Can Your Father Cook...

[markk]

I'm testing a theory here.

If you take Jewish men who are (or would be) in their 80's or older, I believe they're from a generation when men were just helpless (and clueless) in the kitchen, and certainly didn't cook. Yet I think that every Jewish man of that generation can cook Salami and Eggs.

Any opinions or rembrances?

[Pan]

My father is 77, and he is a very good cook, though for health reasons, he has mostly stopped cooking.

[sazji]

My dad's not Jewish, but if he were alive today he'd be 78. He was pretty typical for men of his generation I think - when Mom was away, we ate lots of pizza. He boiled a mean hot dog too. He was able to cook eggs, with or without salami. Not sure about oatmeal; I don't know if he was even familiar with cup/teaspoon measures etc. But he did do all the grilling of steaks, and was very good at it.

[Daniel]

My father is 62, born and raised in Manhattan.. When reading the title can your father cook, I said to myself "yeh, salami and eggs" haha.. That is also his standard answer.. So, thats one for your theory.. I wouldnt say all, but I would guess its a high percentage..

[jackal10]

How does this compare to the prelevance of being able to cook bacon and eggs (or a bacon sandwich) in he general population?

[Daniel]

Bacon is a lot harder to cook then ready to eat salami..

[Gastro888]

Can someone explain the whole eggs and salami dish? What is it exactly? I'm unfamilar with the cultural referrence. Thanks!

[Fat Guy]

Kosher salami aka beef salami, which is more like a beef version of bologna than any variant of salami really, cooks up very nicely. If you've ever had a fried bologna sandwich in the US South, you're familiar with a similar taste and texture. Salami and eggs is usually prepared as an omelette. The salami pieces are cooked in the frying pan until they brown a little, then beaten eggs are added, the mixture is allowed to set, then folded and served.

Markk, my father-in-law, who just passed away in his late 70s, was quite an accomplished cook. He had worked in food service as a teen and did all sorts of things in the kitchen. He even made his own gefilte fish. I guess he was an exception, however I think your theory is too narrow. What I've noticed is that older men -- not just Jewish ones either -- are most likely to have cooking skills that are limited to breakfast foods and particularly eggs.

[jackal10]

You mean like Matzo Brei, Steven?

Beef Salami, aka wurst or worsht, plays roughly the role of Bacon in other cusines, although it can be eaten uncooked as well. Comes in garlic and smoked flavours if you want.

In the UK it has to be Blooms. A staple of my youth...

http://www.ocado.com/webshop/getProductDet...tContainer=6583

[Carrot Top]

Can someone explain the whole eggs and salami dish?  What is it exactly?  I'm unfamilar with the cultural referrence.  Thanks!

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Salami and Eggs might be considered the Jewish cultural equivalent to the Saturday afternoon Burgers on the Grill by the WASPS (here in the US, anyway). Both, traditions that have special masculine components endowed within them. Don't ask me what, but they do.

Mimi Sheraton wrote a book called Salami and Eggs: Better than Sex?. . . .

[Pam R]

My father's entire repertoire (age 70):

Salami and Eggs (only at Passover - otherwise you're on your own)

Chicken Soup

Chopped Liver

French Fries

The Best Garlic Brisket

He doesn't even know how to BBQ.

I think it's a sign of the times. He grew up on a farm where the 'men' were out in the fields and his mother was in the kitchen churning her own butter. When they moved to the city, his mother had all these conveniences at her finger tips (you know, she could buy butter) so there was no need for him to help out. Other than a year away at university, he went from my Baba's house to living with my mother - and she did the cooking.

He's very good at peeling vegetables for you, but the dishes he makes on his own are very limited.

[markk]

Mimi Sheraton wrote a book called Salami and Eggs: Better than Sex?. . . .

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Well, she co-authored it with Alan King, who gets most of the credit (I think). At least, I remember that the majority of it is his narrative (or so I remember).

[markk]

What I've noticed is that older men -- not just Jewish ones either -- are most likely to have cooking skills that are limited to breakfast foods and particularly eggs.

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Vell, I vouldn't know. (I never met a non-Jewish person till I went away to college, and then we no longer needed their dads to cook for us.) But I have a lot of memories of Jewish men who could cook omelette-style salami and eggs when their wives weren't around, and it wasn't just the Alan King book that had reminded me of my theory, but also a comment that Itzahk Perlman had made about it once on a cooking show many years ago.

I hope everybody vill keep these stories a'comin.

[Carrot Top]

Well, she co-authored it with Alan King, who gets most of the credit (I think).  At least, I remember that the majority of it is his narrative (or so I remember).

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Right you are, markk. I'm not sure who should get most of the credit, but I should have mentioned him. I guess the picture was in my mind of him cooking away there, being endlessly entertaining, while she wrote all about it.

Probably she came to mind first because when I think of food books, I usually don't think of Alan King. But that could be a lack on my part.

[Shaya]

Mark, as the daughter of a wonderful Jewish father who would be 87 if he were still here (we lost him 4 years ago) I have to say you are really close.

My Dad was always first one up on weekends, always making omelette surprise, with lemon zest, stinky old bits of cheese, tomatoes and parsley. He also went through a big salami phase, where he'd buy it and leave it out on trays to dry it out - for him the drier the meat the better.

But Salami and eggs together? No. I wonder if this is more of an Ashkenazi dish rather than Sephardic?

[Marlene]

My father would be 84 if he were with us today, and he did all the cooking in our house and taught my brother and I how to cook and how to look for meat and produce at the supermarkets and butchers. He wasn't jewish, but for some reason, he also did the salami and eggs thing on Sunday mornings quite often.

[cakewalk]

I'm testing a theory here.

If you take Jewish men who are (or would be) in their 80's or older, I believe they're from a generation when men were just helpless (and clueless) in the kitchen, and certainly didn't cook.  Yet I think that every Jewish man of that generation can cook Salami and Eggs.

Any opinions or rembrances?

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Did you know my father?

My father never cooked. Not so much because he couldn't, but because it's not what men did in those days. (He's deceased, but he would be 85 now; born in Poland.) However, Sunday night dinner was usually salami and eggs, and it was usually made by my father. I haven't thought about this in ages, and you wouldn't believe what you're doing to my head right now. I can see him standing over the stove.

[ddtchick]

Not Jewish, but yes. My dad spent about 35 years in the restaurant business and cooked at home most of the time. He passed away 3 years ago, but even in poor health he could still put my mom to shame.

Edited January 17, 2007 by ddtchick (log)

[annecros]

Not Jewish at all, but Dad made the best omelette I have ever eaten to this day. Always when Mom was sick or away, and loaded with onion, bell pepper and green tomatoes. It was what he did with the egg that made it wonderful, and I still am not sure what that was. I make a mean omelette myself, but not up to Dad's standards. Of course, I may be fuzzy eyed with affection.

Other than that, the grill on Saturday or an occasional fish fry were his only contributions.

[fatmat]

Cultural curve ball... From UK. My father had what I think might be a UK dad's equivalent - Dad's Stew - AKA Brown Stuff (He's 76 btw). It seemed to be the only thing he could cook, brown, lumpy, beef, spuds and carrots. It appeared on the menu once a month, whether we wanted it or not. That one was always a quiet meal!!

He can also boil an egg and make a cup of tea

[dvs]

not sure if my jewish dad counts (he'll be 65 in april) but he LOVES to cook & is great in the kitchen. his love for cooking came after he & my mom divorced and he married his 2nd wife (aka the "Y" <why!!> wife), who was a chef. now he & his "z" wife get to enjoy his love of cooking nightly (as do i when i make it back east). AND he makes a mean "Bouchon" roasted chicken AND has given TK some tips for improvement

[Fat Guy]

I think everything changed post-WWII. It's not surprising to me to see male boomers and even those born just before the boom (since their formative years would also be post-WWII) have a wide variety of cooking skills.

[scubadoo97]

My dad would be 81 if he were still alive but he did very little if any cooking that I can remember. He did like salami and eggs but my mom cook it. I do remember him making his own breakfast on occasion. Toast with cheese in the toaster oven. I think that's as far as it got.

[amapola]

My own father, not jewish and in his early 60's, is a very able cook. Though the dishes he cooks are not very exotic or creative, he has a wide range of tasty meals he turns out for himself on a daily basis. He even used to do most of the cooking when I was a kid, since my mom was a working mom and he a stay-at-home dad.

My father in law, jewish and in his mid 70's, is also a very able cook. When it comes to eggs and sausages, that is. On one of the first occasions we met he announced with great pride and humour that he only knows how to put toghether ONE meal, but since it's eggs and sausages, it's not THAT big a problem that he doesn't know how to cook anything else.

[markk]

I think everything changed post-WWII. It's not surprising to me to see male boomers and even those born just before the boom (since their formative years would also be post-WWII) have a wide variety of cooking skills.

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For sure! When I see male boomers today discussing their experiences with demi-glace and posting photos of the incredible things they've cooked, I chuckle in amazement at the thought of my dad who could slice Hebrew National salami, sizzle it, scramble some eggs and add them to cook in the grease, and who, if he were here today to overhear two modern male boomers discussing cooking, would think they were talking Martian.