Social entrepreneur Seth Goldman is the man behind Honest Tea, the nation’s best-selling and fastest-growing organic bottled tea company. Founded in 1998 with his former Business Professor Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management, Honest Tea sources from organic and fair trade tea estates, makes careful choices about packaging and shipping, and has partnered with and supported community development groups from the Crow Reservation in Montana to organizations in South Africa and Guatemala.
Dedicated to the relationship between business and social and environmental change, Goldman writes about how “you can be committed to social responsibility and still build one of the fastest growing private companies in America” on his blog at Inc.com. With the recent announcement of a deal that gives Coca Cola a 40% stake in Honest Tea, many dedicated drinkers have expressed concerns that the company will be corrupted by the mega-corporation. Goldman is confident that Honest Tea will stay honest. He explains why below.
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We’ve now been in Vietnam for well over a week. And while I continue to be, well, pretty much disgusted by the way animals are treated (today we saw a common site here; two live pigs tied to the sides of a motorbike — photos will have to wait until I’m home), I am also partially awed by the Vietnamese willingness to see food as it really is before they eat it.
As I mentioned before, it is nearly impossible to keep kosher here, or for me to remain a vegetarian. I was doing a pretty good job of it so far, but this morning, when served noodles for breakfast with bits of pork in it, our guide reminded our host that I don’t eat meat. We were staying at Ba Be Lakes in a “home stay,” with a family that is incredibly poor, and makes extra money by taking in tourists. Food is plentiful, though, here, even with the poor. Anyhow, after the reminder, he promptly made me my own noodles — in a bowl of chicken broth.
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I have made and served lamb tagine to thousands of customers for over the last decade. Quite by accident it became my signature dish and we have been linked together forever! I used to have dreams about lamb tagine, I made it so often - and yet, I never tire of making this fragrant dish.
I love the whole process of putting together my spice mix, browning the meat and finally enjoying the big “tah dah” as I remove the tagine cover and the first whiff of pure “heaven” wafts through the air. (I had a waiter who told me that I should come up with a lamb tagine scented candle.) While not a Persian dish, the exotic flavors will instantly take you to the Middle East. I like to call this dish “Middle Eastern comfort food.”
Serves 6+ Read more »
Thanks to Chef Gil Marks for this wealth of resources and recipes that will brighten up your Shalach Manot basket. Chef Marks is the author of The James Beard Award-winning Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World, and the upcoming Encyclopedia of Jewish Food - Keep your eye out for more of his Purim ideas and recipes!
Sophisticated Shalach Manot - Recipes
The Megillah declared “… they should make them days of feasting and gladness, of sending portions (mi’sholach manot) one to another and gifts to the poor.” The obligation of shalachmones entails sending gifts of at least two ready-to-eat foods to at least two people. The most common Purim foods are sweets, a symbolic way to wish for a “good lot” or, in other words, a sweet future. It is for good reason that Moslems refer to Purim as Id-al-Sukkar (The Sugar Holiday).
Shalachmones has become a bit commercial lately, many baskets containing the same assortment of bags of snack foods, chemically-laden cakes and cookies, and candy bars. While store-bought foods certainly fulfill the letter of the law, they lack something in the spirit. Homemade goodies show special care and thought and they generally taste better. Granted, many people are simply too busy to prepare their own shalachmones, and they should not feel guilty. If you have the time and desire, prepare any or all of the following impressive treats:
Hamantaschen, Pecan Tassies, Individual Baklava, Leaf Cookies, Fortune Cookies, Flower Spritzes, Almonds Horns, Lemon Halos, Spice Sandwiches, Sarah Bernhardts, Chocolate Bells
Recipes below the jump and Purchase Gil’s cookbook, Olive Trees and Honey here.
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Thanks to Michael of Green Prophet for this guest post. While the concept of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is firmly established in the United States, it hasn’t really taken off in Israel. Still, the farmer-consumer relationship that a CSA offers is beginning to percolate in Israeli consciousness. Find out more below…
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Celebrate Purim with The Jew & The Carrot’s:
Healthy, Sustainable Purim Resources.
Find tips and tricks on how to:
- Bake unique and healthy, homemade hamentashen
- Throw a Persian Purim banquet
- Pamper yourself like Queen Esther
- Make unforgettable shloach manot
Click here, to get your Purim celebration on - The Jew & The Carrot style.
A few weeks ago, The Jew & The Carrot contributor, Ben Murane, posted about Ben & Jerry’s new Jewish themed ice-cream flavors, created in honor of B&J’s launch in Israel. (Choc-Eilat Chip, Wailing Walnut, and Moishmallow topped the list.)
Then we posted that our favorite fellas of frozen flavors (sorry, it’s Friday) not only endorsed Barack Obama, but created a special ice cream in his honor - Cherries for Change.
Feeling uninspired, the folks Slate next attempted to out-name the flavor, seeking submissions from their readers. The current front-runner: Yes Pecan! What do you think, did Slate beat Ben & Jerry’s at their own game? And, more importantly, what would you name it?
(Hat tip to Serious Eats)
One of the biggest criticisms of the organic, locavore, sustainable food etc. lifestyle is that it costs too damn much to be realistic. In other words, I may know that an organic red pepper is better for me and the world, but at $8/lb (versus $2/lb for the conventional pepper), I can’t always justify spending the extra money.
The problem is, the epicure in me gets a little twitchy if I don’t have a fairly regular influx of artisanal cheese or fresh, organic greens in the house. And these days my weekly feeding schedule includes Shabbat dinner and lunch, which, by way of being festive meals, deserve better-than-average food. So how do I satisfy my need for good food without breaking the bank?
Family lore tells me that my grandma Martha was able to stretch one chicken into a nourishing meal for six people, with leftovers. I unfortunately did not inherit this gift, but I have picked up some tricks for eating well on a budget without resorting to dumpster diving (don’t worry Mom, I’m over that phase), or existing on the starving artist fare of rice and beans, or - gasp - bologna and Wonder Bread.
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I initially posted this recipe as a comment on the giant falafel bundt, because the same week that they posted, I had made a real bundt cake of my very own. I shared this cake with a couple of people who I work with, including Hazon’s Executive Director, Nigel Savage, who insisted that this lowly banana cake get its very own post and photo.
Nigel actually tried the cake when we were on our way from Manhattan to Long Island to a Jewish wedding. In retrospect, I suppose I see how silly I was to bring provisions for an hour-long car ride on the way to a Jewish simcha, but hey, there can never be too much food! And six hungry Jews in a car in NY traffic - what did I know? I’ve never been to Long Island - things could have gotten ugly.
I didn’t think there was a Jewish connection to my banana cake, but when doing a bit of research on the Wikipedia I found this:
“The Bundt pan (a registered trademark) was created in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, founder of Nordic Ware, at the request of members of the Hadassah Society’s chapter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were interested in a pan that could be used to make bundkuchen (sometimes called kugelhopf or Gugelhupf), a popular German and Austrian coffee cake. The old-world pans, made of delicate ceramic or heavy cast iron, were difficult to use. He modified some existing Scandinavian pan designs by introducing folds in the outer edge, and fashioned the pan out of aluminum.”
So that you never have to risk being hungry on the way to your next simcha, here’s the recipe for banana cake.
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The most recent issue of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture includes an article I wrote called “Reaping the Faith.”
The article profiles Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh, two religious Muslims who combine their faith and farming (sounds familiar somehow…). It focuses on the concept of Tayyib, which some Muslims view as a mandate to eat sustainably and healthily, and compares Tayyib with the significantly more widespread Muslim eating mandate, Halal. It traces the history of faith and farming throughout other religious traditions including Judaism and Christianity. Additionally, it touches upon Zaid and Haifa’s struggles to secure visas for Muslim farm workers from Jordan and Egypt to work as apprentices on their farm. And, naturally, it gives a healthy shout out to Hazon’s Tuv Ha’Aretz program.
The extra exciting news is - the folks at Gastronomica are planning an evening of discussion around the article on Tuesday, May 13 at the beautiful new Astor Center in in NYC - check back here in the next couple of weeks for more information about the event.
Here are the first two paragraphs as a teaser (the article is unfortunately not available online). To purchase a copy or subscription, check out Gastronomica’s website.
Reaping the Faith
By: Leah Koenig
Gastronomica - Winter 2008
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But at Adamah, and likely all across the Northeast, we’re quietly starting up the season.
(Baby kale plants, Adamah, Summer 2007; photo by Jackie Topol)
Farm time is a quite remarkable way to think about the year. Here I was yesterday with Megan Jensen, our Greenhouse Manager, in a sunny, 75-degree greenhouse (we do use oil heat to warm the benches, but when the sun is out, it really heats up), holding a packet of scallion seeds. In front of me was a tray with 200 little square cells. We’d filled the tray about 3/4 full of soil, packed it down a bit, and then the idea was to drop ten of those little baby seeds in each hole. (When you buy a “bunch” of scallions, in fact, you’re buying ten little plants that were seeded and planted and harvested together.) And to look at the tiny seeds, and the tiny soil blocks, and think of all the scallion omelettes, diced scallions in salad, garnishes and other delightful uses of these tasty alliums was kind of a trip, because the warm summer months of harvest time seem so far away.
Adamah is a program for Jewish 20-somethings to live in community, learn about sustainability and environmental issues, and grow food. This year, we’ll be growing food for the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center; for our line of pickled products, which includes half-sour pickles, dilly beans, pickled beets, sourkraut and kim chi; and for a Tuv Ha’Aretz CSA in White Plains, New York. The long term planning that we’ve done ahead of the season has been really exciting.
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Dog. Cat. Porcupine. Deer.
The ‘Lonely Planet’ Guidebook describes the Vietnamese people as “fiercly omnivorous,” and I couldn’t think of a more apt description. We are not uploading photos so I can’t illustrate this post properly but today we took numerous photos of a skinned pig’s head, pig’s feet, live goats tied to a back of a motorbike, same with live chickens in a mesh cage, pigs tied in tortuous ways, the list goes on.
Greetings from Vietnam, the most unkosher place on the planet (kosher-keepers, never, ever come here, unless you plan on packing a month’s supply of canned tuna). Read more »
True cheese lovers know the unbridled joy that a melty triple cream or aged Roquefort can evoke. They understand what it feels like to bite into a solid hunk of cheddar and sigh with complete satisfaction. Until recently, however, kosher cheese had never caused anyone to sigh. Some brands were…fine…alright…better than others - but nothing even began to reach the lofty state of cheese bliss known to the larger cheese-eating world.
Today, The Associate Press published an article by Julie Wiener that profiles 5 Spoke Creamery cheese company and notes an emerging trend towards - gasp! - delicious and sustainable kosher cheese. The Jew & The Carrot has sung 5 Spoke’s praises before for setting a new standard in the field. Here’s hoping other companies follow suit and that, before long, kosher-keepers will understand the true power of cheese.
Growth of Artisanal Cheeses Creates Niche for Kosher Cheesemakers
By: Julie Wiener
Associated Press - March 3, 2008
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No, it’s not a bundt cake - it’s a GIANT FALAFEL!
See how this chickpea wonder was created, over at Flickr.
