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Cool kebabs up there, eh? All skewered with their slices of vegetables, ready for the grill. There might be sleeker, fancier places to shop for kosher food in Brooklyn. But when I told my son I wanted to visit a typical kosher supermarket, he took me to Landau’s, on 4510-18th Avenue.
My son asked the owner, a taciturn older man, for permission to take photographs. He explained that I’m from Israel and write a food blog. They spent long minutes talking: my son may have had to explain what a blog is. I offered my business card. Mr. Landau inspected me mistrustfully but finally decided that I looked legitimate and nodded yes, summoning his own son to show us around.
I was dazzled by the display of gefulte fish.
Now how about this smoked cholent meat? I’d never even heard of smoked cholent meat. My ignorant Israeli eyes were being opened to the true meaning of kosher gourmandaise.
It’s a fairly large place. Lots and lots of products, and lots of different people, too.
A tall blond dressed in a black suit and stiletto heels stood out from the Jewish housewives and kids in strollers. She pushed her shopping cart around in a hurry, probably hungry for dinner after a long day in a high-powered office. A man dressed in an extremely clean striped T-shirt and shorts, dreadlocks bobbing around his face, stopped dead in front of her cart. He started talking in a language that wasn’t English, and may not have been anybody’s language but his own. The blond’s face froze. He gestured and babbled and wouldn’t budge, and the blond was trapped in the back of the shop with him.
My son and I exchanged glances. We’ll help her, we communicated silently. He walked over and put himself between the man and the blond’s shopping cart, saying, “Excuse me, can I just get this…?” and reached up for something on a shelf. That freed the blond, who freed, fled. The man with the dreads switched to English, mumbling, “Why are you all Jewish? Stop being Jewish.” And went his disoriented way.
In Israel, someone would have led him out of the store. In Brooklyn, nobody even said anything to him. Other people had noticed, but nobody was going to get involved. In Israel, everybody gets involved, all the time. I suppose that in our small society, you can size people up more or less, and know how they’re going to react. In big New York, strangers are unpredictable and may become dangerous.
Talk about culture shock.
Any fresh food
or packaged food
is available at Landau’s, or so it seemed to me. And all kosher.
I wandered around the aisles, enjoying shocks of nostalgia when some product from my childhood caught my eye. Maypo breakfast cereal! I still remember the jingle: “Every single morning, I want my Maypo!”
But what really struck me, forcefully and not for the last time, was how much folks in the States require convenience from their food. It’s becoming like that in Israel, too. I just hope that the kitchen influences of all the grandmas and grandpas linger in the Israeli mind, so that we don’t lose the precious heritages of our ethnic foods.
I was starting to feel a little lonely for the warmth of Hebrew – I, who have never been able to drop my American accent and whose aleph-beit vocabulary shrinks when I get flustered. Not exactly homesick; I was too happy, being with my boy. Who’s 30 years old and a big, scary guy. (What can you do, a Jewish mother is a Jewish mother.)
But my boy knew what to do – he took me to Mansoura Bakery in King’s Highway. There, we found the petite, vivacious Josiane, whose sparkling friendliness and French-accented Hebrew made me feel at home right away.
Not to mention the fabulous confections and pastries in the shop. Like this rich baklava. Enough to drive all thoughts of dieting right out of your mind.
But I was able to withstand temptation because of these hand-made, pistachio-stuffed, sugar-free chocolates.
Magical. In fact, the whole shop was magical, with it’s European air and Mediterranean delicacies.
Another kosher bakery on Kings Highway is Sababa. My son is friends with the owner, who allowed me to photograph his tempting baked goods -
and even to descend a steep staircase to the basement, where the work is done.
We were just leaving Kings Highway, when this sign stopped me in my tracks.
Isn’t it strange to have felt a shock? I’m used to seeing young soldiers with their rifles everywhere in Israel. I hardly see the guns anymore. Yet realizing that shooting a cop is a common enough crime to warrant this sign – well, it rattled me.
Other things amused me, like the bottles in this Russian liquor store.
Notice the one in the shape of a machine gun, in the back right-hand side. Draw your own conclusions.
I loved this wall mural, a big advertisement for a laundromat. There isn’t much street art in Brooklyn, I noticed. But this mural, cleverly using protruding bricks for the girl’s ironing board, was great.
One of the highlights of my Brooklyn experience was meeting with my friend Leda Meredith, who has contributed guest posts here at Israeli Kitchen.
Leda – dancer, choreographer, writer, authority on locavore life and sustainable food, and I – Jewish matron, doulah, soapmaker and writer, have been email friends for ten years. Two women as different as a robin and a hen, but meeting and chatting was natural and easy. Leda gave me a copy of her latest book, The Locavore’s Handbook. I’ll be blogging about the book and about Leda herself in a later post.
Is that all there was of New York for me? Of course not. There were mornings spent in museums, interviews with people I work for – or just found interesting- a delicious kosher Chinese meal, horrible coffee at Starbucks, tramping around with my son, a kaleidoscope of impressions. But for now, and it’s 4:30 in the jet-lagged morning, it’s enough.
Feel like hearing about my trip to Calgary? I’ll write about it if you like, and that will be Part 3.
It had been 33 years since I’d last set foot on American soil.
Culture shock, I thought. Be prepared for a different U.S. than the one you left three decades ago. Even the English you speak is going to be different – antiquated, maybe.
And you’re going to be moving among thousands of people who don’t consider you their distant cousin, as everyone in small-scale Israel does.
And so things proved to be. In Manhattan I rubbernecked like a yokel. In Brooklyn I entered a shop and asked, “Would you have such a thing as an umbrella?” and they looked at me as if I’d fallen from outer space. I sometimes felt the alone-ness and paranoia of the subway ride.
A week in New York with my son. A week in Texas to see my Mom. Then a visit with my sister Dina in in Calgary. Dina is the author of Alberta Musts, a travel book describing 101 must-see places in Alberta. She took me to Banff, a small gem of a town set among the Rocky Mountains, and to many other places new to me.
I was amazed, amused, awed. Horrified and thrilled. Follow me, gentle reader, and I’ll show you the marvels of my three weeks in North America.
New York: Chinatown
My son took me on a stroll through Chinatown.
Chinese banks, a huge Buddhist temple.
Greengrocers, some set up on the sidewalk
And fishmongers.
A convenient pushcart for lunch in a hurry.
A traditional herbal pharmacy where the doctor sits in the back room, ready to feel your pulses and prescribe herbs. The pharmacist measures the dried leaves and roots and twists up an origami envelope in a second. I bought a moxa stick in one of those pharmacies.
And stared wistfully down basement doors that advertised 15-minute foot massages and acupuncture. I would have liked a foot massage, but there was no time.
A grocery store displayed these heavy mortars without pestles. I wonder why no pestles. Too dangerous if dropped, breaking a customer’s toe? Theft prevention? Although it would have to be a muscular thief to spirit one of those granite mortars away.
I loved the red and gold in the shops. In this Westernized bakery, the decorations were rather sparse.
Although some of their goodies seemed very traditional.
Keeping kosher as I do, I ate nothing from Chinatown. But I enjoyed looking, and asking, and talking to the shop owners if they were willing. The owner of a diner allowed me to take photographs, although I wasn’t buying anything.
Are those mounds of white stuff tofu?
Leaving Chinatown, I snapped these friendly movers. I wonder why guys on trucks smile at me and give me thumbs-up…maybe it’s just nice to be appreciated.
movers-new-york
Tomorrow another phase of my travels – Brooklyn and its kosher eateries. Stay tuned for Part Two.
Hot-weather recipes. Living in the hot, humid center of Israel, I naturally accumulated a bunch of them. Easy-going chicken recipes; lots of fish; some breads. Desserts that sit lightly. Here’s a roundup of the best, for your hot-weather cooking.
Soup:
Chicken:
Nut/Herb-Crusted Chicken Fillets
Vegetables:
Eggs:
Fish:
Grilled Sea Bass in Spicy Lemon Marinade
Quick Breads:
Desserts:
Israeli Kitchen is going to be taking it slow for the next three weeks while I’m traveling to the States. New posts will appear on Mondays because two friends have kindly contributed guest posts, and I’ve scheduled posts of my own to appear. While I silently work the mechanism behind a curtain.
So check in on Mondays for the new posts.
I look forward to my trip to the States, where much of my family lives – and to my return. Although the Little One already shows promise of a serious cooking talent, I know that she and Husband will be happy to have me back in my Israeli Kitchen.
Strange. I feel as if this blog is a living, breathing thing that I’m leaving at home. Pity I can’t take it with me in my luggage. But you, reader, are in my mind every day and so in a way, I’ll be taking you along. Shhh, though, don’t tell the Little One. She’ll get jealous.
See you in July!
A glitch occurred in my last post, which is now fixed. Click on the links and they’ll take you to the recipes.
Enjoy, and Chag Sameach!
Update: sign up by May 14th for early-bird discount.
Amphora Events Presents:
Seminar for Writers, Bloggers, Writers and Web Publishers
Speakers:
Karin Kloosterman, Editor of Green Prophet Blog
The Ethical Line Between Blogging and Journalism
When it comes to readers, and the international community, your blog can be presumed to be “news.” How do you match ethical guidelines of journalism, and your readers, while keeping the budget low and the quality high? For journalists looking to break into the world of blogging, bloggers interested in becoming published journalists, and everyone in between.
Eran Davidov of Israel Catalog
Nice Blog, But Are You Making Any Money?
Learn to generate revenue from your online writing. Monetize your blog effectively with affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, search-engine optimization (SEO), and more – without alienating your loyal readers.
- Hear current thinking on these vital topics
- Meet and network with other writers
************
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Time: 19:00-22:00
Location: East-West House, Yaffo
New Early-Bird Special : NIS 65 with registration by Friday, May 14th
NIS 75 with pre-registration from Sunday May 16-23
NIS 85 at the door
Refreshments will be served.
About the speakers:
Karin Kloosterman is founder and editor of Green Prophet (www.greenprophet.com), an environment news website covering the Middle East. Blogging for Hufffington Post, the world’s most popular blog, and others, she is an experienced freelance journalist with articles published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. She is also an associate editor at ISRAEL21c (www.israel21c.org).
Eran Davidov is Director of Marketing at Tal-Shahar Marketing Ltd., home of Israel Catalog (www.israel-catalog.com), and an MBA candidate. Active in the Israeli internet scene since 2003, he has in-depth experience working with bloggers to promote online products through affiliate marketing, SEO and more.
Event Coordinators: Miriam Kresh (Israeli Kitchen)
and Hannah Katsman (A Mother in Israel)
Amphora Events Presents:
A Seminar for Bloggers, Journalists, Writers, and Web Publishers
Speakers:
Karin Kloosterman, Editor of Green Prophet Blog
The Ethical Line Between Blogging and Journalism
When it comes to readers, and the international community, your blog can be presumed to be “news.” How do you match ethical guidelines of journalism, and your readers, while keeping the budget low and the quality high? For journalists looking to break into the world of blogging, bloggers interested in becoming published journalists, and everyone in between.
Eran Davidov of Israel Catalog
Nice Blog, But Are You Making Any Money?
Learn to generate revenue from your online writing. Monetize your blog effectively with affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, search-engine optimization (SEO), and more – without alienating your loyal readers.
- Hear current thinking on these vital topics
- Meet and network with other writers
************
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Time: 19:00-22:00
Location: East-West House, Yaffo
Admission: NIS 75 with advance registration, NIS 85 at the door.
Refreshments will be served.
About the speakers:
Karin Kloosterman is founder and editor of Green Prophet (www.greenprophet.com), an environment news website covering the Middle East. Blogging for Hufffington Post, the world’s most popular blog, and others, she is an experienced freelance journalist with articles published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. She is also an associate editor at ISRAEL21c (www.israel21c.org).
Eran Davidov is Director of Marketing at Tal-Shahar Marketing Ltd., home of Israel Catalog (www.israel-catalog.com), and an MBA candidate. Active in the Israeli internet scene since 2003, he has in-depth experience working with bloggers to promote online products through affiliate marketing, SEO and more.
Event Coordinators: Miriam Kresh (Israeli Kitchen)
and Hannah Katsman (A Mother in Israel)
Today we remembered our fallen soldiers, the men and women who died defending Israel. The radio played songs that brought tears to the eyes, all day. The TV showed life stories of the fallen, from 1948 till today, one after the other.
We don’t keep a TV, but I watched some of these biographies at a friend’s house a few years ago. One girl soldier’s story pierced my heart, because of her smile. I don’t remember her name, but I’ll never forget her smile. Photographs, some showing her as a toddler in kindergarten, dressed as Queen Esther for the Purim play. Some showed a pretty young woman in her khaki uniform. In each one, the same exuberant white smile against olive skin and dark hair. A smile that said, “Shalom! Let’s be friends!”
She was riding in a jeep one day, not far from the army base. It ran over a mine. She died.
That wrenching smile, that smile so full of energy, and fun, and – life. She should have been a middle-aged woman by now. A busy mother, maybe even a young grandmother.
Well. I don’t question why – what’s the point? It’s not for us know everything. But I honored the pretty young soldier today as I stood for the siren during the two-minute national meditation. Traffic stopped, people left their cars to stand in the road, arms crossed, staring at the ground. I, in my kitchen, leaned against the sink and covered my eyes. It was her image that rose in my mind.
Why her, over the soldiers who fought and suffered and died in combat?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have three daughters myself. The two oldest didn’t serve in the army: one married young, one left Israel early to pursue advanced studies in the States. The Little One plans to do National Service. But all the men in my family have served. In Europe, in Korea, in Vietnam, and when we came to live in Israel, one served in Lebanon. My younger brother. He never told my parents that he’d been “inside” till he was released, because of what they went through during the older brother’s service in Vietnam.
Anybody’s son. Anybody’s daughter. They are my sons, my daughters, my friends and neighbors. My people.
… Girl-chick, whoever you were in life, I thought of you. I hope your parents and siblings learned to accept your departure, at least enough to let them keep going. If you had a boyfriend, I hope his heart mended. I hope your tikkun was completed.
Day faded away. With nightfall came the yearly miracle – the people cast their mourning aside and took up celebration instead. People are out in the streets right now, dancing, gawping at fireworks, singing along at sing-alongs. Jews stream along the streets, proud and joyful.
And me? I’m home typing this. The Little One is out dancing with her school mates. Husband drinks tea and watches the fireworks from our little balcony – we rush out there when we hear the distant booms. I drink wine and raise the glass to Israel’s 62nd year.
I liked this list of substitutes for common ingredients on Passover. You might find it useful too.
Israeli Food Bloggers you’re invited!
Join me and Michelle from Baroness Tapuzina to talk food, trade cooking secrets and just have fun getting to know one another. Our first meeting was great fun – this one will be too.
When: Thursday, March 18, 2010
What Time: 20:00
Where: Casserole, Lilenblum 3, Neve Tzedek
Miriam: mimi[at]israelikitchen[dot]com or
Michelle: baroness[at]baronesstapuzina[dot]com
