Tweaked Green Papaya Salad and Carol’s Naughty Corner

South Florida is a crazy patchwork of little cities, towns, and villages, each boasting tropical flavor and colorful history. However, only one bears an official title City Beautiful, the City of Coral Gables. One of the seven cities in the United States influenced by the City Beautiful North American architectural movement which promoted “beautification and…

Classics Also Quarrel: Russian Pot Pie

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
The rich also cry, as we all know. It is less known, however, that the classics also quarrel. We tend to perceive them as larger than life, rather not susceptible to flaws and frailties  of us, ordinary humans.  Take, for example, Leo Tolstoy, “the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present…

Secret Mango Flower Pie

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Flowers are not only pretty; they have meanings.  The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, has been used throughout the ages to express messages of love, longing, happiness, desire, pity, and sometimes even suspicion and sarcasm. Although the book Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh elaborates mainly on – ahem! -elaborate…

Of Hats, Pockets, Ears, and Hidden Messages

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
These pastries are called Hamantaschen. We can no more imagine the holiday of Purim without them than without the graggers – noisemakers gleefully shaken by children and adults alike to drown the name of the evil villain Haman. That’s a story of Purim in a nutshell. Once again, the Jewish people, marked for wholesale…

Play Ball with Bells On – an Offer You Can’t Refuse!

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Achashverosh, the King of Persia, had a party. Some sources claim it was Xerxes I, some translate the name as Artaxerxes (I or II, they are not sure), and some even say it was Darius. Whoever he was, though, he had not been a legitimate heir to the throne…

Happy New Year to the Trees with More Pickled Veggies!

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
We are celebrating yet another New Year – the New Year of the Trees. In the old times, in ancient Israel, this day, 15th of the month Shevat, or Tu b’Shvat in Hebrew, was celebrated as the earliest day when trees started bearing fruit. Later on, during the Middle Ages, the…

I Give You Roti And a Big Hug

Today is the International Dentist Day.  I am sure that many of you, Beautiful People, do not count your visits to a dentist among your most pleasant memories. I, on the other hand, vividly remember lines of patients by my father’s door who had preferred to wait (and suffer!) for hours in order to be…

Raisins in the Pudding

Over forty years ago, as I landed in the U.S., I came across a short poem and was stunned by the powerful images: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust…

Under Majestic Cranberry Tree

Originally posted on Renard's World:
An unknown French traveler, visiting Russia during summer (there are summers in Russia, Beautiful People!), rested in the shade of a luxuriously leafy crown of a huge tree. Apparently not familiar with Russian flora, he inquired about the name of the tree. “Klyukva – cranberry,”  – with a straight…

Growing Super Soup

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Generations of kids grew up hearing about the super-power of spinach. Of course! They were told by the most reliable authority: https://youtu.be/2pbcieG3Tec A can of spinach – and Popeye The Sailor Man was ready to defeat all the wrongdoers of the world! Without a doubt, spinach has powerful properties, essential for…

The Real Treasure of the Caribbean: Haiti, Part 3. Liberty Soup.

The final and the most important installment of this set of recipes (for Part 1, click here; for Part 2, click here) is unique – where else do you see a dish that symbolizes liberty? On January 1st, Haitians celebrate not only the beginning of a new year, but first and foremost, the beginning of…

The Real Treasure of the Caribbean: Haiti, Part 2. Fried Accra.

Slavery started in Haiti with the arrival of Columbus. Met with friendliness, welcoming gifts, and delicious local fritters called Accra or Akra, he described the native Arawak Taino people as “tractable, and easily led; they could be made to grow crops and build cities” (Mellzer, Slavery: A World History, 1971). And the gentle, helpful natives…