Deborah's Palm Tree

-

Written by McDonald, T.  |  Date 27th of March 2023       

Let food tell a story.  Making this bread with the family is a great way to explore the Holy Bible and provides the participants with visual cues that will help them remember the story. You will be able to literally digest the story from Judges!

I will not show you how to make the bread, but will show you how to turn the bread into a picture that will help everyone remember.  Follow the link for instructions on how to make the bread.

How to make Focaccia bread.


Main Characters

  • Deborah, the prophetess made Judge
  • Barak, the famous soldier
  • Sisera, the commander of the great army of Jabin
  • Yael, the wife of Heber and assassin of Sisera.

Location

  • Israel.
  • Deborah's Palm Tree was located between Ramah and Beth-El in the mountains of Ephraim.  
  • Mount Tabor.

 

Deborah and Barak under the palm tree

Outline of the story

This story comes from the Book of Judges in the Bible. There were twelve judges, Deborah being the fourth and only female judge.  She was well-known for sitting under a palm tree where she would settle disputes among the people of Israel; hence, the name Deborah's Palm Tree.  The palm tree is represented by the spring onion (scallion) shaped to look like a tree with rosemary as the leaves.

How Israel Is Given Judges By God

Joshua realises he is dying and calls the people together.  After recounting their history, he sets up a stone at Shechem to represent the covenant between God and the people.  The stone is represented by the mushroom.  Notably, there were about 150 years between Joshua passing away and Deborah's reign as Judge.

Mushroom representing the Stone at Shechem.

God tells Deborah to speak with Barak

One day, Deborah calls for the famous soldier Barak to discuss some matters concerning the army of Jabin.  God commanded Barak to go to Mount Tabot to battle against Sisera.  Barak agrees, but insists Deborah goes with him. However, it is foretold that Sisera will escape and be killed by a woman.  I used slices of tomato to represent Deborah and Barak discussing matters under the palm tree.

Deborah and Barak represented by the tomatoes.

Sisera is killed by Yael

The battle goes well for Barak and his forces, but Sisera inevitably escapes. He hides in Yael's tent telling her to not give him away to anyone, but while he is sleeping she drives a tent peg into his head killing him.  I have used a chilli pepper sliced in half longways to represent the tent peg.

Chilli representing the tent peg Yael uses to kill Sisera.

I hope you have fun making this bread and telling the story with your friends and family.







Location: United Kingdom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vegan Stollen

-
Image
Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 11th of December 2023   This is something I have heard of, but never tried before.  Usually, we have traditional Christmas cake in my house, but last year I wanted to try something different and this was it.  Rest assured, I will be having it again this year too! At first, it seems like a lot of effort, but you will soon see that it is straight forward to make and definitely worth it.  However, it will need proofing and the dried fruit will need soaking, which will all take time, so plan ahead.  Notes I used French Brandy Marzipan and so used brandy to flavour the raisins and cranberries. I used almond milk. A good tip is to dust the soaked fruit with a little flour before adding the dough. You have 3 options with the marzipan:  Roll it out  Chop it up Have a thick bar of it running through the centre I soaked the dried fruit in brandy, but you can make it without the alcohol is you wish or use rum instead. I used a silicon baking sheet to save on the
Read more

Rum And Raisin Loaf

-
Image
Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 27th of November 2023   Whatever the occasions, this is a great treat to be had.  The rum soaks into the raisins and results in a perfect infusion of flavours. The rum adds flavour to the raisins while the raisins add sweetness to the run.  This beautiful bread as a great bready texture, yet is fruity and warming to the soul. Although it doesn't need it, you can choose to dust it with icing sugar.
Read more

Vegan Ginger Bread

-
Image
Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 18th of March 2024 You will never believe just how easy this cake bread is. So tasty, so moist and good! The preparation is mega quick because all you have to do is mix it all together and pour the batter in a loaf tin and it is ready to go in the oven. No yeast, so no proofing it is ready so fast and bakes in 45 minutes. The result is a sweet tasting cake that you can cut into slices and eat like bread. Notes Don't beat the batter or it will turn out tough after baking.   If you use Green Ginger Wine, be sure it is vegan.     Ingredients  Dry  300 g of self-raising flour 120 g of dark brown sugar 2 tsp of ground ginger   5 crystallised ginger cut into pieces 30 g of grated fresh ginger 1 tsp of ground cloves 1 tsp of mixed spice 1/4 tsp of salt 1 tsp of baking powder Wet 40 ml of vegetable oil  240 ml of water  150 g (about 4 tbsp) of plan or vanilla vegan yoghurt 50 ml of ginger wine 2 tbsp of dark syrup   Method Add all the dry ingredients to a
Read more