(en castellano abajo)
To get a sense of how profoundly important Jewish rye bread is in New York culinary culture (and in Ashkenazi culture in general), I give you this clip from the Seinfeld episode I mentioned below. Thanks to “unrayochacha1981” for putting it on YouTube, and with Spanish subtitles. However – and this is a big however – he misses the point. The subtitles indicate a “marble bread” as the object of Jerry’s desperation, but it’s a “marble rye“. The rye is everything. Of course.
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Para que se entienda cuanto profunda es la importancia del pan de centeno judío en la cultura culinaria de New York (y en la cultura ashkenazi en general), os doy este trozo del episodio de Seinfeld de que he hablado abajo. Gracias a “unrayochacha1981” por ponerlo en YouTube, y además subtitulado en español. Pero – y es un pero muy grande – ha perdido el sentido! Los subtitulos indican que un “pan marmolizado” es el objecto de la desesperación de Jerry, pero es un pan de centeno marmolizado. El centeno es todo. Por supuesto.
About that rye bread… / Hablando de aquel pan de centeno…
Filed under Escrito en castellano, History
An afterthought and a happy coincidence
In the post below about ‘Ashkenazi mina‘ I referred to the adaptability of Jewish cooking (which really means Jewish cooks), but in that particular case it would be more appropriate to describe the chopped liver mina as an example of culinary crossover. Seven years living in the Med has taken a toll on my English vocabulary.
A funny thing about that post. All the while writing it I couldn’t stop thinking about really well made chopped liver, which put me onto Jewish deli food in general, and my own personal favorites growing up: garlic pickles (at age 10 I could eat a whole jarful); German cole slaw; roast turkey with cole slaw & Russian dressing on rye; rare roast beef with lettuce & mayo (I know, I know) on rye. Always the rye bread, and if you don’t understand the importance of a good rye bread, watch the Seinfeld episode about the Schnitzer’s rye. Continue reading
Filed under History, Other Reading
Ashkenazi Mina, Anyone?
Dear Janet,
My grandparents Nissim, and Virginia, originally came from Istanbul, and the area in Bulgaria just over the Turkish border. I grew up eating borekas, spinach pies, haviar (tarama), biscochos, et al. But there is one dish my grandmother made that although I’ve researched everywhere haven’t found anything remotely similar. Unfortunately no one’s left alive who can even remember what it was called. The ingredients were ground liver, raw eggs, chopped walnuts, rye bread, and possibly chopped onions/celery. The raw ingredients were combined making a paste, which was then spread into a greased baking pan about 1/2 an inch thick, the top glazed with beaten egg, and baked. When cut and served it was quite firm, and dark brown on top. Have you ever heard of anything similar?
Thanks so much for all your hard work, it’s been an enjoyable read.
Alan
Wow. When we talk about Jewish cooking being adaptive, I suspect this may be a prime – and very personal – example. Off the top of my head, this sounds like a Sephardic rendition of a classic Ashkenazi dish from Eastern Europe: chopped chicken liver. Neither rye bread nor chopped chicken liver are part of Sephardic gastronomy. Continue reading
Filed under History, Holidays (fiestas judias), Your Questions Answered
Conversion chart (weights & measures) / Conversiones (pesos y medidas)
Un lector me ha pedido explicar las medidas estadounidenses. En los Estados Unidos, en la casa generalmente se usa medidas de volumen para cualquier cosa que se puede verter o poner facilmente dentro una ‘taza’, incluido solidos – por ejemplo: harina, azucar, arroz, frutos secos y datiles triturados. Aquellos de volumen seco hay en medidas de 1 cup (tazo), 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup y 1/8 cup. Para cantidades mas pequeñas usamos el Tablespoon (cucharada ‘de mesa’ o sopera), el teaspoon (cuchara de te), y fracciones del teaspoon. Abajo os doy Continue reading
Filed under Escrito en castellano, Recipes
SEPHARDIC FOOD 