When it comes to Jewish food and eating habits, it’s hard to isolate a single strain. That’s because the Jews have spread out among so many different countries and cultures since their exile in AD 70. C. that you would have to talk about each Jewish ethnic sect separately to understand Jewish eating habits and Jewish food. Each Jewish ethnicity borrowed recipes and dishes from their host country, be it Africa, Europe, Yemen, or the Orient. So what we’ll do is three main Ashkenazi (European) foods, three main African foods, three main Yemeni foods, and three main Eastern Jewish foods.
The most stereotypical Jewish food is that popularized by the Ashkenazi ethnic sect, coming from Europe and especially from Germany and Eastern Europe. Jewish eating habits there are influenced by the constant poverty that struck the Pale and forced Jews to eat cheap. The dishes that became a poor man’s brand back then are now cultural phenomena, mainly because Ashkenazi Jews are the most Westernized Jews and the most in touch with American culture. Therefore, when an American thinks of “Jew,” he thinks of an Ashkenazi Jew.
1) Cholent. This is a Yiddish word that I just discovered on Google Translate that means “spare parts”. I thought it meant stew, but it doesn’t. This makes a lot of sense, because the spares are essentially what is cholent. The actual food is pretty much whatever scraps you can put in a slow cooker, vegetables, meat, grains (usually barley because it’s cheap), and water, throw them in there and cook on low for 24 hours. It’s incredibly easy to make, requires no effort, and is a great dish if you have leftovers from the fridge that you don’t want to throw away. You also go to your butcher and remove the excess (bones, fat, some cut pieces of meat that nobody wanted because they are not very good), and the cholent is very cheap. However, since it cooks for such a long time, it all turns out delicious in the end. For the authentic Ashkenazi cholent, you will need some intestine stuffed with vegetable puree. This can become dangerous if you don’t clean it properly.
2) filtered fish. Once again the cheap stuff. Carp is such a bony fish that it is almost impossible to eat. That’s why it’s so cheap, and also why gefilte fish is made from carp. To get rid of the bone problem, the Ashkenazian Jews simply put everything in a grinder and pureed the fish, stuffed the skin back in, and called it a day.
3) Gribinis. Cheap again? Of course. Go to your butcher and ask him to give you the leftover skin for free. It probably will. Then you put a bunch of oil in a pan and fry things up with some onions. Very, very bad for you, but very, very good.
We can now see how cheap Ashkenazi Jews are, especially now that they have made everyone culturally aware of these foods and now everyone thinks they are delicacies or something. I’m Ashkenazi Jewish so it makes me laugh. Let’s move on to the Sephardim.
1) Hamin. This is a direct Hebrew word meaning “hot things.” It doesn’t necessarily mean spicy, but basically it’s cholent with different ingredients. Instead of garbage, the Sephardim use rice instead of barley and hard-boiled eggs instead of meat scraps. Sephardim also use spices, which Ashkenazi dishes don’t usually have much of besides salt and pepper.
2) Shakshouka. I did this really horrible (Israeli Army) and really amazing (my wife). Basically tomato sauce, paprika, baharat (google it), cilantro, parsley, onion and eggs easy fried in the juices. If it’s done right, it’s a really cool thing. Done wrong, it tastes like tomato-flavored rubber tires from your local mechanic.
3) Salv. This is a thick rose water based pudding-like drink that tastes like a combination of perfume and Pier1Imports scent. I personally think it’s disgusting.
Am I biased towards Ashkenazim? Probably. To Africa.
1) Injera. I had this at an Ethiopian absorption center in northern Israel. It’s a tasty pancake, and it’s pretty good. I hear it’s made from tif flour, a grain found in Africa.
2) Wait. A spicy sauce made from meat, vegetables, and beans. It’s what you put in injera.
3) Taj. Homemade honey wine with lemon juice.
to Yemen? Let’s do it.
1) Lamb’s head. This is exactly what it looks like. Yemenites eat it on Rosh Hashanah instead of a fish head. They basically roast everything and eat it from the skull. I intend to get one this year to try it out.
2) Jahnun. Yemenite Jewish pastry, spirally wrapped phyllo dough coated with vegetable oil and deep fried. It will make you sick, I guarantee that.
3) Araq. There is a discussion as to whether this is primarily Sephardic or Yemenite. But be that as it may, it’s a high-alcohol drink flavored with anise, my favorite drink, even though I mix it with coke.
Recent Comments