| When speaking about Jewish food and eating | | | | butcher and ask him to give you the leftover skin |
| habits, it's hard to isolate a single strain. That's | | | | for free. He'll probably do it. Then you put a bunch |
| because Jews have been spread out among so | | | | of oil in a pan and fry the stuff up with some |
| many different countries and cultures ever since | | | | onions. Very, very bad for you, but very, very |
| their exile in the year 70CE that you'd have to | | | | good. |
| talk about each Jewish ethnic sect separately to | | | | We can see now how cheap Ashkenazi Jews are, |
| make any sense of Jewish eating habits and | | | | especially now that they've made everyone |
| Jewish food. Each Jewish ethnicity took recipes | | | | culturally aware of these foods and now |
| and dishes from its host country, whether it be | | | | everyone thinks they're delicacies or something. |
| Africa, Europe, Yemen, or the Orient. So what | | | | I'm an Ashkenazi Jew, so it makes me laugh. Let's |
| we'll do is a top three Ashkenazi (European) | | | | move on to the Sephardim. |
| foods, top three African foods, and top three | | | | 1) Hamin. This is a straight up Hebrew word |
| Yemenite foods, and top three Oriental Jewish | | | | meaning, "Hot stuff." Doesn't necessarily mean |
| foods. | | | | spicy, but it's basically cholent with different |
| The most stereotypical Jewish food is that | | | | ingredients. Instead of garbage, the Sephardim |
| popularized by the Ashkenazi ethnic sect, coming | | | | use rice in place of barley, and hard boiled eggs |
| out of Europe and especially Germany and | | | | instead of meat scraps. Sephardim also actually |
| Eastern Europe. Jewish eating habits from there | | | | use spices, which Ashkenazi dishes don't usually |
| are influenced by constant poverty that struck | | | | have much of besides salt and pepper. |
| the Pale and forced the Jews to eat cheaply. The | | | | 2) Shakshouka. I've had this made really horribly |
| dishes that became a mark of the poor man | | | | (Israeli Army) and really amazingly (my wife). |
| back then are now cultural phenomena, mostly | | | | Basically tomato sauce, paprika, baharat (google |
| because Ashkenazi Jews are the most heavily | | | | it), cilantro, parsley, onions, and eggs fried over |
| Westernized of Jews, and the most in contact | | | | easy in the juices. If made right, it's really great |
| with American culture. Therefore, when an | | | | stuff. If made badly, it tastes like tomato-flavored |
| American thinks "Jew" he thinks Ashkenazi Jew. | | | | rubber tires from your local mechanic. |
| 1) Cholent. This is a Yiddish word that I just found | | | | 3) Sahlav. This is a rose-water based thick |
| out from Google Translate means "spares." I | | | | pudding-like drink that tastes like a combination of |
| thought it meant stew, but it doesn't. This makes | | | | perfume and Pier1Imports smell. I personally think |
| a lot of sense, because spares are essentially | | | | it's gross. |
| what cholent is. The actual food is pretty much | | | | Am I biased towards Ashkenazim? Probably. On |
| any scrap you can put in a slow-cooker, | | | | to Africa. |
| vegetable, meat, grain (usually barley because it's | | | | 1) Injera. I had this at an Ethiopian absorption |
| cheap), and water, chuck it in there and simmer it | | | | center in northern Israel. It's a savory pancake, |
| on low for 24 hours. It's incredibly easy to make, | | | | and it's pretty good. I hear it's made from tif |
| requires no effort, and is a good dish if you have | | | | flour, a grain found in Africa. |
| a bunch of refrigerator scrap left over you don't | | | | 2) Waat. A spicy sauce made of meat, |
| want to throw out. You also go to your butcher | | | | vegetables, and beans. It's what you put in injera. |
| and take his scrap (bones, fat, some meat | | | | 3) Taj. Home brewed honey wine with lemon |
| chunks cut off that nobody wanted because | | | | juice. |
| they're not very good), and your cholent comes | | | | On to Yemen? Let's do it. |
| out really cheap. Since it's cooked for so long, | | | | 1) Lamb's head. This is exactly what it sounds like. |
| though, everything turns out delicious in the end. | | | | Yemenites eat it on Rosh Hashana instead of a |
| For authentic Ashkenazi cholent, you'll need some | | | | fish head. They basically roast the whole thing and |
| intestine stuffed with pureed vegetables. This can | | | | eat it off the skull. I intend on getting one this |
| get dangerous if you don't clean it properly. | | | | year to try it out. |
| 2) Gefilte Fish. Once again the cheap stuff. Carp is | | | | 2) Jahnun. Yemenite Jewish pastry, fillo dough |
| such a bony fish that it's nearly impossible to eat. | | | | wrapped in a spiral and coated with vegetable oil |
| This is why it's so cheap, and this is also why | | | | and fried. It'll make you sick, that I guarantee. |
| gefilte fish is made out of carp. In order to get rid | | | | 3) Arak. There's an argument over whether this is |
| of the bone problem, Jews of Ashkenaz just put | | | | primarily Sephardic or Yemenite. But either way, |
| the entire thing in a grinder and made fish puree, | | | | it's an anise flavored highly alcoholic beverage, my |
| re-stuffed the skin, and called it a day. | | | | favorite drink, though I mix it with coke. |
| 3) Gribinis. Cheap again? Of course. Go to your | | | | |