Sweet Malida
by: Zilka Joseph
February 5th 2024, Mayapple press
66 pages
Review by: E. Broderick
Nothing signifies my everlasting devotion to this project, and my commitment to expanding our offerings, than my continued willingness to try and understand poetry. We have long since covered that as an art form, it does not come naturally for me. Yet, in reading Sweet Malida by Zilka Joseph, I was hugely rewarded. The collection is full of evocative details, contains two prose poems (a form I actually adore!) and spoke in the universal language of food.
I don’t know very much about the Bene Israel community of Jews in India and was very interested to learn about their unique cultural heritage. Jospeh writes movingly about how some of her own experiences, as well as those of her father as a ship engineer, remind her of her ancestors that are presumed to have shipwrecked onto the coast of India where they found a place to bury their dead, and a welcoming land where they could recover.
My favorite poems though, were about her memories of food. Specifically, food preparation. I could see generations working together in the kitchen, cooking traditional dishes like the one that gives the book its title – sweet malida. Joseph’s grandmother was like a larger than life character, brewing wine every Friday for the sabbath, and I wondered how the family all got along while living in the same house.
The Bene Israel have several special customs related to the prophet Elijah who takes a special place in their celebrations. Having studied many of the Elijah Torah stories in my youth, I was pleased to meet them again here and learn about what they mean for this community. Particularly inspiring was the way Joesph talks about the carrion birds that brought Elijah meals. These birds are not kosher, and thus are often looked down on, but as Joseph points out, they too serve a purpose. They too are Gods creations.
There was only one poem I could not understand (usually it’s 50-80%), and the reading was very sensory. My mouth watered and I found myself searching for an accompanying recipe compendium. I’d like to read more about the Bene Israel, their foods, customs and traditions. Sweet Malida was an excellent place to start.
BookishlyJewish received a copy of this book from the publicist.