food
Raider of the Lost KnishWednesday, January 30, 2013 by Laura Silver | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
More than Hebrew School, a Torah scroll or the eternal light in the synagogue, the knish provided sanctuary. It encapsulated my identity: ethnic, funny, and grounded in the past.
The Tish and the Thanksgiving TableWednesday, November 21, 2012 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a scene in Avalon, Barry Levinson’s cinematic memoir of growing up in Baltimore with his Yiddish-speaking immigrant parents, Uncle Gabriel Krichinsky, brilliantly played by Lou Jacobi, arrives—late, as usual—for the extended Krichinsky family’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Editors' Picks
Another Post-Pesach Celebration Gabriel T. Erbs, New Voices. Two craft brewers near Portland, Oregon, celebrate Passover’s end by making Matzobraü, with crushed-up leftover matzah added to the fermenting mash. Only whole wheat matzah, of course.
Why Is Manischewitz Matzah Like the iPhone? Daniel Fromson, New Yorker. OK, the founder of the Manischewitz matzah-making company wasn’t exactly Steve Jobs. But, like Jobs, he took an existing product, tweaked and improved it, and vastly improved its image.
The Jew and the Giant Olive Natan Slifkin, Rationalist Judaism. The midrash says a person should eat an olive's worth of matzah at the Seder. But halakhists today reckon the amount required at 10 times the size of an actual olive.
Softening the Bread of Affliction Shayna Zamkanei, Times of Israel. Today, we are accustomed to square, flat, crisp matzah. But until the 19th century, Jews ate something that "looked very similar to a pita."
21st Century Lox Ron Rosenbaum, New Republic. As smoked salmon has evolved from deli staple to the pride of artisanal markets and upscale restaurants, has it lost its Jewish soul?
Cooking the Culture Talya Halkin, Jewish Review of Books. A new food culture has emerged in Jerusalem, celebrating not authenticity but new taste syntheses. Would that the same were true of the city’s politics.
Slow Food Seth Berkman, Forward. What’s holding up the ethical kashrut seal, which launched several years ago but has yet to certify a single product?
Is Kosher Meat Halal? Yasir Qadhi, muslimmatters.org. A guide for Muslims.