cakewalk

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? I grew up in a kosher home. My father was a kosher butcher. He didn?t own his own shop, but worked in a meat packing factory in the Bronx. This pretty clearly defined how we ate. We literally ate red meat of some sort every night (except Sundays, when my mother refused to cook), to the point where my siblings and I used to moan, "steak AGAIN?!!?" quite often. But my mother did not like to cook and was not very adventurous at all (although she did make great soups). Dinner was usually broiled steak or hamburgers, potatoes of some sort, and a "vegetable" (which meant canned corn or canned peas and carrots). Sometimes a salad. The only spices I remember in the house were salt and sweet paprika. When I got older of course I ate plenty of non-kosher foods. I can remember years of going to steak houses with friends and listening to everyone rave. And I remember being very puzzled. I always wanted to rave along with them about how wonderful this or that steak was, but the truth is that I never ate anything that came even close to the quality of the meats my father brought home. I do think the restaurant stuff was cooked better (my mother had a fear of seeing any speck of red on a piece of meat, but as we got older we harrangued her enough that she did try to change that), but I remember even "back then" being able to distinguish between how it was cooked and the actual quality of the meat. The steak restaurants simply didn?t come close. These days I keep kosher again, but, unfortunately, my dad is no longer around to bring home the bacon, er, steak. I rarely eat red meat at all. Was meal time important? Oh yes. We all had to be there, and usually were, especially Friday nights. Even after I was living on my own, I used to go home for dinner Friday nights. It was always chicken soup, chicken, chopped liver, hallah. When we were kids it would just be the boiled chicken from the soup. As we got older we rebelled and my mother always made roast chicken as well. That was a treat. Was cooking important? Feeding was important. Cooking was what my mother did to enable her to feed her family. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? I?m sorry, I can?t take this seriously. Where else would we put our elbows? Who cooked in the family? My mother. Sigh. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? That hazarai? Restaurant meals were virtually non-existent. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? No kiddy table, no guests. But there were always, always people over, and they almost always ate with us. It really is a different concept. People dropped by, they stayed for a while, they ate with us. With four kids in the family, someone?s friends would be there more often than not. They were not considered guests, they were just there. If they were hungry, they ate with us. It was a whole different world, and in truth I miss the spontaneity of it. When did you get that first sip of wine? Passover seder. I remember telling my father, "it?s very hot in here," and he laughed and said "it isn?t hot, it?s because of the wine." Was there a pre-meal prayer? No prayers. As we approached adolescence my older sister and I were extremely antagonistic toward one another, and the dinner table was the only place we absolutely could not avoid close proximity. Prayer meant "can?t you two sit quietly just this once?" The answer was usually no. If it got really bad my father would have a fit, and we would shut up. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? Just the Friday night menu. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? It?s just me, but if I had a family I doubt I?d replicate much of it at all. I?m more interested in cooking for the sake of cooking now. Not that "feeding" is not important, I love to have friends over or bring stuff in to work. But there is a much greater distinction now between the "cooking" part and the "feeding" part. Or perhaps a much greater integration of these two aspects. I'm really not sure which it is.

An apartment building I used to live in in Jerusalem was once infested with scorpions. Really. I swore I would never complain about cockroaches again.

FYI, there is a cheese store on 9th Avenue and I think 44th Street, Northwest side. It might be 45th or 43rd, come to think of it, but it's definitely northwest side. Edit -- it's on 9th Ave. between 43rd and 44th.

Suvir -- thanks for putting these threads all together and tying them with a bow. I'm looking forward to the eGullet Indian dinner -- it will actually be my first Indian meal! And then hopefully I'll retain the memory of some tastes and ideas to use as a basis so when I start (slowly, tentatively!) to cook even the most basic Indian recipe, at least I'll have some idea of what it is supposed to taste like.

Last Wednesday's NY Times had an article on pomegranates, and I'm pretty sure it included recipes. You can probably find it on their website.

Why is it treif? Its only cheese and cream and beautiful flavor embellishments. Its not treif, its dairy. Yes, you're right. The word "steak" threw me off, I was sure it was in the recipe along with the rest, but it isn't. So much for careful reading and seeing what we expect to see. My apologies, and thanks for pointing it out. Because I might actually give this a try if I'm feeling particularly ambitious. (Suvir -- is it on the menu for the dinner at Diwan by any chance?)

Cheese! Cream sauce! Oy vay! This thread has been such a tease. I waited and waited and finally get the recipe -- and it's treif! Damn! But it tastes good in my imagination.

There are two (two!!) Mitchel London cafes on Ninth Avenue -- one on the corner of 40th, the other (a larger one) between 35th and 36th. I stopped in there one afternoon only to discover that they close at 5:00, and it was 4:50, so of course I left. This past Sunday I thought I'd give it a try. And guess what? They're closed on Sundays (both of them). So now it's a challenge -- Mitchel London or bust! I have to try those apple tarts.

This veggie eats eggs and dairy, no problem. Counting the days.

I cook for people who don't feel bad. And, especially, for those who do. i pity those who don't cook for people who feel bad. I feel for people who cook for bad people. I feel people who cook and aren't bad people. For I cook people who don't feel bad. I don't cook for bad people. Don't feel bad, for I cook people. Feel bad for people who I don't cook. I don't feel bad for cook people. I don't cook, I feel bad. I cook. I feel. I bad.

The whole thing sounds wonderful, and I must admit I am becoming curiouser and curiouser with each additional post. But I have one question that need be asked. Macrosan: will you dance for us like your avatar?

Helena, thanks for that link. According to the info, it seems that what you drink should depend on how hot the food is. Since we're having a range of spice levels (is that right?) it looks like we're pretty wide open re: what to bring for drinks. Recommendations went from ale and lager to various different whites to "really big macho reds" (I don't dare ask). Nina, if you're keeping track of who is bringing what, at some point please let us know if anything is "missing." And I'll bring some of that. And if nothing is missing, then I'll bring something else. Thanks to all of you who are working on the organization of this dinner. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Try these: bawarchi.com and/or CuisineCuisine.com glossary Thanks, Suzanne! Bawarchi.com has a great glossary.

I think I need a glossary.

I'm in for a veggie meal. Great idea, Suvir!

How can anyone hope to de-emphasize the middle-eastern heritage of HALVAH, for goodness sake!!??! Anyway, chocolate covered halvah even beats out chunkies. And that's saying something.

Yes, and just a bit of lemon juice. Straight to the jugular. Yum. I never ate avocadoes until I moved to Israel, where I used to buy them by the kilo. In NY they're close to two bucks apiece! Scandalous. Thanks for that recipe, Soba, that's a "must do."

I don't see any reason to apologize for not knowing something. I'd be apologizing 24 hours a day if that were necessary. I think the point is that it might not be such a good idea to disparage something (e.g., vegetarianism) if your knowledge of it is less than perfect. Come to think of it, even if your knowledge is perfect! (Being a gourmet does not mean having nothing left to learn!) It comes off as being quite arrogant, which may not be what you intended. I think macrosan had it right way back in the beginning of this thread when he mentioned the need for smileys (an idea jaybee has drummed repeatedly into my head ).

Um, are you serious about the fennel, or am I just gullible? Some people have, shall we say, different imaginations than others. I'm certainly no gourmet, but I was indeed a vegetarian for quite some time. I never ate "a nice dish of boiled carrots" in my life -- not on the side, not anywhere! Enjoy your roast chicken, but you are indeed missing out, IMO.

Ahem. Some people disagree with that assessment.

Oh yes indeedy! Aside: when I lived in Jerusalem I worked at an institute for Jewish Studies, and many of the students were from the States. During the Gulf War period, there were fewer than the regular number of applications for that January semester. As D-Day drew nearer, the American office kept sending silly messages like, "Can we help you in any way?" or "Can we do anything for you?" Our pat answer was: "Yes -- send chocolate!" And one day, in the middle of the damned war, this new kid walks into the office with a huge plastic bag filled with -- M&M's (plain and peanuts), Kitkats, Mounds bars, Hershey's kisses, you name it, it was in there. And it helped, oh boy did it help!

Chunkies.

Forgive this most basic question from one who is still learning to crawl, never mind walk, but: what does that mean? Exactly what would I be doing at this step? Thanks. "Deglazing" means: after you take the stuff out of the pot, pour in a little liquid and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (called the "fond"). Keep scraping those bits up into the liquid as it boils. As long as the fond isn't burned, it has a ton of flavor -- after all, it's the concentrated juices from the veg and chix. Plus this makes it MUCH easier to clean the pan later. I'll bet you've been doing this all your life; but now you know what it's called. Suzanne, thanks so much. Yes, I have been doing that sort of thing for a long time. HOWEVER -- I usually do it only to clean the pot! IOW -- after I've scraped, I dump everything. I take it that's not what to do here? This stuff becomes part of the stock? Thanks again, this is a definite "do."

Forgive this most basic question from one who is still learning to crawl, never mind walk, but: what does that mean? Exactly what would I be doing at this step? Thanks.

Liver. Liver liver liver. Anything that squiggles.