Happy Passover, y'all!
Strange for me to say seeing as how, well, I'm Catholic. Though I did take part in a "Passover" "seder" in my seventh grade religion class (I went to a Catholic school, we were learning about the Old Testament). The radish made me think about Fraggle Rock, but otherwise it didn't really give me much insight into this very important part of the Hebrew calendar. One friend of mine, a semi-practicing Jewish gay man and about as secular as you can get, told me he had to postpone dinner plans because his family is in town, and they want to celebrate Passover. Hey, I was fine with it - I can meet up with him anytime. He on the other hand seemed a bit more disturbed about holidays with the family than I would expect someone to be. He admits this is his first Passover celebration in years. Shame on you, man!*
For this goy guy, Passover is a time to find great deals on cheap-o "kosher for Passover" foods that seem to quintuple in price every other part of the year. Some of it is quite good. And some of it is not exactly geshmak. For some reason I always buy a cylindrical box of chocolate macaroons - you've seen them at Giant, I'm sure - and greedily devour the first two or three. Then they sit there for the next four months while I feel equal parts guilty for wasting the money, and scared to see if they've gotten fuzzy. There has to be some Levitical law against wasting food, right? Perhaps A.J. Jacobs could give me some insight.
Recently I bought the enticing product pictured at the top of the post, cherry-flavored marshmallow twists by Joyva. I took one bite - MMmmmrmrmrmrrrr, blaaaaaah. That was the exact sound that came out of my mouth. It looked good, but looks can be deceiving. (A diamond ring looks good too. Doesn't mean I want to put it in my mouth.) Perhaps I am just not getting it. I like kosher food. Much of it I find delicious. But the stuff that is kosher specifically for Passover really does not taste very good.
Again, I mean no disrespect whatsoever. I'm just commenting on the food I've eaten with the ubiquitous "kosher for Passover" designation. So help me: is there anything edible out there that is kosher for Passover? I mean products specifically manufactured for Passover. Anything?
* That might be more effective if he actually reads this blog.
Strange for me to say seeing as how, well, I'm Catholic. Though I did take part in a "Passover" "seder" in my seventh grade religion class (I went to a Catholic school, we were learning about the Old Testament). The radish made me think about Fraggle Rock, but otherwise it didn't really give me much insight into this very important part of the Hebrew calendar. One friend of mine, a semi-practicing Jewish gay man and about as secular as you can get, told me he had to postpone dinner plans because his family is in town, and they want to celebrate Passover. Hey, I was fine with it - I can meet up with him anytime. He on the other hand seemed a bit more disturbed about holidays with the family than I would expect someone to be. He admits this is his first Passover celebration in years. Shame on you, man!*
For this goy guy, Passover is a time to find great deals on cheap-o "kosher for Passover" foods that seem to quintuple in price every other part of the year. Some of it is quite good. And some of it is not exactly geshmak. For some reason I always buy a cylindrical box of chocolate macaroons - you've seen them at Giant, I'm sure - and greedily devour the first two or three. Then they sit there for the next four months while I feel equal parts guilty for wasting the money, and scared to see if they've gotten fuzzy. There has to be some Levitical law against wasting food, right? Perhaps A.J. Jacobs could give me some insight.
Recently I bought the enticing product pictured at the top of the post, cherry-flavored marshmallow twists by Joyva. I took one bite - MMmmmrmrmrmrrrr, blaaaaaah. That was the exact sound that came out of my mouth. It looked good, but looks can be deceiving. (A diamond ring looks good too. Doesn't mean I want to put it in my mouth.) Perhaps I am just not getting it. I like kosher food. Much of it I find delicious. But the stuff that is kosher specifically for Passover really does not taste very good.Again, I mean no disrespect whatsoever. I'm just commenting on the food I've eaten with the ubiquitous "kosher for Passover" designation. So help me: is there anything edible out there that is kosher for Passover? I mean products specifically manufactured for Passover. Anything?
* That might be more effective if he actually reads this blog.
6 comments:
I really like Gefilte fish. It goes on sale around Passover. With a bit of horseradish (traditional) or mustard, it can be sublime. The thing is there's a lot of different brands and they differ widely in taste and quality. It comes in jellied broth or just broth. Either is OK. Some is pure chopped whitefish and some is different fish... anyway try it! It's like fish hamburger. The great thing about it is that you eat it straight out of the can cold, which makes it very convenient. It's traditionally served as an appetizer on a lettuce leaf. The little round balls aren't the traditional shape- it's better when it's like a tiny load of bread. Mmmm! If you find it fresh made you'll pay extra but then of course it's not out of a can!
Hmmm, fishburgers. You've given me an idea for dinner for the next few nights. Thanks!!! I will definitely pick some up the next time I am at Giant. I'll look for the tiny loaves of fish and stay away from the balls. I've never found "fish balls" to be any good.
Funny, I just discovered the Joyva brand last week. I'd never heard of it before, but I needed tahini (to make hummus), and the limited-options Safeway turned out to carry Joyva's, stocked on on the nearly unreachable top shelf in the Asian and Mexican Foods section. Go figure.
And now it pops up here on your blog.
I have no Passover foods suggestions, sorry!
Maybe their regular, year-round products actually taste good, I don't know. But I will NEVER get these marshmallow things again.
This is not my area of expertise, either. (As for religious holiday meals, I'm half Catholic, so I could tell you what Italian Catholics eat for Christmas Eve, but that's about it.) Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola is good. It's made with real cane sugar instead of corn syrup.
I did not even know there was Passover kosher Coca-Cola!
Post a Comment