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Squash in the Sukkah anyone?

by · September 25th, 2007
Family & Kids, Farmer's Markets, Holidays, Humor, Jewish Culture, Neat Projects, Seasonality, Sukkot

squash.jpgGrowing up, I loved preparing for Sukkot.  I looked forward to decorating my synagogue’s sukkah – stringing up bumpy gourds and looping paper chains through the open ceiling beams.  Even now, I associate the smell of fresh pine with the boughs we wove into the sukkah walls, and crave the sweet apple cider we drank while swatting away yellow jackets. 

These days, synagogues and Hillels across the country are jumping onto a new Sukkot craze – Pizza in the Hut.  Playing off the name of one of America’s most ubiquitous restaurant chains, this program ties together the mandate to dwell in a sukkah, with pizza’s undeniable power to bring people together.  (Google ”Pizza in the Hut” to get a sense of how widespread this phenomenon has become.)

The program certainly has it’s heart in the right place – but in practice, it’s incredibly backwards. 

As the gourds, lulav and etrog, and praying for rain will attest, Sukkot is a harvest holiday.  This time of year, fresh local produce is widely available: garlic bulbs, sweet potatoes, winter squash, potatoes, beets, Jerusalem artichokes, rutabaga, pumpkins, Brussels sprouts…

Eating meals in the sukkah gives synagogues, Jewish educators, and families the amazing opportunity to bring the agricultural “roots” of Sukkot deliciously to life.  With all the seasonal food bursting out at farmers’ markets across the country, serving store-bought, 2-dimensional pizza in the sukkah is truly a wasted teaching moment. 

As an alternative - try hosting a Sukkah potluck where everyone is charged with bringing a dish that features a seasonal ingredient.  Need a catchy name to rival Pizza in the Hut?  I’m open to suggestions, but here are a few to get you started: Squash in the Sukkah, Taters in the Tent, Yams in the Yurt… 

Chag Sameach!

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12 Responses to “Squash in the Sukkah anyone?”

  1. Rabbi Shmuel Says:
    September 25th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

    I guess you’re not coming to our sukka maki then:)

  2. Michael Croland Says:
    September 25th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    My shul is having “sushi in the sukkah” … but wow, “sukka maki” is pretty impressive (nothing against “yams in the yurt”)!!

  3. carol koenig Says:
    September 25th, 2007 at 5:31 pm

    Well, Leah, I don’t know if I should feel admonished or enlightened by your post! But I DID pass it along to our Pizza in the Hut organizers to see if we can do something to encourage a more sustainable event. Of course, we cannot do a potluck in our shul because we are Kosher. But perhaps when the shopping is done, some thought can be given to what is purchased. For smaller gatherings, I am sure we all totally agree but this will be a large group with busy volunteers who will not be able to spend a day in the kitchen preparing a meal. So, pizza it is, but maybe with “sustainable sides.” Thanks for the ideas. Mom

  4. Edith Stevenson Says:
    September 25th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    hey – what’s wrong with homemade Kosher pizza, filled with fresh vegetables from the harvest! I say, go ahead and steal the clever name, Pizza in the Hut, and serve lots of fresh tomatoes, grilled zucchini, and other squash either on, or next to your pizza. Add a big salad, some hot apple crisp, and you have a feast! Nice thing about pizza is you can eat it without dishes, so if being in the sukkah is either very crowded, or if shul dishes are a problem, you can eat it on a napkin.
    I have already passed this idea on to our rabbi – the B’nai Mitzvah kids always have a pizza night in our sukkah, but I know they don’t get it from Pizza Hut!

  5. Leah Koenig Says:
    September 26th, 2007 at 10:12 am

    Sukka Maki – Shmuel, you never cease to amaze!

    Carol (Mom) :) – I certainly don’t intend to admonish anyone. I think it’s great that synagogues are getting people together in the sukkah around food. I just think it’s a shame that at so many synagogue and Hillel-based events, the food served is treated as an afterthought. This holiday really gives us an opportunity to think creatively about food and the earth.

    I hear the issue with not doing potluck for kashrut reasons, and I also know that people are busy. But I’ve seen how when volunteer committees are excited about something, they make it happen. The whole meal doesn’t have to be local – sustainable sides is a great idea. A few years ago, one of Hazon’s Tuv Ha’Aretz CSA sites (in New Jersey), got extra produce from the farmer and made some side dishes at the synagogue, which they featured at the meal. Another Tuv Ha’Aretz group (in NYC) purchases corn stalks and gourds from a local farm for their sukkah decoration. These are all important teaching moments that will – eventually – bring local food increasingly into the mainstream so that Edith’s great idea of making homemade, local-ingredient pizza seems like the obvious choice.

    Edith – nothing against pizza itself, of course – (some of my best friends are pizzas). :) Homemade, harvest-filled, kosher pizza would definitely be a good way to go – even better to get the B’nai Mitzvah kids involved in making it for the community.

  6. Simcha Daniel Says:
    September 26th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

    Lighten up, Leah. Or maybe just leaven your commitment – after all, not using disposables isn’t a mitzvah d’oraita, and not always the most ecological practice either.

    But on the name game – My sister always makes Succot-ash (local squash, corn, peas and cranberries baked together) for this time of year.

    Our people have always been making up ways to celebrate creatively. 500 years ago, or thereabouts, our forefathers (and probably the mothers, too) set up “Simchat Torah” as a “trendy” way to get Jews into shul for one more time after 9 days of holiday – so if “Pizza in the Hut” brings out the Yidden – I say do it!

  7. Hillary Says:
    September 26th, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    Haha, I’ve never heard of “Pizza in the Hut!” Too funny. Chag sameach Leah!

  8. Jay Says:
    September 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am

    You folks have great ideas. Homemade pizza with seasonal ingredients is easier than you’d think. Buy pizza dough, and top it with grated sweet potatoes, grated squash, herbs like rosemary and thyme, and a good drizzle of olive oil. I know it’s unlikely to wow teens, but I’m going to make some. Thanks for the ideas!

  9. Rabbi Shmuel Says:
    September 30th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

    Aw shucks, Leah thanks – all year I try to think out of the box, but during sukkos, it’s strictly in the box:)
    chag sameach

  10. Stephen Mendelsohn Says:
    October 1st, 2007 at 11:52 pm

    BS”D

    There is actually a non-kosher Thai restaurant in downtown Manchester, CT called Sukhothai. I always thought that was what one called serving kosher Thai food in the sukkah.

  11. Michael Croland Says:
    October 2nd, 2007 at 6:31 pm

    Nothing shouts “a perfect event for a campus Hillel to use its sukkah one last time” like:

    WRAP up SUKKOT

    They’ll be serving wraps. :)

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