of the few remaining Sephardic Jewish synagogues in the Southeast, meet for hours to bake traditional delicacies like biscochos - traditional ring-shaped tea cookies; and burekas - savory pastries, filled with various fillings such as potato, cheese or spinach and eggplant.
Duwell expertly kneads the dough to make burekas by pinching into half-moon shapes and watching for a golden-brown color in just minutes. The 30-ish other weekly volunteers are all similarly rolling and pinching the dough for burekas and adding a savory filling, or twisting the biscocho dough into circles before dipping the cookies into cinnamon sugar and baking to the exact point only experience can discern. The volunteer bakers take orders and sell baked goods year-round to families who cherish these connections to their Sephardic families who originally came from Spain, Portugal, Greece, or Turkey.
Duwell (nee Notrica) was born and raised in Atlanta, attended Grady High School and Georgia State University. She met husband, Dan, in 1955 at a Jewish young adults' singles program at The Temple. She smiles, "He was an Ashkenazi Jew, which was considered an intermarriage back then." They were married 53 years, had three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Duwell hails from a long line of Sephardic heritage. Her father, Judah, was born in the Greek Isle of Rhodes. He came to the U.S. in 1912 and was an OVS founding member.
"Back then, my father would go door to door collecting the 15-cent synagogue dues from each family," says Duwell. Judah returned to Rhodes in 1920, which is where he met his wife, Matilda. They married in Israel in 1921, and then returned to the U.S. Back in Atlanta, Judah and Matilda had four children with Sarah being the youngest.
Over the years, Duwell's family has always shared the love of baking. From her late sister, Betty, and Betty's son, Bob, to Bob's son, Scott; from Sarah's granddaughter, Sarah Meyer, to her great-granddaughter, Bailey Mae, to Sarah's late daughter, Marlene, and her daughter, Judy; to Sarah's son-in-law, Les, and sister-in-law, Rochelle. They all bake as a vital part of their cultural tradition.
Duwell concluded, "Our synagogue is not like most temples; it's very tied to its roots. We bake together for the love of the synagogue and our community."
The original location of Congregation Or VeShalom was in Virginia Highlands. In 1970, they outgrew the building and moved to their current location in Brookhaven. With this new space came an extended kitchen and the ability to bake together unlike before where members would bake in their own home kitchens. When the demand for burekas rose, OVS started baking and selling homemade baked goods year-round.
A family who bakes together stays together. OVS hosted its 48th Annual Chanukah Bazaar and Food Festival on Dec. 8 where hundreds came to shop and eat homemade Mediterranean cuisine including those flavorful burekas and biscochos. Festival highlights included gifts and jewelry from local vendors, raffle gift baskets, and a Kids Zone.