Sephardic Cuisine
Early Sephardic cuisine was influenced by regional dishes from Spain and Portugal, which were both ruled by Catholic and Islamic rulers and had similar gastronomic cultures.
Tu Bishvat Customs
Tu Bishvat (ט”ו בשבט) (lit., “fifteenth of Shevat”, as ט״ו is the number “15” in Hebrew letters), is the new year for trees. According to the Mishnah, it marks the day from which fruit tithes are counted each year. Starting on this date, the biblical prohibition on eating the first three years of fruit (orlah) and the requirement to bring the fourth year fruit (neta revai) to the Temple in Jerusalem were counted.
