The first kabbalistic restaurant in the world is in…Ft. Lauderdale? And run by a Chabad rabbi?
Cafe Emunah is, says The Forward, a new beachfront restaurant in this South Florida city is billing itself as the country’s first kabbalistic restaurant which has already distinguished itself with its holistic approach to kosher food — combining organic chic with a dash of Jewish mysticism.
I’m re-doing my 1985 vintage kitchen. A few months ago I ripped the handle off an oven, four burners have never been enough, and the ancient dishwasher is so loud it sounds like a street-cleaning machine. The cabinet veneer is peeling. The wimpy double ovens are horribly slow, poorly callibrated, and situated in a doorway making me turn sidways everytime I try to access them. (Forget about induction — that came much later). I could go on. Take, for example, the white tile floor. Anybody tried to keep a white tile floor clean in a heavily trafficked kitchen? It’s hopeless, and I can’t take it anymore.
This is a friendly public service message from The Jew & the Carrot: eat your vegetables!
In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
I spent an amazing afternoon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Tuesday. The Aquarium’s mission is to “inspire conservation of the oceans” and they do, in part because of their location on Monterey Bay: after you’ve gazed at the 40′ high “Kelp Forest” exhibit, and watched fish nibble something tasty off the kelp leaves, and watched a school of mackerel follow itself around in circles like an undulating lava lamp — you can look out of the huge windows at the ocean, right there, and think, ‘all of this is going on, right now, right out there.’
Fish. It bothers me when people say, “I’m a vegetarian, but I eat fish.” I think vegetarian ought to be restored to its hardcore origins: no animals, period. Fish are just as much animals as chickens or cows — but somehow they get put in another category? And in kosher terms they also end up in a third column: fish is parve, you have have it with milk or meat because it is technically neither. Huh? Tell that to a self-respecting tuna! I think fish is worth paying a lot more attention to, and, incidentally, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has some tips for how to do just that.
A quick follow up on my last blog post about hotel breakfast buffets in Israel: it’s true, alongside the shakshuka, eggs hardboiled in tea and spices, granola, labneh, and various fruit preserves, is chocolate cake. Warm, dark, gooey, chocolate cake, which the Israel Riders happily gobbled down at 5:30 in the morning. No wonder they had so much energy on the uphill climbs! I’ve attached two photos for proof (note the pancakes alongside the chocolate cake in the second picture) - you no longer need maple syrup to satisfy your breakfast sweetooth!
Now you can imbibe and toast to a healthier ecosystem! From MSNBC.com, watch the video report here or read more below:
“Having fun, brewing world class beer, promoting beer culture and being environment stewards,” Kim says, recounting the rules.
JTA reports that in his speech Monday to the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly at its annual convention, the new chancellor Arnold Eisen directed the Conservative Movement to build community first, and stress less Jewish law as commands over individual behavior. Indeed, the effect of his speech was to wake Conservative members to the theory that community is necessary to give life to Jewish tradition first, and meaningful excitment about halakha will follow. Excerpt in part:
The Arava Institute Hazon Israel Ride has reached Mitzpe Ramon, where riders will spend Shabbat relaxing their tired muscles. Already, riders from last year are talking about the hotel’s buffet - a feast that includes multiple types of Israeli salad and coleslaw, labneh with zatar, labneh with dill, roasted vegetables, various soups, sprawling bread baskets, smoked salmon and - so I’ve heard - hot chocolate cake. At breakfast.
These shmorgs, which I’m realizing are typical of hotels across Israel, are shocking in choice and quantity, and stuff even the pickiest of patrons into blissful oblivion. A few riders commented, only somewhat jokingly, that they actually gained weight at last year’s Israel Ride, because they ate so much at the hotel buffets!
Were I back home and enjoying better internet access than the hotels have (apparently they spend far more on food than wifi connection), I’d try to find out where this culture of food excess comes from in Israel. Is it a parallel to the excess of American resort locations like Las Vegas and Disney Land? Is it leftover-compensation for times when Jews did not have the opportunity to enjoy food to excess? It is simply an unexplainable cultural anomaly? I’d love to hear some explanations - or descriptions from reader’s experiences at the Israeli hotel shmorg.
Community Agri., Farmer's Markets, Fresh Frum the Kitchen, Grocery, Organic, Personal Story, Sustainability, Vegetables
It’s that time of year again - CSA fever is in the air! I was a proud member of the local CSA in my neighborhood last year. Since the farmer didn’t allow for half shares, I split my vegetable share with another woman in my community and split the fruit share with a friend. Although, during the numerous heat waves last year it was a bit of shlep bringing all the produce back to my apartment, as my partner and I would alternate weekly doing the pick ups. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed this new experience. It encouraged me to try new vegetables and learn to appreciate seasonal fruit. A few particular vegetables which were new to me were kale, bok choy, and beets. I never really tried beets before, and now I really enjoy their sweet taste - and you got to love that color!
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The newest thing in Jewish education? A cup of coffee with two teaspoon of Zionism. The Israeli sugar company Sugat has come out with single serving bags of sugar that sport pictures of “The Fathers of Zionism” important Zionist thinkers and early statesmen. In a somewhat repetative fashion, the package promises that they are, compact, easy to use, elegant, infomative and educational. When Theodor Herzl prophesized a futuristic, normalized Jewish state, it is hard to believe he imagined the marketing possibilities of ideological sugar packs.
In a recent article in the UK’s Jewish Chronicle, Michael Green of our ally across the pond, Swords and Ploughshares, writes about the questionable kashrut status of genetically modified foods:
A long tradition of Jewish thinkers has emphasised the importance of protecting the natural environment, but Jewish voices have failed to reach a consensus since GM food hit the shops in 1996. . .
As Jonathan Sacks puts it, God and man are “partners in the work of creation”. The ancient covenant is mirrored in the modern concept of sustainability which seeks to “meet the needs of the present [generation] without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Or, in biblical terms, the environment must be preserved l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.
Following up my previous post with this little update; the FDA has appointed a new head of food safety. the technical title according to the press release is “Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection”, though you can think of him as a salmonella and e. coli mashgiach. David Acheson, the man now responsible for the viability of your spinach (except for the bug-checking, natch) is the same guy who told NPR that bagged lettuce was not safe to eat. lets hope he’s ready to eat his words.
The month of May is a particularly hard one for me. It was at this time five years ago that my mother was in the last month of her life. The cancer that she had fought off twice before successfully, returned in August 2001 for the third and final time. Between the cancer’s recurrence and 9/11, which happened a few weeks later, I remember feeling like my whole world had changed.
By December, her doctors told us it was terminal, and she died on May 25, 2002 — Friday night of the start of Memorial Day Weekend that year.
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Via Jewschool, via Treehugger:
Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye — everyone in the Middle East. Saddle your camels – Israel is announcing that it is to open the largest health food store in the region and among one of the largest in the world, reports Israel Today…
Eden Teva Market, a $6 million project invested by businessman Guy Provisor is expected to open this June in Netanya. On its shelves will be stocked more than 14,000 products in 20 different departments, which will include a bakery, a deli, an organic hummus stand, and an ice cream parlor – to name a few. Organic will be a focus but also specialized products manufactured by small companies will be kept in stock.
