GEFILTE FISH
I may be Jewish and feel like everyday is a real life episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but went it comes to food, I lean more towards the taqueria then the local Kosher restaurant on Pico-Robertson.
My whole life I've battled with a love/hate relationship for Ashkenazi/Kosher cuisine. Part of it was growing up in South Florida, where most bagel shops/delis look like they clean their places up maybe twice a week and just bank off the nostalgia/demand for the cuisine in large Jewish populations.
I went to a Jewish day camp at a conservative temple with an in-house kosher kitchen and it was disgusting. Frozen fish sticks/vegetables, potatoes, and apple juice for lunch, SUPER HEALTHY!!!!!! We also got Kosher pizza which was like eating tomato sauce with cardboard. PICA DIET!
Eventually I left South Florida and moved to New York, where you discover what real pizza is and eat falafel that actually has flavor. That great challah and black & whites doesn't have to come from a Kosher bakery, but rather a great baker (Amy's Bread). You realize that Zabar's is the holiest site on the Upper West Side and that South Florida heebs would do anything to have a place like it.
When I attempted to dive into kosher cuisine in NYC, including some of the Orthodox neighborhoods, it wasn't appealing nor welcoming. Here's my best way of explaining it...
See when you go into any of the Chinatown's in New York, they legitimately welcome you with open arms and are excited for you to try their cuisine. Walk into the Italian section in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn and they treat you like your family.
Walk into a Kosher market or bakery in Borough Park, Brooklyn and they act like you have the measles. Like this place isn't for you even though you are one of them. Side note, always loved to play "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode while biking around this hood.
Which gets to the heart of the cuisine. Ashkenazi cuisine isn't meant to be exotic, sexy, nor mukbang worthy of an Instagram post. It's roots stem from survival and sustenance, by using what's available to get by. They started using fish because Kosher meat wasn't available, hence Gefilte fish and smoked lox. Pastrami was taking the least attractive/inexpensive parts of the cow, then seasoning it and cooking it long enough that it was edible.
My feeling is that cuisine should not be restrictive, the more freedom the more creative you can be. A few years ago for Passover I made an alternative version of Matzo ball soup. I added spices like paprika and oregano to the balls, replaced chicken stock with beef stock and added bok choy.
At the root of it Matzo ball soup is 100% nostalgia, it's something that your mother or grandmother made for you and reminds you of your childhood. When you deconstruct it, it's chicken stock with salt, tumeric, and pepper. In that case, please add pork wontons, ramen eggs, beef, fish sauce, shrimp kimchi dumplings, and drop a few slices of duck on top!
When notable Jewish chefs like Michael Solomonov are asked about cooking Kosher, they tell you how challenging it is, not to mention trying to make traditional Easter European dishes more appealing to their menus.
Personally, I just see Kosher cuisine/law as a pure form a religious capitalism filled with irony and hypocrisy. Like walking into a Kosher grocery store in Brooklyn to buy chips that are all laced with MSG or seeing people eating al fresco at Beverly Hills Thai Kosher, so they can eat blessed food while smoking cigarettes. Kosher caterers for weddings/bar mitzvahs from Florida to NY to LA will notriously up charge you through the roof and the food is never appealing nor appetizing. Lastly, let's not forget Kosher products for Passover. In my absurd mind I just imagine a meeting of Rabbis and Kosher food producers somewhere in Crown Heights every January where they figure out what others foods they can restrict for the holiday and what new products they can push for a six week period. Eating legumes and corn PROHIBITED! Flourless chocolate cake, macaroons, and endless amounts of butter APPROVED! Be constipated for a week by not eating any fiber? Just take the week off!
In the end you do you on how you want to be a Jew! Cause that's how I've always seen it. I don't keep Kosher cause it's my choice and I have never found it appealing. I also live for understanding other cultures cuisine without any religious dietary restrictions. Of course I have friends who do keep Kosher and I'll respect them for it, cause all Jews need to respect their fellow Jews on how they wish to practice.
I may be Jewish and feel like everyday is a real life episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but went it comes to food, I lean more towards the taqueria then the local Kosher restaurant on Pico-Robertson.
I don't like to assume things, but this item won't be blowing up on Eater or Grub Street anytime soon.
My whole life I've battled with a love/hate relationship for Ashkenazi/Kosher cuisine. Part of it was growing up in South Florida, where most bagel shops/delis look like they clean their places up maybe twice a week and just bank off the nostalgia/demand for the cuisine in large Jewish populations.
I went to a Jewish day camp at a conservative temple with an in-house kosher kitchen and it was disgusting. Frozen fish sticks/vegetables, potatoes, and apple juice for lunch, SUPER HEALTHY!!!!!! We also got Kosher pizza which was like eating tomato sauce with cardboard. PICA DIET!
Eventually I left South Florida and moved to New York, where you discover what real pizza is and eat falafel that actually has flavor. That great challah and black & whites doesn't have to come from a Kosher bakery, but rather a great baker (Amy's Bread). You realize that Zabar's is the holiest site on the Upper West Side and that South Florida heebs would do anything to have a place like it.
When I attempted to dive into kosher cuisine in NYC, including some of the Orthodox neighborhoods, it wasn't appealing nor welcoming. Here's my best way of explaining it...
See when you go into any of the Chinatown's in New York, they legitimately welcome you with open arms and are excited for you to try their cuisine. Walk into the Italian section in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn and they treat you like your family.
Hey Pal! You look like you need provolone and coppa on semolina!
Walk into a Kosher market or bakery in Borough Park, Brooklyn and they act like you have the measles. Like this place isn't for you even though you are one of them. Side note, always loved to play "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode while biking around this hood.
Which gets to the heart of the cuisine. Ashkenazi cuisine isn't meant to be exotic, sexy, nor mukbang worthy of an Instagram post. It's roots stem from survival and sustenance, by using what's available to get by. They started using fish because Kosher meat wasn't available, hence Gefilte fish and smoked lox. Pastrami was taking the least attractive/inexpensive parts of the cow, then seasoning it and cooking it long enough that it was edible.
My feeling is that cuisine should not be restrictive, the more freedom the more creative you can be. A few years ago for Passover I made an alternative version of Matzo ball soup. I added spices like paprika and oregano to the balls, replaced chicken stock with beef stock and added bok choy.
At the root of it Matzo ball soup is 100% nostalgia, it's something that your mother or grandmother made for you and reminds you of your childhood. When you deconstruct it, it's chicken stock with salt, tumeric, and pepper. In that case, please add pork wontons, ramen eggs, beef, fish sauce, shrimp kimchi dumplings, and drop a few slices of duck on top!
When notable Jewish chefs like Michael Solomonov are asked about cooking Kosher, they tell you how challenging it is, not to mention trying to make traditional Easter European dishes more appealing to their menus.
Personally, I just see Kosher cuisine/law as a pure form a religious capitalism filled with irony and hypocrisy. Like walking into a Kosher grocery store in Brooklyn to buy chips that are all laced with MSG or seeing people eating al fresco at Beverly Hills Thai Kosher, so they can eat blessed food while smoking cigarettes. Kosher caterers for weddings/bar mitzvahs from Florida to NY to LA will notriously up charge you through the roof and the food is never appealing nor appetizing. Lastly, let's not forget Kosher products for Passover. In my absurd mind I just imagine a meeting of Rabbis and Kosher food producers somewhere in Crown Heights every January where they figure out what others foods they can restrict for the holiday and what new products they can push for a six week period. Eating legumes and corn PROHIBITED! Flourless chocolate cake, macaroons, and endless amounts of butter APPROVED! Be constipated for a week by not eating any fiber? Just take the week off!
In the end you do you on how you want to be a Jew! Cause that's how I've always seen it. I don't keep Kosher cause it's my choice and I have never found it appealing. I also live for understanding other cultures cuisine without any religious dietary restrictions. Of course I have friends who do keep Kosher and I'll respect them for it, cause all Jews need to respect their fellow Jews on how they wish to practice.
Comments