קאָקאָשעס

אינעם נײַעם נומער פֿאָרװערטס שרײַבט שׂרה־רחל שעכטער װעגן װי מיקראָכװאַלניק־קאָקאָשעס קאָנען ענק איבערפּעקלען אױף יענער־װעלט, אױב עץ האָט נאָך געװאָלט הערן װײַטער אַ טעם פֿאַרװאָס נישט צו „קאָכן“ מיט די אָ שרעקלעכע כּלי־מװת.

קאָקאָשעס קאָן מען בעסער, גרינגער, און גיכער מאַכן אין אַ טאָפּ. עץ װײסט שױן װאָס הײסט אַ טאָפּ? אַ טאָפּ זעט אױס אַזױ. פֿראַגעס?

קאָקאָשעס

גיסט'ץ אָן אַ ביסל בױמל אין טאָפּ. גיט'ץ צו גענוג קאָקאָשעס זײ זאָלן באַדעקן דעם פֿלאַך, אָבער נישט מער.

דעקט'ץ צו דעם טאָפּ, און שטעלט אים איבערן פֿלאַם. עץ װעט באַלד הערן מוזיק פֿון די טאַנצנדיקע קאָקאָשעס. גיט'ץ אַ מאָל אַ שאָקל דעם טאָפּ. נאָך אַ צװײ־דרײַ מינוט, װען עץ הערט מער נישט קײן קלאַנגען, זענען זײ גרײט. עץ מעגט צוגעבן פּוטער און זאַלץ אױף װיפֿל עץ װילט.

איך האָב זיך הײַנט דערמאָנט אין „פֿאַרמער בױ(Farmer Boy)” אין װעלכן אונדזער העלד טראַכט װעגן קאָקאָשעס׃

Almanzo and sat on the footstool by the stove, an apple in his hand, a bowl of popcorn by his side, and his mug of cider on the hearth by his feet. He bit the juicy apple, then he ate some popcorn, then he took a drink of cider. He thought about popcorn.

Popcorn is American. Nobody but the Indians ever had popcorn, till after the Pilgrim fathers came to America. On the first Thanksgiving Day, the Indians were invited to dinner, and they came, and they poured out on the table a big bagful of popcorn. The Pilgrim Fathers didn't know what it was. The Pilgrim Mothers didn’t know, either. The Indians had popped it, but it probably wasn't very good. Probably they didn't butter it or salt it, and it would be cold and tough after they had carried it around in a bag of skins.

Almanzo looked at every kernel before he ate it. They were all different shapes. He had eaten thousands of handfuls of popcorn, and never found two kernels alike. Then he thought that if he had some milk, he would have popcorn and milk.

You can fill a glass full to the brim with milk, and fill another glass of the same size brim full of popcorn, and then you can put all the popcorn kernel by kernel into the milk, and the milk will not run over. You cannot do this with bread. Popcorn and milk are the only two things that will go into the same place.

From Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

קאָקאָשעס מיט מילך

פֿילט אָן אײן שיסל מיט קאָקאָשעס און אַ צװײטן מיט מילך. שיט אַרײַן די קאָקאָשעס, אײנע מיט אַ מאָל, אין מילך אַרײַן.

גײ װײס! עס אַרבעט!

Wow, it works! The popcorn dissolves in milk almost like Styrofoam in acetone. It makes a delicious bowl of cold cereal.

אַ האָזימע

יחיאל שרײַבמאַן

אַ האָזימע

־עפּעס געדענק איך, מאַמע, אין ראַשקעװ, אַ װאָרט "האָזימע". װאָס הײסט עס, האַ?

־װאָס הײסט װאָס סע הײסט? האָזימע הײסט האָזימע.

־יאָ, אָבער מיט װאָס עסט מען עס?

־מיטן מױל, מיט די צײן עסט מען עס.

־װי אַזױ זשע, אַ שטײגער, מאַכט מען אַ האָזימע?

־װאָס הײסט װי אַזױ? מע נעמט צװײ זשמעניעס טונקל מעל, אַ דרײַ־פֿיר זשמעניעס פּאַפּשױ־מעל, סע שאַט ניט אַ פּאָר געלבלעך, אױב ס'איז דאָ, אַ לעפֿל בױמל, אַ קאַפּעלע סאָדע, סע שאַט ניט אַ ביסל האָניק צי אַ שטיקל סטעלניק, אַ קאַפּעלע זאַלץ, פֿאַרשטײט זיך, אַ מין פֿערטל גלאָז מעלעץ, מע פֿאַרקנעט עס האַרט, מע קאַטשעט עס אױס אַ צװײ פֿינגער די גרעב, מע קאַרבט אײַן קעסטעלעך, אין יעדער קעסטעלע אַ מעסערשטאָך, מע באַשפּרענקלט עס מיט אַ לעק פּאַפּשױנע קלײַען, מע זעצט עס אײַן אין אױװן אין אײנעם מיטן ברױט, און ס'האָסטו דיר אַ האָזימע.

־װען זשע עסט מען די האָזימע?

־װען מע װיל. אַ שטײגער, שבת פֿאַר נאַכט. מיט אַ סלאָיִקל װײַנשל צי מיט אַ טעלערל טשאָלנט־באַרלעך. סע קרישעט זיך און סע צעגײט זיך ממש אין מױל.

־און דאָס איז עס אין גאַנצן?

־יאָ. כ'האָב גאָר פֿאַרגעסן. ס'גלאַװנע, בשעת מע מאַכט די האָזימע דאַרף מען די גאַנצע צײַט האַלטן אין דער מחשבֿה, זי זאָל געראָטן, זי זאָל זײַן באַטעמט און זי זאָל נושׂה־חן זײַן, זון מײַנער...

A Hozime (sort of rhymes with Zossima)

by Yekhiel Shraybman (translation by the chocolate lady)

--I seem to recall the word “hozime” from Rashkov; What does it mean, Mother?

--What do you mean, ‘what does it mean?’? It means hozime!

--But what do you do with it?

--You eat it with your mouth, with your teeth.

--How would you make a hozime, for instance?

--What do you mean how? You take two handfuls of buckwheat flour, about three or four handfuls of maize flour, and a couple of yolks wouldn’t hurt, and if you have it, a spoonful of oil, a little soda, a little honey or a piece of honeycomb wouldn’t hurt, a little salt, of course, and about a quarter cup of sugar. You knead it well, and roll it out to a finger’s thickness; you score it into squares, and poke a hole in each square with a knife. You sprinkle it with a bit of maize bran, and you put it in the oven together with the bread, and there’s your hozime.

--When would you eat hozime?

--Whenever you want. For instance on a shabes afternoon with a jar of sour cherry preserves, or a dish of stewed pears. It crumbles up and it literally melts in your mouth.

--And that’s all?

--Yes. Oh, I completely forgot! The main thing is, when you make the hozime, you should be thinking the whole time that it should come out well, and be delicious, and delight everyone, my son. . . .

װאָס הײסט עס
What is it (lit: what is it called)

מיט װאָס עסט מען עס
What is it for? What do you do with it? (lit: how do you eat it)

I came across this dialog here. I am not familiar with this word or this recipe from any other source—has anyone heard of hozime? Made it? Tasted one? I feel I really ought to try it, but I would like to have more of a clue as to how it is supposed to turn out—sort of like shortbread? But with only one spoonful of oil? Maybe it was a pretty big spoon. I just had another thought. If the yolks are optional, we can make the yolk-free version of these lost-and-found cookies for Karina.

גאָלדענע רענדלעך

Summer squash from Maxwell Farm

קאַבאַקלעך

גאָלד לײַכט אַרױס פֿון דער בלאָטע
Gold shines through the mud.

Cherries in Yiddish and Other Languages

Left to right Montrmorency Cherries (pie cherries), Bing cherries, Ranier Cherries, and Morello cherries

I picked up two kinds of sweet cherries and two kinds of sour cherries at the market on Friday. Since this post is in English, I could have written that I got four kinds of cherries, but in Yiddish, sweet cherries (karshn קאַרשן ) and sour cherries (vaynshl װײַנשל ) have different names and are considered two entirely different ingredients. Botanically, they are two different species. Sweet cherries are prunus avium and sour cherries are prunus cerasus.

It is nice and cool now, and I will get around to baking something, but so far, I am just nibbling them on their own.

Montrmorency Cherries are face-scrunchingly sour, but kapow, they come with an amazingly bright, lollypop-cherry finish that makes you want the next one even more. Many cherry websites will tell you that sour cherries need to be cooked, and are too sour to eat out of hand, but you may find you get used to them almost immediately. The Morello cherries are tart, but not as sour as the Montmorency cherries, and they have a big, mouth-filling cherry and berry flavor. The Ranier Cherries are mildly sweet and flowery. The Bing cherries are intensely sweet and winy. They are the cherries immortalized in countless Yiddish poems and songs (like this one), and the phrases below.

ברױן װי אַ קאַרש
Brown as a cherry

שװאַרץ װי אַ קאַרש
Black as a cherry

אַז עס גײט די סדרה קרח, קומט אױף׃ קאַרשן, רעטעך, כרײן
In the week of Korakh (two weeks ago, this year), cherries, radishes, and horseradish appear (In Yiddish, the initial letters of these words spell “korakh”)

װי זײ שטײען און גײען
As they are; on their own

Other healthgiving foods, slow and fast, are to be found at Sweetnicks.
Food and Drink, Recipes, Cooking, Food, Vegetarian, vegetables, vegan, antioxidant-rich foods

Red Sails Lettuce and Great Lakes Lettuce from my CSA

I have been looking forward to this for so long, but goodness, I do have a lot of lettuce. Most of it is going into salads (some with homemade vinegar), and I hope to use some to make La Vignarola this weekend. Traditionally, one would use romaine, but I am certainly not about to go and buy any more lettuce. And I'm not even talking about the arugula.

One Potato, Two Potato

There are a couple of things I just have to do that most folks really can (and do) feel free to ignore. One of these is my practice of cooking the potatoes separately and mashing them by hand in any recipe in which the vegetables are going to get pureed. My reason for this is that pureed potatoes will sometimes take on an unpleasant sliminess because of the type of starch peculiar to potatoes. Unless the potatoes make up only the tiniest part of the recipe, I think it is worthwhile to take this extra step.

One soup that benefits from separately-mashed potatoes is this two-potato preparation. I started thinking of this recipe as a mild white background to provide flavor and color contrast for this nut sauce. It turns out that this soup can stand on its own brilliantly, and maybe you don’t even need the coconut milk, and you might not even need the potatoes.

When I made this last, I was still using canned coconut milk, which worked beautifully. I have since been making my own coconut milk, which is not so terribly difficult, and really makes everything even better, but if you don’t have a coconut handy, use some decent organic canned milk, and the recipe will be almost effortless.

Two Potato Soup Three Ways

2 or 3 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil, or other oil

4 medium onions (about 2 pounds) sliced or chopped

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up (I used 2 large Japanese white sweet potatoes)

½ bunch celery, stalks and leaves

A piece of ginger the size of a grape, or kalamata olive or something like that

salt

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut up (I used 4 medium Yukon golds) optional

1 ½ cups coconut milk or 1 14-ounce can coconut milk (Thai kitchen organic)

Cook the onions in the coconut until they become soft and translucent. Add the minced ginger, sweet potatoes and celery and cook until a few minutes more, and add salt and water to cover everything well and cook for about forty minutes, or until everything is quite soft. If you are also going to add the potatoes, cook them in a separate saucepan in salted water until soft.

1^st way: Puree the sweet potato soup in a blender or using the pureeing modality of your choice. You could just stop here if you want—you will have a delicious soup vividly seasoned with ginger and celery.

2^nd way: Add the coconut milk to your pureed soup, and return to heat. You may also stop here, and you will have a very rich, mildly seasoned soup.

3^rd way: If you cooked potatoes, mash them or put them through a mill or sieve, and add them with their liquid to the sweet potato soup. The potatoes add a very interesting balance to the other flavors. Serve the soup as is, or drizzle some chicostle-nut puree on top.

Cate at Sweetnicks is almost certainly familiar with all the antioxidant-rich ingredients in this soup, but it is so delicious, I just have to post it anyway. My ongoing quest to stump Sweetnicks will resume next week.

Food and Drink, Recipes, Cooking, Food, Vegetarian, vegan, antioxidant-rich foods,

עגראָל און עגקרים

זונטיק האָב איך געזען די דזונדזע־מאַכערקעס אױף דער עלדרידזשער גאַס. געגאַנגען בין איך אין

„Egg Rolls and Egg Creams” פֿעסטיװאַל פֿונעם עלדרידזשער־גאַס פּרױעקט דאָרטן האָב איך פֿאַרזיוכט סײַ פֿון די „עגראָל“ סײַ פֿון די „עגקרים.“

איך בין נישט מסכּים מיט זײער עגקרים רעצעפּט.

װי עץ זעט'ץ, מישן זײ אױס די מילך מיטן שאָקאָלאַדן סירעפּ אײדער זײ גיסן אַרײַן דאָס זעלצער־װאַסער, מאַכן זײ אַ ברױנעם שױם.

צו מאַכן אַן עכטן עגקרים זאָל מען בעסער אַרײַנגיסן אין גלאָז שאָקאָלאַדער סירעפּ, און נאָך דעם די מילך, און נאָך דעם דאָס זעלצער־װאַסער, און נאָך דעם זאָלמען אױסמישן די פּינע זאָל בלײַבן װײַס.

While I had a wonderful time at the Egg Roll and Egg Cream festival of the Eldridge Street Project, I cannot endorse their egg cream recipe, in which you mix milk a chocolate syrup together before adding the soda, producing a brown foam.

To make a proper egg cream

add chocolate syrup to the glass first, then milk, and then seltzer, and mix with short sharp strokes to produce a white crown.

Folks are still saying that you need Fox’s U-bet to make egg creams, but Fox’s has not really been Fox’s for years since it has been made with high fructose corn syrup. I don’t know what to advise you—I might try making my own syrup.

Manhattan Circumnavigation and Home-Made Take-Out

On my way up the West Side, I saw this bendy building,
lilacs,
the main plant of H&H bagels,
and many gorgeous ruined piers and pile fields.
The bicycle path is interrupted at 125th street, where you can see some very rare remaining trolley tracks. Look at fascinating historic subway photos here, including this postcard of this very spot.

The greenway seems to come to a dead end here somewhere in the 160's, but if you go all the way over to the right, you can find the place to continue.

Along the way I saw folks strolling, reading, eating, practicing music (with saxophonists in the majority for some reason), doing construction work,
baton twirling,
fishing, and just walking or riding.
Just south of the George Washington Bridge there is this sweet little curve where you have water on three sides. This is where I took a little break and . . .
Here's what I brought along: a whole-grain roll from Bread Alone with butter and salt, a piece of "swish" cheese (Swiss sheep cheese) from Valley Shepherd Dairy, salted nuts, dark chocolate (camera-shy), celery (I didn't throw it at anyone), a carton of unsweetened soymilk, some apple juice, and a bottle I filled with delicious New York City tap water. Everything got wrapped in a cloth napkin and packed in a brown-paper bag. This week Lindy at Toast will be examining what we bring along and how we wrap it. You can also chew the scenery. Among the edible plants here are dandelions, wood sorrel, mache, and rhubarb.This interesting structure is a bit north of the bridge.
Crossword enthusiasts will recognize this as a stoa. Now I just need to ride past a proa and an anoa.
Stairs? Nobody said there were going to be any stairs!Heading back downtown on the Harlem River Drive.
Now I seem to be in the Bronx. How might that have happened?
I think I'm back in Manhattan now. I just liked this pile field with gulls, near East 155th Street.
And home sweet home! I seem to have made fewer pictures of the East Side. Next time mertseshem I'll go around the other way. Since I'll be traveling right-to-left, you'll read about it in Yiddish.

צײנער װי אַ יונגער קנאָבל

אין דעם מאָלדאָװישן שטעטעלע סאָראָקע איז זי געזעסן בײַם ברונעם, אונטערן ברײט־צעװאָקסענעם נוסבױם. אַ פֿולער, קופּערנער קרוג איז געשטאַנען בײַ אירע פֿיס, פֿאַרשנורעװעט אין הױכע, שװאַרצע סיך פֿון דינעם שעװראָ. איר ברײט, גאָר ברײט קאַרטונען קלײד איז געװען צונױפֿגענומען אױף דער שױס. באַלױכטן פֿון דער גרינלעכער, װאַרעמער שײַן, זענען צאַרט־מײדלש אַנטפּלעקט געװען אירע קני, װי װײך געטאָקטע שאָלן, מיט גריבלעך בײַ די זײַטן. די שמאָלע, טינקל־גרינע סאַטינע בלוזקע, האָט שטײף פֿאַרצױגן אירע קלײנע עטװאָס װײַט־צעשטעלטע בריסט. איר ברױנע הױכע האַלדז, װי פֿון אַלטן גאָלד, האָט דורכגעלױכטן, װי אַ פֿיש געצאַפּלט דורך די גרױסע, בורשטינען קרעלן. די רױטע ליפּן–אַ ביסל אָפֿן, די געדיכטע צײנער האָבן אַרױסגעקוקט װי אַ יונגער קנאָבל.

אָט הײבט זיך אָן שירע גאָרשמאַנס „צעטראָטענע בליונג“. פֿונעם טיטל װײסט עץ שױן אַז דאָס שײן מײדל װעט בליען נאָר אַ קורצע צײַט, נעבעך. מיר איז אינטערעסאַנט װי איר צײנער װערן פֿאַרגליכן צו קנאָבל. איך קאָן זיך נישט פֿאָרשטעלן אַז קײן גליד פֿון קײן שײן מײדל װאָלט אַזױ באַשריבן געװאָרן אױף ענגליש.

In the opening paragraph of Shira Gorshman’s “Trampled Blossoming,” we meet our gorgeous heroine. Her dimpled knees are like elegantly turned shells, her throat gleams like antique gold, and her red lips part to reveal teeth like young garlic.

I can’t imagine an English story in which any part of a beautiful girl would be compared to garlic, even “young garlic.”

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שליסל חלה (Key Challah)

איך האָב געלײענט (אַ ביסל צו שפּעט) אַ דערמאָנונג צו באַקן אָדער קױפֿן אַ שליסל חלה דעם שבת נאָך פּסח. און געפֿונען אַ פֿרעג װעגן אַ מקור פֿון דעם מנהג צו מאַכן אַ שליסל־חלה נאָך פּסח, דאָס הײסט אַ חלה מיט טײג אין דעם פֿאָרם פֿון אַ שליסל, אָדער אַ חלה װאָס איז געשטאָכן געװאָרן מיט אַ שליסל, אָדער אַ חלה מיט אַן אמתן שליסל אינעם טײג. מיכל הערצאָג האָט אין זײַן בוך די ייִדישע שפּראַך אין צפֿון־פּױלן׃ איר געאָגראַפֿיע און געשיכטע עטלעכע מאַפּעס מיט איסאָגלאָסן פֿון פֿאַרשידענע הלות, אָבער נישט קײן שליסל־הלה, װאָס איז אפֿשר נישט פֿון דער טעריטאָריע. ער דערמאָנט די שליסל־חלה יאָ, אָבער, און ציטירט אַן אַרטיקל אפֿון אוריאל װײַנרײַך װאָס האָט געװיזן אַז די פֿאַרשידענע אין חלה־מינהגים זענען געאָגראַפֿישע װאַריאַנטן.

פּרשהבלאָג האָט צופֿעליק באַקומען אַ שליסל־חלה דאָס יאָר און האָט אַ טעאָריע װעגן אַ תּירוץ אױף דעם.

איך װאָלט זײער געװאָלט אַלײן באַקן אַ שליסל־חלה איבער אַ יאָר, מערצעשעם, אָבער איך בלײַב אַלעמאָל נאָך פּסחדיק אַ פּאָר טעג (אָדער װאָכן) , און װאָלט נישט געװען גרײט אױף חלה־באַקן.

Parshablog has some ideas about possible reasons for the custom associated with the shabes after peysekh. of making a key challah (shlisl khale): a khale baked in the shape of a key, or a khale that has been stippled with a key, or a khale with an actual key baked into the dough. I found the picture above in The Hallah Book by Freda Reider, who writes that this form originated in eighteenth century Ukraine, but offers no citation.

Marvin Herzog’s discussion of the geography of hallah decoration includes mention of traditional hallah ornaments including “birds, ladders, hands, keys, and other objects that might facilitate the ascent of prayers into heaven.” Herzog also cites Uriel Wienreich’s 1962 article “Culture Geography at a Distance: Some Problems in the Study of East European Jewry,” which demonstrates that the distribution of these designs was regional (32). These articles only mention dough shaped like keys, not baking actual keys in the dough.

I would love to try to make one of these next year, מערצעשעם, but I am usually not sufficiently de-peysekhified to undertake khale baking the first week after.

ETA: I did it!  I made the challahs above in 2018 when we had a whole week between Akharon shel Peysekh and Erev Shabes.  I made one challah with a blank key and another challah in the shape of a key.

Herzog, Marvin I. The Yiddish Language in Northern Poland: Its Geography and History. Bloomington: Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology Folklore and Linguistics. 1965.

Reider, Freda. The Hallah Book, New York: Ktav. 1987

Weinreich, Uriel. “Culture Geography at a Distance: Some Problems in the Study of East European Jewry” In W. L. Chafe (ed) Symposium on Language and Culture: Proceedings of the Annual Spring Meeting of the American Ethnological Society. 1962. 27-39.

The Evil Inclination and his Computer

The Wee'an and I never get tired of playing this card game, in which we pair up matching cards and try to avoid getting stuck with the yeytser hore. I only noticed today that it is from the computer he is toting, as much as his eyeball-spears and wheat-grass hair, that we can recognize he is up to no good.

װאַרפֿט אַװעק אַיעדן יאָך

דאָס זעמערל איז פֿאַרזײט פֿאַרשפּרײט. עס געפֿינט זיך אױף אַ סך טאַשמעלעך ייִדישע זמירות, „ייִדישע קלאַסיקס” און „זמירות ישׂראל באידיש“ בתוכם. דאָס זמרל װערט דערמאָנט (מיט אַ היפּש ביסל איראָניע און חרטה) אין אליעזר דײַמאָנדס גאָר אינטערעסאַנטן בוך „Holy men and hunger artists”:

The asceticism and self-denial in the pursuit of lernen advocated by my rebeyim was absolute; it even applied to denying oneself the spiritual delights of the next world, if necessary. One of the songs we used to sing began, “Oylem habe iz a gute zakh, ober lernen toyre iz di beste zakh.” “The world to come is a good thing; but learning Torah is the best thing.” (Diamond, 5)

די װערטער זענען באמת אַ ביסל שװערלעך צו פֿאַרדײַען; דאָס ניגונדל, אָבער, איז זײער לעבעדיק.

עולם הבא איז אַ גוטע זאַך;
לערנען תּורה איז די בעסטע זאַך.
װאַרפֿט אַװעק איעדן יאָך,
לערנען תּורה נאָך און נאָך,
עולם הבא איז אַ גוטע זאַך.

Diamond, Eliezer. Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.