Bulemas with Mona!
I had such a fun time with Mona while we baked her family “legacy” dish, Bulemas. Mona was so generous to invite my mom and me to her house to teach us all about her family, their traditions, and her Sephardic culture. I connected with her through Harriet’s class at Woodlands.
Mona has such an interesting family history; she is half Ashkenazi and half Sephardic. She is very proud of her heritage! She showed us some beautiful photos of her parents and grandparents. Both of her grandmas passed away when she was young. This delicious recipe comes from her mother’s mom, who she called Noni. Noni was from Turkey and her husband (Mona’s grandpa) was from Greece.
Bulemas are a Sephardic signature dish. When Mona's family thinks of a special family dish, this is what they would make. Mona remembers being 6 years old when they taught her to make Bulemas; her family would all gather and construct them together. They formed an assembly line, with her and her sister given the task of folding the Bulemas into a perfect equilateral triangle. She also remembers her grandfather spreading the oil all around the pan. They called him the WPA foreman! Mona has very happy memories to look back on!!
Mona took my mom and I through all the steps to make a Bulema, and we had such a blast creating this delicious dish! First we prepped the ingredients and the tools, such as making the cheese and spinach mixture, and oiling the pans.
Then we carefully folded the Bulemas.
The last step was to coat them in oil, brush with eggs and sprinkle with cheese, and then bake.
While we waited for the yummy Bulemas to cook we chatted about many things. Mona was actually a girl scout from grades 3-8! Her mom was a co-leader and she went to a Girl Scout camp in Massachusetts. She showed us pictures of her in her uniform at Girl Scout camp! And she said she even still has her Girl Scout sash! This was very interesting! She also told us about her job. She has worked in IT on computers since 1975, when the majority of computers were mainframe computers not like the handhelds we have now.
After waiting about 25 minutes for them to cook, the Bulemas were ready to enjoy! They are typically eaten with fruit, so Mona prepared strawberries and watermelon for us.
Mona made Bulemas with her mother just a few days before she passed away. Her grandma made them from scratch every two weeks, even making the phyllo dough herself! Now we use pre-made phyllo dough but her grandma made the dough by hand, and used to have it hanging over the kitchen table as she rolled it to have it spread thin. Now that I have made a batch of Bulemas, I know how much work it is, and making them from scratch every two weeks is such a big task! Mona's mothers cousins even called her mom Aunt Bulema because she made them so much!
Her grandparents immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island in 1912 and 1915. Her grandma Noni was one of ten brothers and sisters, and Mona was named after her. In Sephardic culture it is tradition to name after a living relative. Her mom was one of three, and her dad was one of two. Mona's mother spoke Ladino, which is a Spanish based language, and Mona was able to gain Spanish citizenship through a long and difficult, but very rewarding, process. She told us all about this journey and it was so intriguing!
I had an amazing time getting to know Mona and learning how to make delicious Bulemas and carrying on her family traditions!