My thoughts on Jewish food.
Most people think of dairy noodle kugel or potato kugel when they picture, with their mind’s eye, an image of this sort of Ashkenazi Jewish pudding. In reality, kugel is so much more. One of the most interesting types of kugel, is Kugel Yerushalmi, or Jerusalem Kugel, with its deep brown crusty exterior and dark …
It’s winter and we’re wanting heavier fare for Shabbos. Still, the thought of hamin or cholent weighing us down is a bit difficult after a summer of salads and cool treats. Lucky for all of us, there’s a wonderful compromise: a second meal soup full of the same yummy cholent things that make you feel …
How many of the following obscure Ashkenazi foods have you heard of? How many of them can you describe? How many of them have you eaten? Schav Chremslach P’tcha Helzel Mamalige Rossel Eyerlech Rugelach Kichel Cholent
Every once in a while, I get a hankering for the food of my childhood. Every Friday night growing up, we had brisket with potatoes and carrots. It was full of flavor, savory, and filling. Here’s how she did it: Slice a clove of garlic thin, make slits in the brisket with a sharp knife, …
Dietary supplements can be expensive. So if you’re looking for a natural source of Omega3 fatty acid, an excellent source is sardines. Moreover, no less an authority than Jewish physician par excellence, Maimonides, recommended people eat small saltwater fish, which are—you guessed it—sardines. Eat three cans’ worth of the li’l guys and you’ve gotten your …
Last week we talked about bone broth, because anything that’s good for you is, by definition, Jewish, and therefore qualifies as Jewish food. Now some of us have found that the only way to get thin and stay thin is to eat a low carb, high fat diet. One of the best tricks of this …
Remember how thrilled we were in the 70’s when it was discovered that chicken soup actually had medicinal properties and eased the symptoms of colds and the flu? That our grandmothers were RIGHT?? We felt so validated. The new health elixir is bone broth. Here’s a great article from 2015 from a reporter who drank …
Just as the first cold snap of the year touches the leaves on the trees, Jews are consigned to live in the sukkah, a temporary hut through which one can see the stars at night, so meagre is the branched or slatted roof. For some of us, it was much too hot to have matzoh …
Rosh Hashana is all about crowning God king. Which is one reason we make round challah bread, which symbolizes a crown. Round foods also symbolize the lifecycle, something eternal and never-ending. The circular shape also expresses our wishes that the coming year not be broken by tragedy. But now we’re coming to Yom Kippur, the …
This is the final post before Rosh Hashana. In earlier posts, I talked about traditional vegetable dishes and baked goods. Now it’s time to talk brisket. In our house, we’re having brisket three ways for the holiday. After all, it’s a three day event this year: two days of Rosh Hashana immediately followed by Shabbos. …