In Praise of Cabbage and Salt

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Confucius and Cato the Elder had three things in common: both of them bequeathed us lots of wise and inspirational quotes, both of them loved cabbage fermented with salt, and both of them had no idea it was called sauerkraut. To be fair to both distinguished ancient dignitaries, during…

Spear Your Meat, But Don’t Spare Your Veggies: Shashlik

When you think of meat on skewers, you probably visualize this: Or, perhaps, if you are even slightly familiar with Georgian cuisine (a country, not a state), this: And you will be on the right track: regardless of countless variations of it, shishkebab definitely has a long military history. I couldn’t help but share with…

Kidney Bean Lobio

Every time I make lobio, or any other Georgian dishes (that’s a country, not a state), it reminds me not only of the majestic Caucasus mountains, but also of the unique culture of Georgian people. Militant, fiercely independent, yet exceptionally warm and hospitable to strangers, they are fond of traditional, hours-long feasts with an endless…

The Great and Glorious Fake Sauce

Louis XIV of France was a great and glorious king who has consolidated a great and glorious country by forging a centralized government – absolute monarchy. Having been scared out of his wits as a teenager during the Fronde rebellion, when he, his mother Anne of Austria –  the Regent, and Cardinal Mazarin fled from…

Wondering What Life Is For: Broccoslaw

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Zeus was in a quandary. The supreme and most powerful of Ancient Greek Deities, Awesome and Horrible, and a prolific philanderer, he was not a great intellectual. Sadly, he was not a great prophet either, so between coming up with confusing prophecies and being unable to interpret them, he…

Say CHEESE for Shavuos!

Contrary to all other Jewish holidays, when we prepare festive meals that include both fish and meat, signifying rejoicing in His benevolence that grants us abundance, traditional Shavuos table is laden with dairy dishes, from blintzes to cheesecakes, and anything milky delicious you can think of.  One of the reasons for this unique menu is…

Pickling Time and Chunking Kale

A distressed mother barges into a Rabbi’s study: “Rabbi, my son has gone meshuge (crazy)!” “Calm down, lady, have you taken him to a specialist? What makes you think that?” “Specialist-shmeshalist! Who needs specialists? I am a mother, I know!” “But, dear lady, what does he do?” “Oy, Rabbi, he eats pigs and dances with girls!” “Listen,”…

Kugel: Where East Met West

At first, Jews had it good in the Roman-administered land which is now France. Having lost their own homeland, they have dispersed throughout immense Roman Empire, settling mostly along trade routes. Even though they were still not allowed to own land, nor practice law or hold any administrative positions (restrictions are nothing new to us!),…

Shlissel Challah – a Key to Wisdom

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Controversy is raging around this tradition, dating back to Middle Ages. Since we have laboriously and thoroughly divested our homes of all leavened bread in order to celebrate Passover, as we are commanded, Jewish women are faced with a task of baking the first challahs of the year. So we get…

Light the Bonfire of Love with Chocolate Logs!

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Happy Mother’s Day, Beautiful People! Our sages said, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person” (Ethics of Our Fathers, 4:1). The first person in our lives we have a chance to learn from is MOTHER. From her we learn kindness, caring, and most importantly, unconditional love. Sometimes, it’s not a…

Hello, Beautiful People!

Today, when I transitioned from the kitchen to my computer (this is a Covid 19 jargon, Beautiful People; we don’t move – we transition), I found this: Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 4 years ago. Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging. It took me back to this day four years…

Of Love and War and Broccoli Salad

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Contrary to George Bush, we love broccoli. Thus we are sincerely grateful to the Etruscans, the famed horticultural geniuses of the ancient world, who “engineered” this “flowering crest of cabbage” – broccolo in Italian – almost 3 millennia ago (https://www.thespruceeats.com). https://youtu.be/n29bwowM6ek Peaceful and creative people, they developed a thriving…