I suspect that the custom of eating turkey on Purim to commemorate King Ahashverosh’s reign (Mi Hodu Ve’ad Kush) as well as his limited intelligence (a turkey brain) is based on a mistaken word play. In modern Hebrew the bird is called a Tarnegol Hodu, literally an Indian chicken referring to the now outmoded name for the … Continue reading
When you eat your Purim dinner Make sure your menu is a winner Here are flavors of tradition You can copy in your kitchen Food customs strange and old To be eaten hot or cold From the lands of our dispersion Offered in a modern version First bread eaten after washing A loaf shaped … Continue reading
When I was newly married my mother in law gave me with her tattered and yellowing copy of Evelyn Rose’s Complete International Jewish Cookbook. I suppose some brides would have been insulted at being given an old cookbook, but I was touched. I felt like my mother in law was passing Rose’s and her own cooking legacy onto … Continue reading
Lamed is for Lukshen When I was a kid I loved to peer longingly into the window of the now defunct Meal Mart kosher takeaway store on Broadway and 77th Street. There were all kinds of intriguing things: roasted chickens, potato kugels, chopped liver but what caught my eye was the savory salt and pepper … Continue reading
Mehl Kugel When I was a teenager I spent Simchat Torah with cousins in Boro Park. At my ultra modern Yeshiva High School that was the cool thing to do and not for the most elevated reasons. In between socializing on the Avenue (13th) I ate Yom Tov meals with my cousins. They were Holocaust survivors, Yiddish speakers … Continue reading
Yes, I was a bit confused to learn that there is a recipe called Amalek Kugel. Amalek? Isn’t his evil tribe our greatest historical enemy? Wasn’t the wicked Haman his grandson? Aren’t Hitler, the Hamas terrorists, the Hizbollah, Ahamdinjead said to be his descendents? Naming a kugel after him sounded about as strange as naming … Continue reading
For the past few weeks, my youngest son has had a tummy ache of the mysterious kind. Knee jerk psychologists: this ailment is not psychosomatic. I know this kid. He isn’t being bullied or abused. This is physiological but as of today, medical science hasn’t reached the root of the trouble. The standard tests turned up nothing … Continue reading
One of the nice things about doing this blog is that I get to learn so many new and wonderful things. Take this week, Shabbat Shira. I’m a day school grad-12 years, plus sem courses , plus hours and hours of listening to Torah lectures on CD and MP3. Never until this week did I … Continue reading
It is mind-blowing to consider the ways that Torah teachings show up in Jewish cooking.This week is Shabbat Shira, when we read the Song of the Sea, Moses’s poetic prayer uttered after the sea split. This is one of the peak moments in Jewish history when, our people achieved a perfect faith and the simplest maid servant … Continue reading
