I am longish, and orangish. But I am not always straight, nor pointy, and sometimes I twist my way around rocks and roots, and come up entirely twisted.
Apparently, I am good for seeing things at night. But lest you spend the afternoon uprooting your neighbors vegetable garden in search of night vision, take note: I can only take you so far.
In this blog, I as The Carrot shall write about food issues from a food perspective. I will, for instance, rail against Stop & Shop, where I went this morning to buy a few last minute supplies for cooking demos at the food conference. I’ll bemoan that in Canaan, CT, it is easier to buy 50 lbs of oranges from Florida than 50 lbs of beets — which you can grow (and they do grow!) just up the road. I’ll talk about how out of place I felt in the wide aisles — with all the unfamiliar brand names, how I realized, why would anyone have to cook a THING when there are indeed 57 varieties of Heinz and other sauces available to douse my canned vegetables in? And also that there is such apparent abundance, the shelves thrusting forward, full of promise, I could have filled my cart with items that suggested themsevles skillfully onto my plate, that I didn’t even know I needed, or was hungry for. All this only in the pasta aisle.
I am The Carrot. I will tell you about the crunch of the salad, the soft smush of the roasted garlic and goat cheese in olive oil that was set out on each table at dinner tonight — so tasty — so fresh! I will celebrate the vegetables of our world, and the people who grow them and bring them to us, and the people who cook them and the people who eat them. I’ll write to you about all of the deliciousness in the world, in our food, in our relationships, that there is to enjoy — and the real ugliness that looms: agribusiness, oil-based agriculture, low-paid farmworkers, E. coli, and the struggle to stay human, and eat real food, in the midst of it all.
I am The Carrot — stay tuned!
Hello from the Food Conference!
I’ve just been to two sessions, and eaten so much amazing food, and tasted raw milk for the first time, and heard about the combination of different bacteria that are involved in making miso, in a process that takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 years.
And this only the first day!
It’s interesting, though, that the things that have grabbed me and pulled me out of my seat with “Wait! What about…!” thoughts are the same things that I’ve already heard about before, or ostensibly already studied, or were so ubiquitous to have never merited a second glance. The most recent session was about the Birkat Hamazon.
We learned (or realized again, upon closer consideration, with several “oh yeah”s) that the birkat hamazon mirrors the amidah in its sections: praise, thanks, petition. That it is, in that regard, actually a mini-service. That, even if we don’t say the amidah or any other regular prayer, the offering some kind of thanks after we eat is in fact praying three times a day.
And we talked about the words. What do you do with a pile of archaic Hebrew - whether it is sung to a singsong tune (which always gets stuck in my head) or mumbled, high speed? Do we prefer the newer ones, the ones that use words like ’spirit’ and ’sustainability’? Do we sort of like the newer ones in sentiment, but cling to the words and tunes we learned at Hebrew school? I kind of do - although we learned that before the printing press solidified the texts, the ‘harachaman’ section was in fact an ‘insert your prayers for the community here’. And interesting that these prayers are said in the plural, not the singular - we pray for what we hope for the community. Does that make it easier? Weirder to put into actual words? More universal?
I enjoyed realizing - again - that Oseh Shalom is part of the birkat as well. I knew this, I’ve sung it. But thinking about it again, inthe context of what’s going on in Iraq, and what’s going on in meatpacking houses and on the Mexican border, and all the other places of strive and violence in the world right now — the fact that a prayer for peace is integral not only to our whole tradition, but that we think to include it in our prayers after FOOD - every meal! That we’ve been saying Oseh Shalom as part of the Birkat for 2000 years. We’ve been praying for peace since we began praying. There has been a need to pray for peace since we began praying. And that Judaism is all about that…
I enjoyed that. Because you often don’t have to look very far to see something new or shocking. And I guess, starting with food (which we eat daily, automatically!) is a pretty good place to get these thoughts going…
– Anna
Greetings from the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center!
Over 150 Jewish food, farm, health, sustainability and spiritual learners are gathered here for the next four days to share our stories about food, connect Jewishly to contemporary issues, and celebrate innovative approaches to our heritage.
Said Nigel Savage during one of tonight’s sessions, as we innovate Jewish tradition in light of contemporary life, we also “vote with our feet” and determine which innovations have traction, which innovative ideas “stick.” That is precisely the purpose of Latkes to Lattes — innovating Jewishly, exchanging ideas, and ultimately broadening what it means to eat kosher with what “sticks.”
Over these days, we will bring the conference to you virtually through JCarrot.org! We encourage you to post your comments and let this fantastic beginning continue beyond Isabella Freedman into our everyday lives.
– Ben Murane, JCarrot Blog Team
Lame duck NY governor and ‘08 GOP presidential hopeful, George Pataki, charges admission to his annual party celebrating the festival of lights. “Food! Wine! Free Gift Bags! Current Members only!” Admission to Pataki’s latke party is $10 in addition to a $75 membership in the Republican Jewish Coalition.
The festival of greasy palms?
– Sarah Rose, JCarrot Editor-in-Chief
Grand dame of Gastronomic Judiasm, cookbook author Joan Nathan, breaks out the obligatory Hannukah story with a visit to the Satmar Hasidic community in Kiryas Joel, NY.
Deftly sidestepping the elephant in the room, this year’s succession battle between the Rebbe’s sons, Nathan’s story is all sweetness and light. She paints an idyllic picture of a modern day Hungarian shtetl transplanted to New York State where grandmother Mindel Appel, the story’s heroine, raised 11 kids in a three bedroom apartment, and is busy at work cooking for a community engagement party.
Nathan lovingly details Appel’s Old World, nearly lost recipes:
Cheese Danish Pastries (Delkelekh)
Hungarian Stuffed-Under-the-Skin Chicken
Hungarian Eggs with Tomatoes, Peppers and Onions (Letcho)
Deep in the piece, Nathan teases us with promises of cheese latkes, but only delivers in a web-only Q&A. The eight additional recipes are our Hanukkah treat.
– Sarah Rose
The population most likely to feel the sting of New York City’s recent trans fats ban: Kosher Keepers.
Trans fats were invented as a cheaper, more shelf-stable alternative to butter – they are plant oils with chemically added hydrogen to raise their melting point. Trans fats have become essential to those who keep kosher as many parve foods that substitute for a dairy counterpart use trans fat baddies such as margarine or Crisco.
Americans first swallowed trans fats in the 70s and 80s when corporate giants in the heartland rolled out a grand marketing blitz to pimp subsidized soy and corn to the masses. (This is the same era when high-fructose corn syrup replaced sugar throughout the land and an obesity crisis was born.)
In 2006 the jig is up: trans fats will kill you dead, they lead to heart disease faster than you can say “Parkay.”
Restaurants will still have until next July 1 to eliminate oils, margarines and shortening from recipes that contain more than a half-gram of trans fat per serving. By July 1, 2008, they would have to remove all menu items that exceed the new limit, including bread, cakes, chips and salad dressings.
It is likely that some trayf restaurants will look for an alternative cheap fat, many are already experimenting with lard.
For observant Jews, trans fat has become synonymous with dessert. Margarine and other partially hydrogenated oils are staple ingredients in most parve baked goods, and are practically indispensable in fleishig restaurants.
So what becomes of the babka when the trans fats are gone?
Many so-called unaffiliated Jews find their connection to this here people through the very thing my family didn’t seem to have: Jewish food. Gourmania.com calls this denomination of our faith “Gastronomic Judaism.” But I am not a Jew by food.
Growing up as an Army brat in the Great Plains, away from any Jewish community to speak of, with a mother who didn’t dig the cooking schtik and a dad who converted from Christianity, I missed out on everything from knishes to gefilte fishes.
Yet into me was impressed a Jewish lack of food: fasting. To this day, I watch out for the fast days more than I watch for Shabbath. So for all those who are Jews by food or by fasting, here’s a helpful guide, courtesy of Gourmania again:
The Diet Guide to the Jewish Holidays
Rosh Hashanah - Feast
Tzom Gedalia - Fast
Yom Kippur - More fasting
Sukkot - Feast
Hashanah Rabbah - More feasting
Simchat Torah - Keep feasting
Month of Heshvan - No feasts or fasts for a whole month. Get a grip on yourself.
Hanukkah - Eat potato pancakes
Tenth of Tevet - Do not eat potato pancakes
Tu B’Shevat - Feast
Fast of Esther - Fast
Purim - Eat pastry
Passover - Do not eat pastry
Shavuot - Dairy feast (cheesecake, blintzes, etc.)
17th of Tammuz - Fast (definitely no cheesecake or blintzes)
Tish B’Av - Very strict fast (don’t even think about cheesecake or blintzes)
Month of Elul - End of cycle. Enroll in Center for Eating Disorders before High Holidays arrive again.
This post idea thanks to shamir*power.
I love traditional shabbos food – white flour challah (that almost taste like cake thanks to the numerous eggs that are in it); various kugels full of either oil or margarine; gefilte fish with mayonnaise on the side (don’t worry – I’m a big fan of low-fat mayo); and we can’t forget about dessert – I’m pretty open to any kind of pastries (cake, cookies, candy, chocolate, etc.) – I’m not particularly picky :). However, they are typically full of all those unhealthy ingredients as well.What are we to do - change tradition and not have potato kugel?
When I have people over for shabbos meals in my apartment or at my parent’s house, I am often torn over whether to make contemporary, healthier dishes that don’t follow the conventional appetite because I don’t know what other people will like. At the same time, I still want to make what I am accustomed to making but with healthier ingredients. For example, is there a recipe out there for a chocolate cake with whole wheat flour? I’m not confident how well that would taste, so my goal is to find recipes for all the traditional dishes, as well as contemporary dishes, with more nutritious ingredients. I’ve already found a tasty whole wheat, vegan challah recipe (which is listed below). If you have any suggestions please feel free to share.
Similar to what I mentioned last week, making these changes in orthodox circles is challenging. Read more »
Jew
Vegetarian
Bacon
Identity
Rugelach
Guilt
Intrigued? Read my latest article at www.zeek.net called Goldbergers and Cheeseburgers: Food and Particularism Among American Jews.
(X-posted from: Good Shmeats)
I learned this song at summer camp in 1998. I can only sort of remember the melody, but I did remember the words enough to Google ‘lanu yesh felafel’ — and good old Google, here we have the complete translation of the Hebrew lyrics:
Shir HaFelafel
Every country here in the world
has a national dish that’s known to everyone,
and every children in kindergarden knows that
the meal of macaroni is Italian.
The Austrians in Vienna have tasty schnitzel
and the French eat frogs
the Chinese eat fine and delicate rice,
and the canibals eat one another.
And we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
a present for Dad
even Mom buys it here,
for old Grandma
we’ll buy half a portion
And even the mother-in-law will get today
falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.
Once when a Jew came to Israel
he kissed the ground and blessed the creator
Today, he just gets off the plane
and already goes to buy falafel and drinks pop
Around here we don’t have a king, just a president
but we’ve already reached a peak in the kingdom
Around here each day a new king rises -
a “happy” one, the second “desperate”
Because we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
for here they sell to the majority,
the whole street smells (of it)
fragrances of sesames
and paraffin oil.
And one can even get heartburn
from falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.
To make falafel is not easy,
to make falafel is an art,
and any Yemenite will be able to distinguish
between falafel of an amateur or an artist
The funniest thing is, Almighty God,
falafel made by ashkenazis!
In such a falafel you’ll always taste
a weird type of taste of gefilte fish.
Only we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
a present for Dad
even Mom buys it here,
for old Grandma
we’ll buy half a portion
For this is the national meal of Israel -
falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.
(source: Hebrewsongs.com) Read more »
This Jewish food joke entry courtesy of comedian Steven Brykman:
Q: What’s the best way to find Jewish dessert recipes online?
A: Do a Kugel search!
Submit your perfect Jewish food jokes here.
