Gifted Gourmet

Recently finished "Fried Butter" by Abe Opincar ....sensory and pleasurable reminiscences and highly recommend! "Rosemary and Bitter Oranges" by Patrizia Chen which I thoroughly devoured for its vivid descriptions, humor and sentiment, a glimpse of the kitchen where the author grew up in Livorno, Italy. "Choice Cuts" by Mark Kurlansky, a most enjoyable, highly readable anthology of food writing from around the world. Described most appropriately by one reviewer as "an eclectic feast for food nerds" .

When I make Korean short ribs, I use beef short ribs, soy sauce, dry sherry, sugar, and ginger ... marinate them and grill. Very simple but deliciously succulent!!

Even though I live in Atlanta and make my own Jewish Apple Cake in the fall, I am tempted to join you! Quick question: is there also an Episcopalian Apple Cake available?

This is brought to you by the makers of Prilosec OTC .....

Welcome to eGullet from me as well, Champagne Riddler! I am looking forward to hearing more from you in the future here! I have always enjoyed reading your "take" on the local wine scene in Atlanta, as well as sharing in the wealth of the knowledge you possess!!

Rogov is the Ministry of Israeli Information Bureau Chief (on food!) ....

On my trip there recently, we ate kosher Whoppers in the Jerusalem forest behind Yad Vashem (it was the Fourth of July BTW) and a rabbi who was on our tour, wore his Burger King crown as we all cheered wildly! it was his first Whopper apparently and he was giddy with delight!

Gee, Tana, it isn't like you aren't in organic foodie heaven out there in Soquel!! Tis I who envy you!!

Assuming that it is the trip to Israel which is "imaginary" and the food you'll bring is more realia, so to speak, might you take a snapshot or two? I know, I know: manage the food, the kids, and BTW, do take pictures .... a lotta activity for one Mom!

Blais review The up-to-the-minute review of Blais this week by Bill Addison of Creative Loafing Atlanta ... (please note that it will be gone by next week, this link)

Rogov redux .. Israeli breakfasts

Now we have the emmes on what this topic was initially seeking out .. and from the very most authentic and preeminent authority on Israeli cuisine! To Jason's thank you, please allow me to add my appreciation as well, Mr. Rogov, on the clarity your article link offers us here!! I often read your articles in Ha'aretz ... with no small amount of pleasure!

A possible resource with several good ideas for flavoring the vinegar: homemade vinegars and then this: more vinegars

and perhaps meet with Daniel Rogov? That would be incredible on many levels!

I have bought and enjoyed using this red wine vinegar: Volpaia Red Wine Vinegar this vinegar

Michal, I think it important to delve deeper in to some of the "backstory" about how Israeli foods have tapped into such a global variety of sources, hence the lengthy descriptions and references. And it gives me a golden opportunity to encourage people to read Claudia Roden's marvelously interesting writing and her recipe collections ... Nothing political about delicious food, no matter what the origin! Thanks for giving us a sense of what works for Israelis who are, sadly, caught up in this entire balagan.

Caroliva 12 Year Reserve Sherry Vinegar (Jerez) from Surlatablecom is exceptionally well-flavored and I have used it in summery, peppery salads to good advantage. Additionally, I have purchased some very unusual vinegars from (where else?) Dean and Deluca: Dean and Deluca Gourmet Vinegar line

By way of a fairly straightforward bit of history on the reasoning about food for Shabbos (or Shabbat, modern day Hebrew pronunciation), may I offer those of you who would like to delve into what this is all about: Shabbos and its meals That said, this is the one meal into which I put forth considerable (for me!) effort and attention .... for tonight, I made a chicken soup with noodles, Greek salad (without feta because it is dairy and the meal was meat), roasted chicken with garlic and herbs along with new baby potatoes and carrots, acorn squash stuffed with a fresh cranberry, citrus, apple stuffing (more autumnal but who cares??), fresh roasted asparagus with a lemon sauce, and a fresh strawberry sorbet made from the first of the Watsonville berries ... well received!

A few thousand in Bombay but almost none left in Cochin. But back to food. Jews and their foods are so intimately intertwined, it is often difficult to speak of one without the other ... which is what I see in this thread ...

Okra then and okra today ... worse luck I live in a southern place in which okra is stewed (gummy!), or fried (dry and chewy!), or done in a myriad of ways... all of which I find nauseating ... and I have heard that this vegetable is either a love or hate type of thing ... and you have heard my side of it ... Time for a "group ewwww"??

To find more specifics on Israeli cuisine, you might even think about reading Joan Nathan's book:Israeli cuisine with greater explanations "Modern Israel is one of the world's great culinary melting pots, and Nathan (author of the highly successful PBS series and cookbook Jewish Cooking in America) does it justice in this exceptional and comprehensive examination of its diverse cultural lineage. Israeli flavors include those of the Middle East like Classic Israeli Eggplant Dip, new inventions such as Israeli Revisionist Haroset and imported traditions like Judith Tihany's Transylvanian Green Bean Soup. Nathan collects recipes from both ordinary Israelis including 97-year-old Shoshana Kleiner, whose instruction for her Fourth Aliyah Vegetable Soup is "Cook until cooked!" and popular restaurants, such as Jerusalem's Eucalyptus."

Let me offer you this from Amazon on this book which won Claudia Roden prizes from the literary world in her field: Roden's book Numerous recipes for you to read, savor, and enjoy .... and, if you are of a mind to do so, experiment with! a brief excerpt of the review, but which answers your question more succinctly, "The book's 800 recipes reflect many cultures and regions of the world, from the Jewish quarter of Cairo where Roden spent her childhood to the kitchens of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Both Ashkenazi and Sepharidic cooking are well represented here: hallah bread, bagels, blintzes and kugels give way to tabbouleh, falafel and succulent lamb with prunes, which are, in turn, succeeded by such fare as Ftut (Yemeni wedding soup) and Kahk (savoury bracelets)."

I also think that people interested in this topic might find additionally, much deeper insights into Israeli foods and their origins in Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day. My favorite quote from this book is: "Every cuisine tells a story. Jewish food tells the story of an uprooted, migrating people and their vanished worlds. It lives in people's minds and has been kept alive because of what it evokes and represents." -Claudia Roden Personal note here: the last trip I took to Israel under the guidance of Peter Geffen of the Heschel Schools in the U.S., studied the various "edot" or ethnicities and their foods and how they all became part of present day Israeli culture. Most engaging tour and it offered a variety of learning about the cultures and how each group living in different countries not only "picked up" but "brought in" Jewish influences. Photography books, by Frederick Brenner from France, a nice visual here: Brenner's Books Frederic Brenner wrote, "The Jews I have photographed are all contemporary, but together they reflect a full spectrum of space and time . . . Diaspora: An experience of dispossession and discontinuity. . . . The photographs enable us to see and acknowledge the multiple threads from which we are woven, to listen to and acknowledge the multiple voices within us, even when paradoxical."

Would you consider taking in a boarder???? I can wash dishes to repay you for this magnificent weekend of dining!!

So, make it parve ... not exactly the same, but definitely worth considering when the urge for cholent strikes ... and, no, you are not S.O.L. You have my sympathy, but only if you make me a loaf of your chocolate-chocolate challah!