(x-posted from www.GreenProphet.com)
Due to not having a yard and feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt every time I throw away my food scraps in a conventional garbage, I spent my first few months in Tel Aviv trying to figure out some plausible composting options in the city. This was harder than expected because so many Israelis have never even heard the word compost, which is the same in Hebrew as it is in English. Still, the search for a compost in Tel Aviv was an incredibly insightful experience that has brought me closer to the environmental scene here.
Back in December I found myself on the Heschel Center roof (the center for all things environmental) with a bucket of compost, deciding whether it was the right place for me and my scraps. It wasn’t. It didn’t feel quite right, and maybe that had to do with the plastic green compost bin instead of a pile or a heap. On the roof, though, I met fellow gardeners and environmentalists who I’ve later seen at other environmental gatherings where they dubbed me “the compost guy.” Read more »
“If there be magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” - scientist Loren Eisley.
I’ve always wondered why there was no special bracha (blessing) in Jewish tradition for water. Water is the source of life, I thought. As Eisley says, “Water…its substance reaches everywhere; it touches the past and prepares the future.” Water is magic. So where is its special blessing?
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Grainnns! Thanks to Saul Kaiserman for alerting us to our new favorite “potential” t-shirt over at Threadless. Of course, the obligatory follow up question is, what does a Jewish zombie eat? Chrainnnn?
Last week, Orthodox social justice organization, Uri L’Tzedek, ended their official boycott of Agriprocessors’ meat and poultry products, a little less than one month after it began. Their decision was met with some skepticism from many kosher and non-kosher keeping consumers who felt that they were just getting started. One reader of this blog commented:
“I also think calling off the boycott is premature, and I’m not ending my personal boycott, which has been going on for over 6 months. Agriprocessor’s has consistently shown they only respond to pressure, not good intentions. Now is not the time to let up on the pressure.”
I interviewed co-director, Ari Hart, to find out why Uri L’Tzedek made the decision to end the boycott, and where the kosher meat industry might go from here.
Read the full interview below the jump.
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Last Thursday, The New York Times published a front-page article about Community-Supported Agriculture. Not an article about CSAs filling up too fast this year, about chefs who will cook your CSA vegetables for you, or some other new angle - just an introductory, 101, “welcome to CSA” article.
On the one hand, a certain part of me feels cynical - Hazon and other organizations (like the amazing Just Food, which got a nod in the article), have been working to educate people about Community-Supported Agriculture for what feels like eons. And, the best part is, we’ve been successful! When I first started working at Hazon four years ago, I had to explain the CSA concept to just about everyone - and trust me it got old. But that is no longer the case. I just can’t help but wonder if this topic isn’t a little bit “past ripe” for the Times breaking news-focused front page? (Admittedly, I might just be jealous of the author and/or irked at myself for not realizing that CSA was still front page news at the Times!)
That said, I’m still thrilled to see CSA continuing to get so much media attention. And, after reading that some CSA members can’t even describe what Community-Supported Agriculture means, perhaps we really still do have a ways to go.
I’m feeling sluggish today. It’s rain-ish (not exactly raining, but close) this morning, which doesn’t help - and Yosh and I spent the last week on an engagement party tour - Tuesday and Wednesday in Silver Spring with his family, and Friday-Sunday in Chicago with mine. There’s really nothing to complain about (both celebrations were great), but I am feeling a little bit “Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday” today.
While I pull myself together, I thought I’d share a picture of the amazing cake that Yosh’s sister made - complete with fondant icing carrots (for The Jew & The Carrot, of course) and a treble clef for Yosh. It was hard to cut into such a masterpiece, but the carrot cake inside was worth it. Check out another view below the jump.
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As a chef, summer is my favorite time of the year. I do not enjoy the weather so much (read: I hate the heat), but I love the gorgeous, unusual fruits and vegetables in the market. This week I couldn’t wait to schlep home my bounty that included one of my summer favorites - the gooseberry.
Gooseberries are similar to currants in their tartness and texture. They come in a variety of colors ranging from bright green to dark crimson. Generally too tart to be eaten from hand, they are delicious combined with sweeter fruits and are an amazing addition to lighter wine sauces.
My recipe for Duck Confit with Gooseberry Sauce (see below the jump) is a dish I will be featuring this week at a wine degustation dinner at Puck’s at Spertus Institute. The sauce is similar to an aigredoux - sweet and sour - but with attitude. It also features one of my favorite shmaltz atlernatives: Duck Fat! Plan ahead if you are going to try this recipe, as kosher ducks are always frozen. You can also serve this sauce with chicken or fish if you use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.
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A quick food round up from the Jewy blogosphere:
Shabbat Shalom, all!
Change is in the air at The Jew & The Carrot. It’s summer and we have some spiffy new duds to show off. So drop by, stay a while, and check out our new features.
Keeping Tabs. Find out more about The Jew & The Carrot, browse through our Green Resources (sustainable kiddush or a kosher organic cheese list anyone?), meet the contributors, and more by clicking on one of the tabs on the top right of the page.
Recipe Archive - Coming Soon! The Recipe Archive will feature all the healthy, sustainable recipes from past posts. Looking for breakfast dishes? dairy/vegetarian recipes? snacks for a party? You got it.
Chosen Bites - Food News From the Web. This regularly updated feature (found on the left hand column of the page) will bring you our vetted list of the best Jewish and foodie news and ideas from around the blogosphere. If you have links or stories that you would like us to consider for “Chosen Bites,” please email tips at jcarrot dot org.
More new features, below the jump…
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In 1979, Deborah Madison helped to found Greens, the now-iconic vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. Almost 30 years later, Madison remains at the forefront of the sustainable food movement and is the author of several watershed cookbooks including Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (one of my food bibles!) The Greens Cookbook, and the farmers’ market inspired, Local Flavors. She also writes regularly for Culinate, which is my favorite food website - aside from The Jew & The Carrot of course!
Last week, I spoke with Deborah about the changing nature of farmers’ markets, why she decided to include meat recipes in her most recent cookbook, and her favorite place to get a sustainable meal in Santa Fe.
Below the jump: Win a copy of Deborah Madison’s cookbook, Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets, which was recently released in paperback.
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Uri L’Tzedek - the Orthodox social justice organization that called for an official boycott of Agriprocessors’ products after the May 12th raid, ended their boycott this week, a little less than one month after it began. The Jewish Week reported in an article this week that Uri L’Tzedek’s leaders felt that Agriprocessors had taken enough “significant steps” to make them feel comfortable purchasing their products again.
Hazon’s Executive Director, Nigel Savage, is also quoted in the article, saying that the Agriprocessors scandal has stirred the Jewish community to think more deeply about where its food comes from. The particular impact that Uri L’Tzedek’s statement will have on other kosher keeping consumers, however, remains to be seen.
Read the article below the jump, or click here.
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Thanks to Eve Jochnowitz for this guest post. Eve teaches Yiddish, Jewish Studies, and Culinary History at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Culinary Center of New York - she is also a Tuv Ha’Aretz CSA member at the 14th Street Y in NYC.
The rich soils of the United States are full of all sorts of beneficial insects and nutrients that nourish delicious produce; and a great many of us are becoming personally acquainted with this miraculous dirt in our CSA share! We appreciate it, of course, but at some point we need to wash it all off.
De-bugging one’s vegetables is a challenge in any kosher kitchen, and a number of home cooks are reasonably concerned that using organic produce might expose us to more insects, making the inspection process more labor-intensive. In fact, the opposite is true. According to mashgikhim with extensive bug-checking experience, non-organic greens are not in fact less infested than organic greens; they are merely infested with smaller, more tenacious predators that have become resistant to pesticides.
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This is the third installment of “Unboxed” - posts that demystify summer’s most seasonal produce. See the first two posts on rhubarb and leeks.
Every week, Shabbat ends with a sip of wine, the glow of an intertwined candle and deep breath of “besamim” (spices) during the havdalah ceremony. For years, I thought besamim was synonymous with “cloves,” which seems to be the spice-of-choice found in most havdalah spice boxes. It was not until I attended the Shabbaton at Hazon’s NY Jewish Environmental Bike Ride that I was introduced to the idea that besamim could mean fresh rosemary, lavender, or any other herb picked from the garden or field. What better way to connect back to the week, I thought, than to breathe in the scent of life, ground, and growth?
These days, I’m getting more than my fair share of besamim in the form of the basil, parsley and the other bright green herbs that show up in my CSA share. I love how they add a burst of brightness to just about everything I cook. But unlike lettuce or bok choy, I just can’t seem to use them fast enough! More often than not, I end up throwing out half a bunch of wilted, unused and just very sad herbs.
In hopes of lessening the amount of food waste going on in my kitchen (and I presume many others), The Jew & The Carrot presents tips for storing and using up fresh summer herbs before they end up in the garbage. Check them out below the jump.
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Two months ago, The Jew & The Carrot posted an article about the kosher-keeping couple who went undercover on behalf of PETA to videotape Agriprocessors’ treatment of the animals it slaughters. Earlier this week, Jewcy published a great interview with the couple - Hannah and Phillip Schein. Here’s an excerpt, and you can read the full interview here.
Has your view of Judaism changed since the Rubashkin scandal of 2004 and the various rabbinic reactions to it? (Especially rabbinic reaction to using a meat hook to excise the trachea and esophagus of a fully conscious animal.)
PS: I used to buy into the image that kosher meat was cleaner and more humanely produced because of the multiple levels of supervision and added scrutiny. However, the kosher meat industry is complicit in all the abuses of the conventional factory-farming and slaughter industries, and we have documented how some of the worst violations—the most inhumane practices—in recent industry history have been perpetrated in the kosher meat industry as standard operating procedure. In many ways, the additional oversight has served only as a buffer, concealing some of the most abusive practices.
HS: It’s been very disappointing that the first reaction by the Jewish community to our kosher investigations has been to circle the wagons and scream, “Anti-Semitism!” It is heartening that the Conservative movement has started to take a stand against the cruel practices that we’ve uncovered, and I have great hopes for Hekhsher Tzedek.
