Many people argue that there is no such thing as Israeli cuisine. I find that argument ridiculous, and driven by ulterior motives, rather than a desire to actually uncover truth. Every country has its own cuisine (or cuisines), and Israel is of course no different. When I give my food talk “A Land of Milk and Mufletta: At the Crossroads […]
Tag: kosher
Kosher Pork and Soviet Failure
“When I was a little boy, I ate real kosher meat, not like this. It was tasty, it was greasy, and it was great.” “What kind of meat was it?” I ask. “It was pork,” replies Grigorii. “There are special butchers for pigs. Otherwise their meat is not kosher.”(1)“Soviet Jewish Foodways: Transformation through Detabooization,” Gennady Estraikh, in Global Jewish Foodways: […]
2021: The Year in Jewish Food
In what has now become an annual tradition, I’d like to welcome you to my Jewish Food Year in Review. To see how much (or little) has changed since last year, here is 2020’s Year in Jewish Food post. While the world has not yet fully emerged from under the cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a lot to […]
Why Hot Dogs are the Greatest American Jewish Food
American Jewish food is most typically defined as pastrami sandwiches, chocolate babka, or bagels and lox. But I am here to argue that the greatest American Jewish food may actually be the humble hot dog. No dish better embodies the totality of the American Jewish experience. What’s that you say? You didn’t know that hot dogs were a Jewish food? […]
Jewish Food? What’s THAT?!
Anyone who has been following this blog even slightly since its launch, over the last month or so, knows I use the term “Jewish Food” a lot. And if you’ve heard any of my Food Talks over the past few years, or read the “About this Site” page, you know some of my thoughts on the concept. But a recent […]
