Pizza Philosophy
Recently I was given a tremendous honor. After a fair amount of begging and pleading (on my part) All Over Albany asked if I would be a judge for their 2009 Tournament of Pizza.
All kidding aside, I take this responsibility very seriously.
A few days ago, AOA posted an article about the judges of this years TOP. Regrettably, there was an email snafu and I did not get to submit my pizza philosophy to the AOA editors.
I would like to take a moment and share my thoughts on the matter now.
Cider Donuts
Regional foods rock. To the best of my knowledge, there are no cider donuts on the West Coast. I never saw them when I was growing up in Miami. But when I came to Albany, they seemed to be everywhere.
So, I do not have a lifetime of context for the form. All I have is the experience gleaned from my past two years in Upstate New York.
Not only is this a regional treat, it is often a seasonal one as well. Fall means apple season. Last year I went apple picking at least twice. This year we did one super mega pick. But trips to the orchard would not be complete without cider donuts. And if you go at the height of the picking frenzy, those donuts will be warm.
Deli Run Amok
Ten days ago, I thought it would be a good idea to launch a series of posts and call them Deli Days. The idea was twofold.
1) Get people whipped up into a deli-loving frenzy in advance of the free lecture on the topic at the University at Albany. The lecture is today, and all the details are here.
2) Compensate for the complete void of Jewish deli related posts on the FUSSYlittleBLOG, and write enough to get “Deli” listed as a clickable tag in the cloud on the far right hand side of the page.
In the spirit of full disclosure, the lecture is sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies, and I just so happen to sit on the Center’s board. Can you believe I do other things besides sit around and write about food? It’s hard to imagine.
At the very least I have succeeded in my second goal. Now within the tag-cloud nestled between the small “Criticism” and the even smaller “Farm” is the perilously small “Deli.” Perhaps all of this could have been achieved with better tag management, rather than subjugating all of you to ten days of deli posts.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I think it has been too much of a good thing. Next time, if I want to delve into a certain theme, I will keep it to a week or less.
An Unforgettable Jewish Food
If you can believe it Deli Days are almost over. Tomorrow is the Ted Merwin lecture in the University at Albany’s Science Library. And it was news of this event that made me realize one of my favorite foods, Jewish deli, was somehow missing from the FLB.
At this point, I think I’ve more than compensated for its earlier omission.
There is just one last delicacy to cover. And it is not the last one in that it’s the least important. It’s the last one because I wanted to save it for the end to go out on a bang. But it is important to make that distinction, because of all my cultural foodstuffs, this one is the most sensitive.
Knish Wish
I am very fortunate to be participating in this year’s Tournament of Pizza, organized for the second year in a row by All Over Albany. But it is very difficult to sit down and write lustfully about heavy Jewish food with a belly full of cheese.
Although in some ways it is fitting for this stuffed Jewish thing to be writing about other stuffed Jewish things. Specifically the knish.
Mrs. Fussy is tired of reading about the food of my people. And I can’t blame her. It’s been a long time since the beginning of Deli Days. But the one thing I walked away with from my advertising career is the importance of message frequency and consistency. On the up side, after today there are only two Deli Days remaining.
Picklish
I have heard people say, “Put two Jews in a room, and you’ll get three opinions.” It truly amazes me that given this truism that Jewish organizations can ever get anything done.
As I have been gearing up for the Professor Ted Merwin lecture this Thursday at SUNY Albany, I entered into a conversation with a member of the tribe and fellow food enthusiast on the subject of pickles. Thanks to the magic of the Internets, you can read that conversation here.
There are two camps when it comes to the deli pickle: the sours and the half-sours.
Jewfish
If you didn’t grow up in Florida, you may not know that there really used to be such a thing as a Jewfish. Some people thought the name was offensive, and successfully petitioned to change it back in 2001.
Perceptions of anti-Semitism are such a funny thing. The Jewish people are all Jews, but the word Jew, in its singular form, makes some people uncomfortable. Even if it’s referring to a fish. And in the case of this fish, the Jew was never emphasized. In fact the name was slurred together almost as it were one syllable. If that is hard to imagine, try saying it this way: jufe-ISH.
At the beginning of Deli Days I mentioned creamed herring. I have been subsequently mentioning it throughout the past week. But this Shabbos I was remembering one of my favorite parts about being Jewish in Berkeley.
My Father’s Soda
As I mentioned Monday, these are Deli Days at the FLB. On Tuesday I briefly mentioned how a real Jewish deli will stock Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda, as it goes brilliantly with corned beef or pastrami sandwiches.
But Cel-Ray may not be for everyone. And I think that is being generous.
I am told that celery-flavored tonic is an acquired taste. I know exactly where I acquired mine: my father. And since today is my dad’s birthday, I thought it would be a perfect excuse to write about how I came to love Cel-Ray.
But I will have to wait until next Thursday at 7:00 pm to see if this soda makes it into Professor Merwin’s lecture. For those who still don’t know, he is a visiting scholar giving a free lecture at SUNY Albany on the Jewish Deli in America. All the details are here.
Deli Don’ts
On Monday I mentioned that these are Deli Days at the FLB. We jumped right into corned beef and pastrami, and how the deli is perfectly designed to provide its customers with a delicious-juicy-meltingly-tender fat eating experience. And on the subject of fat, the next day was all about chicken fat, and included the tastiest morsel in Jewish cooking.
All of these things are what is great about the deli. And it’s not as if there is a flip side. There will be no post about what is terrible about the deli. We will conveniently neglect to mention the nutrition facts of the menu. We will forget for the next few days there are even things called sodium and cholesterol.
There are however people who go into a deli who just don’t get it.
Sure, people have different tastes. Some people like open-faced sandwiches. Others will fight to the death arguing that an open-faced sandwich isn’t a sandwich at all. So what follows isn’t a condemnation of anyone’s personal desires and tastes. Rather consider it a warning that should you engage in this kind of behavior at a deli, you may be subjected to snickering, pointing and other indignities.
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
On Monday I mentioned that these are Deli Days at the FLB. And in that initial post, I listed a few of my favorite deli items, which included both creamed herring and corned beef.
In his comment NY Deli Man reminded me:
As a true NY Deli guy, that is someone who worked at a handful of real KOSHER (not Kosher Style), you would not have creamed herring in the same place where meat is also served.
My old NYC neighborhood had a kosher dairy shop. They had creamed herring and lox.
For those who are not well versed in the kosher laws, what NY Deli Man is referring to is the prohibition of eating milk and meat together. For those who observe, the two foods cannot be on the same plates. Really, they shouldn’t even be in the same kitchen. Thus historically, there would be kosher meat stores and separate kosher dairy stores.
Personally, I do not put a lot of stock into dietary laws. The quick summary is that the milk and meat separation as it exists today didn’t come directly from the Torah but rather rabbinic commentary. And regardless of the source of the law, I’m thinking that the Supreme Being has much greater concerns than what I put in my pie hole. This is one reason I generally find myself identifying with Reform Judaism.
I’m loathe to admit that any good could come from these prohibitions (except for spiritual fulfillment for those who are into that kind of thing). But I’d be wrong on many counts.
Yesterday’s post was all about how the deli is perfectly equipped to provide an amazingly wonderful beef fat experience. But beef fat isn’t the only fat to rule the roost.
FUSSYlittleBLOG 