I admit it - I live in a bubble. A tiny, insulated bubble within which everyone cares about eating ethically, and while some people eat meat and some don’t, just about everyone can agree about the merits of garlic-sauteed kale. Inside my cozy world, I forget that a whole other world exists out there - but this week, my trip over to Midtown Lunch reminded me.
Midtown Lunch - an entertaining (and eminently useful!) blog that seeks out the dining gems within the culinary wasteland that is Midtown Manhattan - profiles a different Midtown employee each week. It asks them questions like, “favorite/least favorite foods,” and “if you could work anywhere in New York (just because of lunch) where would it be and why?” This past week I was profiled. I was pleased to have the opportunity to give shout outs to Hazon and The Jew & The Carrot and excited to share my dietary habits with a bunch of related strangers.
Turns out, Midtown is not the most veggie or kosher friendly place on earth. Here’s a smattering of the comments my vegetarian and kosher focused profile received:
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“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.” - Anthony Bourdain, “Kitchen Confidential,” p. 70
Tell us how you really feel, Anthony!
Of course, vegetarians and vegan chefs were not about to take this crude, carnivorous cri de coeur lying down, and thus was born Hezbollah Tofu, a blog where vegan chefs are systematically veganizing chef Bourdain’s most celebrated recipes. They plan on selling the resulting compilation, and donating the proceeds to vegan causes (farm sanctuaries, public education, etc) in Bordain’s name. Take that, Anthony!
This topic brings up a whole host of questions for me, as a Jew and as a self-professed foodie who also strives to eat sustainably (although not regularly animal-product free):
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Our good friend Chris P. Carrot (a.k.a. Michael Croland of Heeb n’ Vegan) had a fabulous Purim, shaking his grogger. Did anyone else celebrate in a food-themed costume?
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)
No, it’s not a bundt cake - it’s a GIANT FALAFEL!
See how this chickpea wonder was created, over at Flickr.
First there were Smucker’s Uncrustables - the prefab PB&J sandwiches that resemble mini pot-pies and fit snugly (jam and all) in the toaster. Now, Kraft has introduced frozen Bagel-fuls that come pre-shmeared with cream cheese.
Really? PB&J and bagels with cream cheese are already the definition of “on the go” foods - is there really consumer demand to shave 30 seconds off the morning routine? And wouldn’t these convenience bagels actually take more time since they have to defrost?
More than that, I find Bagel-fuls to be a serious affront to the bagel’s integrity. There was a time when the bagel - crusty, chewy, and drowning in poppy seeds - rivaled challah as the quintessential Jewish bread. And while shrink-wrapped versions (like Lender’s) have already made a mockery of our beloved carb, Bagel-fuls truly represent a new low.
Fight back against this culinary offense - whether you’re partial to plain, scallion, or Toffuti, the right to shmear is yours.
Related bagel posts on The Jew & The Carrot
The Only Bagel
What’s so Jewish About Bagels?
Does it Work for a Knish Too?
Does a Bagel Platter Make us Hypocrites?
(Hat tip to My Jewish Learning)
Mel Brooks had it right in his hit 80’s movie Spaceballs - it’s all about moichandising! Now, thanks to the folks at Cafe Press, you can support The Jew & The Carrot in style.
The beautiful “Eat, be Satisfied, and Bless” decal (designed by The Jew & The Carrot contributor, Anna Stevenson) comes on coffee mugs, aprons, journals, T-shirts, tote bags, and throw pillows. They’re great for birthday gifts, mishloach manot, or for your own stylish foodie self. Click here to find out more!
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What is it about Jews and Chinese food?This oddly-passionate obsession has inspired scholarly dissertations, cookbooks, multi-cultural festivals, and even affected international relations [this last link, btw, about Asian chefs in Israel going on an eggroll strike over the elimination of foreign worker permits, is worth a trip to Jewschool to read in its entirety]!
So when this article appeared recently in the NYTimes about the history of the fortune cookie, I immediately thought, “hmmm…what’s the Jewish connection?” The answer? The long Jewish tradition of bibliophagy (eating the written word). Find interesting examples of Jewish bibliophagy after the jump:
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(Comic: “You’re passionate about salad, aren’t you Miss Allen? Ballard Street)
For all of you worried about where your salad comes from, and what you should or shouldn’t put in it, and how often you should eat it, and if you should eat cold salad in the winter, and where you might get your vitamins if you don’t eat cold salad in the winter, and what kind of dressing goes on it and whether to splurge on that avocado or not (and granted, I fall into just about all of these categories) -
RELAX! It’s Adar - a joyful month! It’s all going to be okay.
(Hat tip to Jewschool .)
I believe in dinner plate feng shui. There comes a time, right before dinner, when I take a few moments to select just the right plate or bowl on which to nestle the food I’ve made.** (Since many of the dishes in my cupboard hail from Goodwill and/or roommates’ collections, I have any number of styles and patterns to choose from.)
Now the folks at the decidedly non Jewish company, “Feed on the Word,” have added a whole different component into the mix of choices: Scripture Tableware. As Danya at Jewschool wrote:
“…Several of the themed collections (at least “Praise,” “Psalms,” “Patriotic” and a few of the serving dishes) are comprised of all Old Testament pasukim, so maybe this could be a nice way to differentiate between milk and meat dishes.”
Here are the verses found on the “Praise” collection:
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I lived in Oregon for two years (the defunct hippie enclave of Eugene to be exact), so before any of you west coast readers get all up in arms over what I’m about to say, just remember I’m a sympathetic member of the tribe.
It’s just that, since moving to New York, I’ve fully realized to extent to which the east coast, and NYC in particular, sets the cultural tone for the rest of the American Jewish community. Seinfeld - New York. Woody Allen - New York. Manischewitz…okay, Cincinnati and then New Jersey, but close enough.
Considering the cultural monopoly east coast Jews have on most things Jewish, it seems to follow that the majority of successful Jewish food entrepreneurs would hail from the more neurotic side of the Mississippi. So I was utterly taken aback when Lois Leveen proved me wrong on her blog MacaroniManiac.
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I’ve already posted once today, so sorry for double-dipping, but this is worth posting ASAP:
From the JTS press release:
Dr. David Kraemer, the author of Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages [and 2006 Hazon Food Conference Keynote Speaker], will discuss “Jewish Eating and Jewish Identity” at The Jewish Theological Seminary’s Henry N. Rapaport Memorial Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 4, 2008. The event will take place at JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City.
Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages is the first book ever to explore the history of Jewish eating practices from the Bible to the present, and the first to interpret Jewish eating practices throughout the ages as keys to understanding current Jewish identities.
(Thanks to Jewlicious and for the hat tip)
Last November, The Jew & The Carrot blogger Jeff reported on the newest treif sensation: Ham-flavored soda from the Jones Soda Co. (It was part of the company’s Christmas soda line.)
Well, it seems the pork-infused drink thing is catching on. Several different food bloggers out there have started making their own bacon vodkas - the most beautiful of which is featured at the Brownie Points blog . For the record, the scariest looking bacon vodka I found is over at Si Blog. Eegaads! It looks like a science project gone terribly awry.
For those of you who dabble in things pork-related, I’d be curious to hear how this stuff tastes (though I don’t think it’s available on the market, so you’ll have to make it yourself). Personally, I’m happy to stick with the homemade etrog vodka I recently tried at a Shabbat lunch.
I’d love to hear other ideas about “Jewish foods” that could (or perhaps SHOULD) be infused into vodka. Kosher dill vodka? Hamentashen vodka? The opportunities are endless…
That’s right, your long wait for cheeseburgers in a can is now over. They’re even more convenient than these (but don’t forget, February 12th is International Pancake Day! Although you’ll have to wait a week to celebrate at IHOP).
I think if “Sarah” had eaten this cheeseburger, she might have become Ba’al Teshuva instead of secular. Of course, if you want the ultimate in non-kosher (both eco and traditional) eating, you could cook your cheeseburger on one of these while driving on shabbos:
