Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

When family and friends, Jews and non-Jews alike, first heard that I, as an American Jew, had planned to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the warnings and concern were swift and loud.

Are you crazy?

Do you want to be kidnapped or killed?

What if you get arrested?

Why on earth do you want to go there? Its dangerous.

Well, after spending a week there, they were partially right.Saudi Arabia is a very dangerous place.

But not for the reasons you might think.

Its dangerous because of the driving.Freeways filled with cars speeding in rush hour, weaving in and out of traffic without concern for lane lines or other cars. I saw four accidents in five days. Most days I just closed my eyes. Saudi drivers make the well known bad Israeli bus drivers look like driving instructors.

Its also a dangerous place because the food is so delicious you cant help eating more than your stomach will allow. Like how goldfish will eat whatever is put in their tank. I was the fish, and the Kingdom was my fish tank.

Perceptions of Saudi Arabia

All kidding aside, before visiting, it became clear to me that many Americans view Saudi Arabia as a place of backwardness and extremism. The opposite of living in modern America.

One friend believed that Saudis live in extreme poverty, asking me, Dont most of them live in tents?

Another assumption is that the Saudis hate Americans. That all things West are despised there. That its a dangerous place.

I didnt have any pre-trip discussions in whichanyoneremarked how lucky I was to be visiting.

They couldnt have been more wrong.

Change happening in real time

The first thing I noticed after a friend picked me up from King Khalid International Airport was a Buffalo Wild Wings. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where then BW3s (Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck) was first opened. I knew right away that this was a new Saudi Arabia.

Buffalo Wild Wings in Riyadh. (courtesy)

Im not nave. Saudi Arabia has been a religious and conservative place for a very long time. When I visited an historical site and saw pictures from the 1950s, it didnt look much different than images weve all seen on the news in the past 10 years.

But its clear thatPrince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (affectionately referred to as MBS)has made positive change and acceptance of others a national mandate, all while balancing respect for Saudis who dont want to change everything right away. Still, the days ofreligious policearresting people for choosing a different path are over.

The change isnt just happening with societal norms, but its everywhere around you.

And its not just because Baskin-Robbins, Texas Roadhouse, McDonalds, Raising Canes Chicken Fingers, Dunkin Donuts and Dominos Pizza are plentiful in the Kingdom.

Theres new stuff everywhere.

Just by way of example, the newly opened Boulevard is a beautiful modern outdoor venue where Saudis gather to listen to live music, shop at fun stores, and eat in an outdoor food court featuring everything from smoked brisket to traditional Saudi food. Hundreds of young adults laughing, smiling, dancing and taking pictures. Carnival games. Giant slides. Video screens. Its fun in high speed. The Boulevard has a lengthy schedule of seasonal festivals planned there as well, including a recent celebration of the Chinese New Year with all the trimmings.

The Boulevard entertainment complex

Another place I visited was The Oasis. An upscale venue planted an hour from Riyadh in the middle of the sandy desert. Five-star pop-up restaurants with world-renowned chefs, sculptors, and other artists, plus concerts, shopping and much more. Saudis flock to this real oasis. The atmosphere was fun, relaxed and engaging. I enjoyed a delicious meal at the celebratedNovikovChinese-Japanese restaurant.

The Oasis in the desert

At The Oasis with a Saudi friend

Then theres an endless supply of high-end coffee shops that will dazzle your eyes and taste. Some are so popular now that you need reservations.

Ashjar was my favorite. We couldnt get in until my friend played the my friends a writer visiting from America card, so they made an exception since they dont typically get visitors like me. He told them in Arabic, but I could tell from the tone what was said. He confirmed as much when we laughed about it later. Ashjar boasts hand-poured coffees from all over the world with seating situated among beautiful trees, mirrored walls, stones, water and more.

Ashjar Coffee Shop

Ashjar Coffee

Everywhere you go, modern change is palpable, with young Saudis embracing it with open arms and smiles. I cant wait to see this place a year from now. In five years. In 10.

The Saudi people

Despite 200 years of religious, social, societal and political conservatism dominating the landscape, the Saudi people were some of the most welcoming, kind, curious and open-minded people Ive ever encountered.

Its not that they havent been conditioned to think certain ways on some issues. We all have if were being honest. But I had the pleasure of having group and individual conversations with at least a dozen or so Saudis ranging in age from 22 to 40. Some were people I previously met in the US, but most were new friends. The topics ranged from changes in their country, to my perceptions of Saudi Arabia, to Iran, to Israel-Palestine politics, to women in the Kingdom, American politics, and to Judaism and Islam.

But sprinkled throughout conversations was a deep sense of humor, unparalleled respect and kindness, and a genuine desire to learn new information. Virtually every discussion involved a kind what do you think, Jeffrey? rather than giving each other lectures. It was a reminder how we should be conducting our conversations here in in the US.

Saudis from cab drivers and store workers, to hotel guests and people in coffee shops, to friends and family of people I already knew, uniformly treated me with tremendous dignity and love. It was hard to leave.

Saudis are a generous people. I wasnt even allowed to pay for my own coffee. A college student I met took me to a traditional Saudi breakfast and several coffee shops and demanded that he pay. Saudis who were just starting their careers insisted on treating me to lavish meals at fancy Saudi restaurants, ordering more food than one could possibly consume.

Every time I offered to pay, sometimes even begging to pay, I was met with a consistent: Dont insult me. One new amazing Saudi friend even bought me my own Thobe and Shemagh, the white robe and red and white head covering many Saudi men wear.

Being a Jewish visitor

While I didnt run through the financial district of Riyadh with an Israeli flag, I also didnt hide the fact I was Jewish.In conversations with Uber drivers, in stores, in meeting new people, I told them about my ethnicity.My lifes mission is to bring people together, and I couldnt accomplish that without sharing my identity.The response from Saudis was overwhelmingly joyous when I disclosed who I am. No exception. I was family to these Muslims, and they embraced me with open arms and love.

Cousin!

Welcome!

We have so much in common!

Two new people I met couldnt wait to show me around.They were noticeably excited they had a chance to spend time getting to know maybe the first Jewish person they ever talked with.

Friends and family of a few of my Saudi friends couldnt wait to meet me and spend time with me. Some have continued to text me even after I returned to the US. Saudis embraced their Abrahamic cousin with enthusiasm so much that several asked me to extend my stay.

At no time did I experience any adverse reaction to my being Jewish. Im not nave to think that all Saudis are the same, or that I would have been safe yelling out, Ana Yehudi! (I am Jewish!) in the middle of the conservative suq (market) I visited. Indeed, days after I left, an Arab Israeli Muslim was arrestedfor saying positive things about Israel. We still have a ways to go.

But it was readily apparent thatthe younger generation is ready for a new world.Theyre tired of conflict. Theyre exhausted with hate. They want a world based on love. The attitude about this was palatable.

Women

Until 2018, Saudi women were required to keep completely covered. They werent allowed to drive. And their engagement in society was limited. There were religious police to enforce these rules. I even saw the headquarters of that division. One person I met told me he was arrested in 2013 as a teenager for just talking to a girl.

But much of that has changed dramatically.

Many Saudi women still keep completely covered, but there were many who only wore ahijab(covering of the hair but not the face). Conduct unheard of three years ago. Other Saudi women now wear a loose-fitting scarf over their heads. Yet I encountered other Saudi women who did not cover at all.There were also non-Saudi women completely uncovered.At no time did I witness even the slightest behavior that was antagonistic toward anyone based on these choices. I know it likely exists in some parts, but the change of acceptance and harmony was real.

Saudi women now make up over30% of the work force, an MBS-stated 2030 goal that was reached years before imagined.

Dont get me wrong. Its still a modest society, although Im not sure some level of modesty is so bad. But women there are very much a part of most aspects of society now.In universities, in medical fields, in stores, driving on the road. And doing so mostly without interference from others. You could feel the change in the air.

Women are still fighting for several rights. Its against the law to wear tight fitting clothes or wear heavy makeup. Theres still gender-based rules among unrelated people in public spaces. Employers still separate the sexes in the workplace and divorce is still not so easy for women.

With all of that, MBS continues to move the country in a more inclusive direction and I for one am excited to see whats next.

The food! The food! The food!

Ive had food from around the world. Ive eaten at The French Laundry in California. Per Se in New York. Ive had street food in Uganda. Italian food in Italy. French food in Paris. Some fantastic places. Gourmet international cooking is also one of my favorite hobbies. So, I dont say this lightly when I tell you that the food in Saudi Arabia is hands down the best Ive eaten. Ever. From high-end Saudi restaurants to old-school, traditional Saudi dives where you sit on the floor and eat with your hand. The flavors are simply indescribable.

On my last day, I visited asuq(market) in the older part of Riyadh where they sell the same spices from the food I had tried over the past week. The shop owner scooped over 10 different whole spices and ground them together fresh in front of me. Dried lemons. Whole coriander. Black peppercorns. Dried flowers. You name it. I cant wait to cook with them.

My first meal in Riyadh was at a place calledSuhail, which is an upscale Saudi restaurant that combines traditional Saudi cuisine with luxury, all in a sleek, modern design environment. I had dishes like Kbeibah Hail. Lamb Khabsah. Jareesh. Qursan. And other dishes.

Dinner at Suhail

Dinner at Suhail

Khabsah, which I went on to have at several meals, is a mixed rice dish typically with lamb or chicken and served on a communal platter. Its the national dish of Saudi Arabia. The spices in the rice are next to none.

Traditional Saudi Meal

Jareesh is another traditional Saudi dish made of crushed wheat, ghee, and various spices like coriander and cumin. Its sort of like a type of porridge. And insanely delicious.

Even the falafel in Saudi Arabia wasnt like you get in other places. Just mouthwatering.

I cant talk about food in the Kingdom without mentioning dates. With over 60 varieties, they are served everywhere, including alongside a selection of delicious coffee.

Safety

This section is going to be short. Whether exploring on my own or with friends, at no time did I ever feel anything but completely safe. Certainly safer than many American cities. Its time we look in our backyard before judging countries we know little about. Saudi Arabia was as safe as any place Ive ever been, maybe save Rwanda.Thecrime ratein Saudi Arabia is actually exceptionally low.

What I didnt like

Friends in Saudi Arabia kept asking me repeatedly what I thought of their country. As you can see from this essay, it was overwhelmingly positive. I even received a questionnaire from the Saudi government when I returned to the US, asking me the same type of questions. The government even wanted to know if my culture was treated with respect.

I think the hardest part to wrap my head around is the continued separation of men and women in society. I didnt witness men or women approaching each other. Its still a very male-dominated society. Im happy for the changes, but this part was a lot different than the West.

Change is happening, and some things take time to be fair, but there is a real sense that being gay there would be very difficult. There arent men holding hands with other men. I appreciate a society where people can be who they are and not hide it. Its stillillegal in the Kingdom and subject to punishment. Having said that, the people I interacted with all had a very tolerant attitude even if they werent ready to embrace everything. Honestly, the comments about gay people were not much different than I heard in the US in the 1980s.

I had serious discussions with friends there about freedom of speech. I brought up that it still would not be okay if someone protested or publicly criticized the monarchy, although I also got the sense that there wasnt widespread desire to do that. The respect and admiration for the monarchy was everywhere. Ironically, after my return to the US, Saudi blogger Raid Badawi was freed after years in jail. He was arrested in 2012 for criticizing the influence of religion in public life.

I was also keenly aware through discussions with friends that it would not be safe for me to be publicly Jewish in Saudi Arabia without confronting conflict. Its not to say that most Saudis would be put off or even harm me, and indeed the people I met embraced me with hugs and laughter, but theres enough who still are in the past that would. I suspect in the coming years that the Kingdom will follow the tides of peace and normalizes relations with Israel so Saudis and Israelis can embrace each other like Israelis, Bahrainis and Emirates have, who by the way for sure did so with Saudi blessings.

My hope, of course, is that the tolerance and acceptance being promoted at a rapid pace is the catalyst for these things to change in the coming years. I see it coming, no doubt. The Kingdom is on the move!

The politics

Saudis are fiercely patriotic. I was trying to figure out why, since its different here in the US, but then it dawned on me after several conversations with friends that its because of the culture in the Middle East. Here in America, we are always talking about ourselves. We demand our rights. The second our government tells us what to do, we stomp our feet in protest. One person, one vote. And dont get me wrong: I am a huge fan of democracy. Im a gigantic fan of justice, equity and opportunity. But things dont quite work the same over there.

In Saudi Arabia, and indeed much of the Middle East, theres a different approach. Monarchies have been a part of the Middle Eastern landscape for generations and generations. If you look at some of the more stable countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco and Bahrain, they are all run by kings.

This might not sit well with some of us in the West, especially given our last King, but the reason Saudi Arabia is able to make swift changes without much dissent is because the order comes from the top.Nobody polled Saudis or took a vote to see if they wanted to open society more. Nobody asked if it was okay to promote love and more tolerance. The reason Saudis are embracing and accepting the change is because it comes from their beloved king and his son.

We might not agree with this approach in the West, but it might be worth learning what works and does not work before we try any more nation building in cultures we dont understand.Maybe had we reestablished the Hashemite Kingdom in Iraq, their society postAmerican occupation might have gone a different and more stable direction. Just something to chew on.Whats right for one culture may not be right for everyone.

The Cure for Xenophobia

Mark Twain said it best. The cure to racism is travel.

When people break bread with each other. When they have respectful conversation and dialogue, regardless of cultural or political disagreements. When they laugh together. When they talk about family. The result isnt conflict. Its creating safe places to love and respect each other.

Policy and governmental disagreements aside, if we all take it upon ourselves to reduce the racial and ethnic space that weve spent years creating in our own neighborhoods and cities, we will find that theres beauty all around us and it comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and ethnicities.

Thank you to my old and new friends in Saudi Arabia for a beautiful experience. For the embrace. For the love. For the kindness and generosity. I fell in love with your country so Ill be back soon.

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An American Jew's 2022 visit to Saudi Arabia | Jeffrey Kass | The Blogs - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY SCHERER

We remain in something of a summer doldrums for polling, and the overall outlook for November remains about the same as in recent weeks. But polls on the race for Congress have continued to inch slightly toward Democrats in what may reflect the impact of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In the Deluxe version of our midterm election forecast, Republicans have a 85 percent chance to win the House and a 51 percent chance to win the Senate, both largely unchanged from when we launched the model three weeks ago. Meanwhile, in the Classic version of the model, which sticks to purely quantitative factors and leaves out the expert race ratings published by the Cook Political Report and other such groups, Republicans are actually underdogs to win control of the Senate, with a 39 percent chance.

Part of the reason Republicans are not better positioned in the Senate is they dont have a lot of easy pick-up opportunities, but one race where Republicans could gain traction is the New Hampshire Senate race. Democratic incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan has led in all but one poll this year against a series of potential Republican opponents, but the GOP shouldnt write the race off. Hassans lead is small in most of these polls, and its still early, with the primary not scheduled until Sept. 13.

New Hampshire is also an unusual state in that it has some factors that should make it relatively fertile ground to defeat an incumbent, and others that should make it a challenging one. So lets take a look under the hood.

The factor that could help Republicans most is that New Hampshire famous for polling leads that seem to evaporate overnight, like Barack Obamas against Hillary Clintons in the Democratic primary there in 2008 is notoriously swingy. I dont just mean that its a swing state, although it frequently is in general elections. I also mean that it has a lot of swing voters: moderate, independent voters who split their tickets. Consider that, in 2020, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won reelection there by 16 percentage points, while Republican Gov. Chris Sununu was reelected by 32 points on the same ballot.

FiveThirtyEight measures this with our elasticity index, which is derived from voter-level survey data to reflect how sensitive a state is to national trends. New Hampshire has an elasticity index of 1.21 the fourth-highest in the country which means that for every 1-point shift in the national environment, wed expect New Hampshire to shift by about 1.2 points instead. So, for instance, a 5-point swing toward Republicans nationally would produce a 6-point swing there. That makes Hassan a bit more vulnerable.

What makes a state swingy? Generally speaking, the most reliable group of Democratic voters are Black voters, and the most reliable group of Republican voters are evangelical white Christians. New Hampshire is quite secular and quite white, so neither partys base is very large there.

Likewise, most other high-elasticity states are relatively nonreligious and have relatively few Black voters, although states with large numbers of Latino voters can be pretty swingy, as Democrats are discovering to their dismay.

New Hampshire is a swingy state

FiveThirtyEights 2022 state elasticity scores

Elasticity isnt the only factor the model considers, however. Another is a states population. And in smaller states, the incumbency advantage is larger.

If youre a Senate history buff, think about states that have a handful of electoral votes, like Vermont, West Virginia, Hawaii or North Dakota. They tend to have fairly long-tenured senators. Only four senators (Bernie Sanders, Patrick Leahy, Jim Jeffords and Robert Stafford) have represented Vermont since 1975, for example. (Although Leahy is retiring and not seeking reelection this year.)

Why might the incumbency advantage be larger in small states? I can think of a few theories. One is that, in a smaller state, its easier for a senator to maintain a strong, personal relationship with influential constituents and to be visible in her community. A second theory is about competition: In a smaller state, there are fewer highly talented politicians with national aspirations, so an incumbent will be up against weaker opponents, on average.

A third hypothesis: Its all about the pork. Since each state has the same number of senators, a senator from a small state is more likely to extract concessions in exchange for pork-barrel spending, and this can make them more popular across party lines with voters at home (think Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Joe Manchin of West Virginia). Whatever the reason, the statistical tendency of small-state Senate incumbents to overperform is fairly robust, and this is accounted for by our model.

What else helps an incumbent? The weirder a state, the bigger the incumbency advantage. OK, I should probably clarify what I mean by weird. A more precise term would be dissimilar or distinctive.

As part of our forecast, we apply a process called CANTOR that determines which states and congressional districts are most similar to one another according to a variety of demographic, geographic and political variables such as race, religion, income and education, population density, latitude and longitude, and voting behavior in recent presidential elections. A state like Hawaii qualifies as distinctive by this process, for instance. It has a far bigger Asian American and Native Hawaiian population than other states, its very Democratic, its very expensive and its truly out there in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.

New Hampshire counts as somewhat distinctive, by contrast. As I mentioned, its quite white and quite nonreligious relative to the rest of the country. It also has above-average incomes and education levels but below-average population density (in the way that FiveThirtyEight measures it). On the other hand, it is toward the middle of the road politically. Overall, it ranks as the 25th-most distinctive state. Michigan is the state which most closely resembles the rest of the country, by contrast.

New England is distinctive

States that are least similar to other states, according to FiveThirtyEights CANTOR

Factors that CANTOR considers include race, religion, age, gender, household income, educational status, voting behavior in recent presidential and state legislative elections, percentage of residents born abroad, population density, geographic region, latitude and longitude.

How could distinctiveness provide an advantage to an incumbent? In some ways, the answers are similar to why small states have a leg up. If a state has a population with unique concerns say, religious minorities like Mormon or Jewish voters, or a racial minority like Native Hawaiians incumbents can exhibit competence by serving those populations in ways that somewhat cross party lines and are less subject to the whims of the national political environment.

Another related theory is that there could be a stronger bond between voters and politicians in distinctive states. The politician may be a member of the minority group, or they may have ties to an industry that is uniquely important in the state. In the same sense that you probably know a married couple who are perfect for one another, there may be stronger matching in these cases.

But a statistical measure of distinctiveness is only as good as its inputs, and there are some things CANTOR leaves out. Being home to an industry like gambling in Nevada or coal production in West Virginia is potentially politically important, for instance, but CANTOR doesnt take this into consideration.

Overall, New England is a culturally distinctive region that is hard to pin down statistically, but is visible in everything from its cuisine to its intense loyalty to the Boston Red Sox. My subjective experience is that New England is considerably weirder excuse me, more distinctive than our metric describes it, and that means New England tends to be quite loyal to its incumbents. Hassan will hope that pattern holds.

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New Hampshire Is Tiny And Pretty Weird. That Could Help Maggie Hassan. - FiveThirtyEight

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Its difficult to overstate Yotam Ottolenghis influence on food today, both the home-cooked and restaurant varieties.

When the Israel-born chef published his first, eponymous cookbook in 2008, it introduced the world to the food with which he and his business partner Sami Tamimi had been transforming Londoners palates since they opened their deli joint venture six years before: inventive, complex fare that brought once exotic ingredients into a certain food mainstream. If youve ever eaten a dish including rosewater, sumac, zaatar or pomegranate molasses in a Kiwi restaurant - not to mention found them available to buy in a local shop - youve probably, in part, got Ottolenghi to thank.

The same goes for many of the hero vegetables that have come into fashion in recent years. Think whole roasted cauliflower, buttered kohlrabi or, really, anything involving eggplant; so unusual was the dominant use of vegetables in the early 2000s that for several years Ottolenghi wrote a column for The Guardian entitled The New Vegetarian despite not being, nor ever having been, a vegetarian.

READ MORE:* Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles: A visual feast, but doco lacks flavour* Superstar chef Yotam Ottolenghi to appear live in Wellington and Auckland* Yotam Ottolenghi's spicy mushroom lasagne* Yotam Ottolenghi is making the best of it

More cookbooks followed Ottolenghis rapid ascent to fame - seven in the next decade, many of them bestsellers on the industry standard New York Times list - but it has to be said that a significant tranche of those buying them were doing so, ultimately, for the prestige and the pictures. Through the 2010s, Ottolenghis food might have been handsomely praised and wildly influential, but for a good deal of home cooks it was also an aspirational step too far. Synonymous with laundry lists of ingredients and complex methods demanding the use of every pot and pan in the kitchen, Ottolenghi recipes werent exactly the kind of thing most of us were whipping up on a Wednesday night.

Supplied

I think me and my audience, or my readers, have kind of met in the middle, says Yotam Ottolenghi.

But now, as he looks ahead to the publication of his 10th book this southern spring, Ottolenghi thinks thats changing.

I think me and my audience, or my readers, have kind of met in the middle, he says. So Ive gone a bit this way - he moves his right hand towards his left - and theyve gone a bit that way - and the reverse.

Its 8am in London and Ottolenghi, 53, is sitting at home in front of a large print of dozens of illustrated lemons and flanked by bursting bookshelves. He shares this house with his husband of 10 years, Karl Allen, and their two sons. Max was born in 2013 via gestational surrogacy, prompting Ottolenghi to come out as a gay father in a Guardian essay in which he detailed the prolonged, arduous and expensive process of being able to achieve their dream of fatherhood and argued gestational surrogacy, which they had to go to the US to get, should be more readily available; Flynn followed in 2015.

Parenthood is partly responsible for the simplification of his food style, Ottolenghi says.

Anyone that has kids, or has kids around them, knows its a very different mindset. Even [with] kids that are really quite adventurous about the way they eat, the conversation about food is very different than adults.

This came to a particular head during the early days of the pandemic, when the family was in lockdown.

In non-pandemic conditions, Ottolenghi says, he doesnt cook much at home anymore. Allen is the boys primary caregiver and by the time Ottolenghi gets home from busy days in his test kitchen or one of his six restaurants, theyve usually already eaten.

Supplied

Cooking at home for his husband and children something Ottolenghi rarely did pre-pandemic has influenced his upcoming new cookbook.

But during the UKs first 2020 lockdown, for about three months, he was cooking a lot for his family.

I found myself adjusting to [my kids] palate, he says. Especially my little one, Flynn, he likes starches, pasta and rice - I think its quite familiar to a lot of parents that sort of thing - so I really tried to just embrace it. I would make potato cakes with peas and spices, either as a cake in a pan or as individuals, fried, or I would load the pan with pasta with lots of different things to create a meal in a pan. That notion that you take things that they love and you load it with other things that maybe wouldn't be their first choice but you want them to eat that, there was a lot of that kind of cooking. I think Ive become an expert in the one pot of something that turns into a pasta.

No, really. This style of cooking filtered through to his book Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love, which he wrote during the pandemic. Ottolenghi points to a recipe for his version of pasta al forno, an Italian baked pasta dish, his recipe for which has dry pasta go into the pan right along with the chicken, aromatics and herbs.

It goes under the grill with a bit of extra cheese so its kind of like a gratin but again, not with so much preparation, so it all comes together in one pot.

Its a far cry from even as recent a book as 2020s Flavour, where the recipe for saffron tagliatelle with ricotta and crispy chipotle shallots calls for 21 ingredients including saffron threads, 00 flour and chipotle flakes; as the name implies, Shelf Love is all about recipes you can make with stuff you probably already have lying around (apart from spaghetti and chicken thighs, the al forno recipe calls for onion, garlic, tomato paste, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, thyme, and - the most exotic ingredient - lemon zest).

This, I suggest, would be a good jumping off point for Ottolenghis two-stop New Zealand speaking tour, which will finally be happening in January next year - following one postponement and one cancellation and not before, we imagine, the cost of living crisis is over.

Supplied/Stuff

When Ottolenghi first announced New Zealand dates he was supporting his book Flavour. In the two years since, he has published another, Shelf Love.

I can only say that theres a lot of really cheap ingredients that you can use creatively, he says. Shelf Love is full of recipes for legumes, for rice, for frozen peas, all these bulk ingredients that we have and we dont know how good they are until we try cooking with them, and theyre very cheap to cook with.

Should we, then, be waving goodbye to the Ottolenghi food of old?

Not exactly, he says. Ottolenghi may have changed but so, in part due to his influence, has the world of his readers.

The ingredients that I introduced to people are maybe more staples now, he suggests, so people are more likely to have tahini in their cupboard, or are more likely to have spices that I like to use in their cupboard. It means they dont necessarily need to go and look for exotic ingredients every time they cook Ottolenghi.

Cook Ottolenghi - what does that mean, exactly?

The man himself laughs. Ive been asked this before and every time I kind of approach it from a slightly different angle. I think its vegetable heavy, an Antipodean barbecue is not an Ottolenghi meal There's quite a lot of colour contrasts as well, its very generous in terms of the flavours, the quantities, the presentation. Its kind of sunny food, and its very modern or current.

Supplied/Stuff

Ottolenghi frequently collaborates on his cookbooks. At right he is pictured with Flavour co-author Ixta Belfrage.

What its not, he insists, is particularly Israeli. Ottolenghi was born and raised in Jerusalem but didnt come to cooking until his early 30s, following a short career in journalism. He studied French pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in London and worked as a pastry chef in restaurants including the now-closed, Michelin-starred Capital Restaurant before moving to artisanal bakery Baker and Spice, where he met Tamimi.

Though the pair told the Independent they bonded over a shared incomprehension of traditional English food, Ottolenghi says the way he cooks now is closer to the kind of cuisine youd find in California, in the way that it treats ingredients, in the freshness. Middle Eastern doesnt do as much fresh stuff as I tend to do.

This is true even of Jerusalem, his 2012 cookbook collaboration with Tamimi. Both men were born, within a couple of years of each other, in Jerusalem - the same city, but very different worlds. While Jewish Ottolenghi is from Ramat Denya, a prosperous residential area in the citys southwest, Tamimi, a Palestinian Muslim, spent the first 17 year of his life in the occupied Old City.

Jerusalem the book was their attempt to capture the religious and cultural melting pot of Jerusalem the city in 100 recipes, not just Muslim and Jewish but Christian and Armenian, ancient and modern, traditional and aggresively 21st century.

And Ottolenghis influences continue to be assorted and diverse. He points to his test kitchen, which has grown from one person to five full-time recipe testers from all over the world, and even a YouTube channel. Everybody brings a slightly different perspective, so its that plurality, I think, that really gives voice [to the dishes]. Were all open to whats going on in the world.

Ottolenghi is looking forward to finding out in person whats happening on the other side of the world. This will be his second trip to New Zealand. Back in 2011, he and Allen went on a road trip with Peter Gordon, eating everything from Logan Browns paua ravioli to service station pies, and hes looking forward to coming back.

Im dying to come and see what has been happening in the New Zealand food scene. Im planning to eat as much as I can.

Who knows - maybe an Ottolenghi take on a mince and cheese pie will make an appearance in an upcoming recipe book.

Yotam Ottolenghis Flavour of Life speaking tour has shows in Auckland and Wellington in January 2023. Visit ottolenghi.com.au for information and tickets.

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The Yotam Ottolenghi effect: The superstar chef on how the pandemic, and parenthood, have simplified his recipes - Stuff

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Ellen Feingold

Curator, National Numismatic Collection

Before the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, few outside of the country took note of the trident symbol at the center of Ukraines national emblem. But in the days following the invasion, the trident was beamed around the world, appearing in the backdrops at press conferences and embossed on the clothing worn by the nations leaders and soldiers.

The origins of the ubiquitous trident, or tryzub, lie in the medieval period when the city of Kyiv was the seat of power of a state known as Kyivan Rus. Encompassing all of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Russia, this vast territory was ruled by the Rurik dynasty. As the dynastys symbol, the trident appeared on the first coins minted in Kyiv around the turn of the 11th century. These coinsas well as other types of medieval moneyhave become a central part of how modern Ukraine tells its national story and displays its national identity.

As the curator of the National Numismatic Collection, I oversee an expansive collection of monetary objects that reflect the world of yesterday and today. Each new object I acquire enables me to tell a new story and to reveal histories already contained within the collection. About a month after the Russian invasion, I came across the new Peace for Ukraine zero-euro note, which features a dove in flight, with aflag and olive branch clasped in its beak. The dove is a common symbol, but it was striking to see it at the center of the design of a euro banknote, decorated in Ukraines national colors of blue and gold. A German aid association produced the note to raise funds in support of Ukrainian children. While the note is not legal tender, it is a worthy addition to the Smithsonians numismatic collection because its creators used the design of money as a canvas to aptly capture what is at stake in the current warUkraines national sovereignty along with its freedom to join the European Union. Collecting this note initiated an unexpected journey through the vault of the National Numismatic Collection and into Ukraines complex history.

The vault of the National Numismatic Collection is tucked away behind a series of high-security doors at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History. The cool, brightly lit room is filled with rows of gray metal cabinets and shelves stacked high with plain boxes.

At first glance, the vault appears to be an unassuming warehouse that could store almost anything. But the simplicity of its exterior obscures the treasures it holds. With more than 1.6 million objects, the vast collection is matched only by its diversity with objects from every continent (save for uninhabited Antarctica), and spanning more than 3,000 years of human history. The densely packed cabinets are organized geographically and labeled by country or regionit feels as if the whole world is inside the vault.

Locating the many currencies that have circulated in Ukraine over the last millennia is not as simple as unlocking a cabinet labeled Ukraine. Instead, you must traverse the vault following the histories of trade networks, the rise and fall of European and Asian dynasties and empires, and the relatedand frequentshifting of borders.

This movement within the vaults storage rows mirrors the dynamic nature of the history of Ukraine. From the 9th to the 12th centuries, Kyiv was located at the crossroads of major European and Central Asian trade routes and was a vibrant hub of commerce and cultural interaction, centuries before the city of Moscow was founded in 1147. Many commodities and currencies circulated there including Roman denarii, Arabic dirhams, Byzantine miliaresia, and a wide variety of Western and Central European coins, including Bohemian deniers.

During the late 10th century, Kyiv produced its first coins issued under the authority of Volodymyr I, the legendary ruler of Kyivan Rus who is known for his conversion to Christianity and the subsequent spread of the religion throughout the region. Volodymyr I modeled his delicately engraved gold zlatnyk coin after contemporary Byzantine nomisma coins issued by the Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII, but he altered the design to feature his own portrait. He also included the trident symbol as a representation of his rule and the Viking dynasty he descended from. Volodymyrs gold coins together with his silver coins, which also featured the trident, were a powerful assertion of hisauthority and the state that he ruled.

Silversmiths in Kyiv also produced ingots called hryvnia in a distinctive hexagonal shape, distinguishing them from the long and thin silver ingots produced in Novgorod and from others made in cities across the region. The word hryvnia is derived from metal ornaments that were worn around the neck and also used as a measure of weight.

The collapse of Kyivan Rus during the 13th century led to a lapse in coin production and circulation and then the eventual influx of many other new coins, as warring powers fought over and occupied the former lands of Kyivan Rus in the centuries that followed. Along with Mongolian dirhams, Lithuanian denars, Polish ducats, copper and silver coins of the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian talers, and Russian rubles came a variety of religions, languages, and cultural practices, each helping to shape modern Ukraines multicultural heritage.

The linguistic diversity that resulted from these interactions over seven centuries is illustrated on the money issued by the Ukrainian Peoples Republic (UPR) after it declared independence from Russia in 1917. The 100 Karbovantsiv note issued that year features an intricate design with text in four languages: Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish. The striking inclusion of Yiddish acknowledges the countrys large Jewish community, even in the context of longstanding and violent antisemitism.

The UPR issued a variety of banknotes in the few years that followed, but the notes were only in use for a short time before the country was forcibly subsumed into the Soviet Union in 1922. Soviet banknotes of varying forms replaced the UPR notes and, during World War II, banknotes of the Nazi German occupation circulated as well.

In December 1991, as the collapse of the Soviet Union seemed imminent, Ukrainians held a democratic referendum and voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union, ushering in a new era for the country and precipitating the production of Ukrainian coins and banknotes emblazoned with the national symbols and scenes of Ukrainian heritage.

Pulling these objects out of their cabinets and boxes feels somewhat like excavating an archaeological siteeach individual artifact provides a clue, but it is the combination that conveys the larger story of the place and its meanings.

When gathered together, the medieval with the modern, the national with the imperial, and the abundant with the rare, these diverse monetary objects provide a birds-eye view of the last millennia.

These currencies illustrate that Ukraine has had myriad historical connections to its neighbors in both the West and East. Russia, which makes claims of both ownership and unique kinship as a justification for its brutal invasion, is but one of the many powers and peoples that traded with Ukraines inhabitants, influenced its culture and claimed its land as theirs.

These objects also reveal how Ukraine uses medieval money and the symbols it contained to connect the modern nation to its medieval history, helping to underpin its sovereignty and shape its distinct national identity.

Ukraines national currency is called the hryvnia after the hexagonal silver ingots produced in Kyiv in the 11th and 12th centuries. The ingots hexagonal shape is the symbol of the National Bank of Ukraine and appears on many Ukrainian banknotes alongside the national seal featuring the Rurik dynastys trident. Ukrainian banknotes are also a platform for the remembrance of medieval leaders, including Volodymyr I and his son Yaroslav I. The 2-hryvnia note issued in 2005 shows Yaroslav flanked by one of his silver coins, prominently featuring the trident at the center.

The use of the trident on money not only links the modern nation to the medieval period but also to the UPR when the symbol was first integrated into the design of banknotes. Initially, its inclusion was subtle. You have to look for the trident to see it amidst the complex blue and purple cornucopia on the 100 hryven note of 1918. But in later designs the trident stands on its own. It is the only imagery on the beige-gray 5 hryven note issued in 1920, a simple but clear statement of the UPRs independence in its final moments before falling under Soviet rule.

As Ukraine continues to fight for its sovereignty, for the human rights of its citizens and to combat the ongoing Russian efforts to destroy the countrys cultural heritage, there engraved in its money is a crucial part of its national history.

With the movement of its coins and banknotes beyond its borders, Ukraine has ensured its national heritage lives on. Through circulation there is preservation.

The display Ukraines Distinct History is on view in the exhibition "The Value of Money" at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History through August 2023. For more Ukrainian history at the Smithsonian, visit the National Postal Museums display of Ukrainian trident overprint stamps from 1918.

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Ukraine's Centuries-Long History As Viewed Through its Currency | At the Smithsonian - Smithsonian Magazine

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Sanskruti-Veekshanam, a unique cultural show, marking Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav was hosted at the Nehru Centre, the Cultural Wing of the High Commission of India, London, UK. The event organised by Hyderabad-born Ragasudha Vinjamuris Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence got a lot of accolades from Chief Ministers of Meghalaya, Manipur and Goa, and the Minister for Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

Elaborating how it all began, Ragasudha, the Bharatanatyam danseuse, says, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative was declared right in the middle of the pandemic and for the UK that was the second wave tattering the communities. Hence, there was no way physical events could have taken place. Undeterred, we have organised webinars highlighting the unique art forms of Koodiyattam, Ottan Thullal of Kerala, Dollu Kunitha, Veera Gasse of Karnataka, Seraikala Chhau of Jharkhand etc by engaging with gurus and experts in the respective fields based in India, who came on a virtual platform and presented.

Once the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, Ragasudha and the team once again geared up to perform live, enthralling the audience. In the second edition of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav that we organised recently, it took about five months to get in place, art and culture of another 11 States, 1 Union Territory and 2 communities Sindhi and Mithila.

We engaged with the Tangkhul community of Manipur, Koch community of Meghalaya, Maithil dancers to learn Jhijhiya dance of their community and so on. More than 40 artists have put together the wonderful programme which started with tributes to Sindhu civilisation (Indus Valley Civilisation). Ealier this year with great enthusiasm, we had organised the Republic Day of India in January 2022, with art and heritage of 11 States and 2 Union Territories highlighted. To achieve this, we engaged with Ladakhi community in Leh, Rabha community in Assam, Gabar in Chhattisgarh, Nyishi community in Arunachal Pradesh virtually, and learnt the dances from them to be able to showcase.

Ragasudha feels it is important that we highlight and promote the rich dance diversity of different regions. Some of these art forms are finishing and shall even disappear soon if we otherwise do not conserve them for posterity. For example, it was constant and continuous hard work to be able to get someone from Goan diaspora in the UK to do Kunbi dance.

Kunbis are the original tribes of Goa region, and despite the heavy Portuguese influences, they retained their dance which is non-religious. Glad that we were able to showcase such a rich variety of dances to a hall packed with audiences at the Nehru Centre-ICCR London. Also, Sindhi music by famous singer Renu Gidoomal elevated the audiences spirits, apart from Giddha dance, Haryanvi dance, Naatti dance of Himachal Pradesh, Kummi dance of Tamil Nadu - which were all community dances, she concludes.

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Dance, diversity and diaspora - The New Indian Express

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Posted By admin on July 23, 2022

By Trend

We can now witness the trails of Armenian vandalism left inliberated Karabakh, Director of the Iraqi Republican Center forStrategic Studies Dr. Moataz Abdel Hamid said at the firstInternational Media Forum on "Global trends, new challenges inmedia" in Shusha, organized by the Azerbaijan Media DevelopmentAgency, on July 22, Trend reports.

"My statement today is dedicated to the media coverage of the44-day second Karabakh war, particularly by the Arab media. Theinternational media was proliferating false information paid for bythe Armenian diaspora. Moreover, misleading materials werepublished by Armenia many times," he said.

The director noted that the Armenian side has repeatedly accusedAzerbaijan of "destroying the Christian heritage", which is nothingbut lies.

"We have seen with our own eyes the destroyed religiousmonuments subjected to the Armenian aggression in Karabakh. TheIraqis have also suffered from this kind of vandalism. The Armenianmedia spread fake news about the participation of Iraqi mercenariesin the second Karabakh war. Thus, we should unite in the fightagainst fake news and strengthen media cooperation," he added.

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Second Karabakh war witnessed lots of false information paid for by Armenian diaspora Center for Strategic Studies of Iraq - AzerNews.Az

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Posted By admin on July 21, 2022

A mere block from Budapest's mammoth Keleti railway station sits Tibor Rosenstein's eponymous restaurant. The entrance comes off a quiet, unassuming residential corner far from the city's traditional culinary hubs. But like a temple, Rosenstein Restaurant stands alone as a monument to historical Jewish-Hungarian cuisine drawing celebrities, television personalities and Jewish gastronomic globetrotters eager for a taste of the past.

"My personal cuisine and my dishes are traditional Hungarian-Jewish cuisine," said Rosenstein. This includes goose sausage and cholent, the traditional Jewish Sabbath stew left to cook overnight. Rosenstein's secret ingredient is ground paprika perhaps the most beloved spice in all Hungarian cuisine.

An estimated 100,000 Jews remained in Budapest following Soviet liberation on 13 February 1945. Many families who stayed in the country relegated their Jewish heritage as a trivial aspect of their identity, leaving children to discover it only later in life. Today, the community is growing once again, primarily in the historic Jewish quarter surrounding the famous Dohny Synagogue, one of the largest synagogues in the world. Jewish restaurants, primarily kosher ones, have since sprung up in the neighbourhood, including most recently the city's first and only fast food kosher establishment, Kosher MeatUp. Rosenstein's is unique in the city for its obvious Jewish backbone.

Not that the restaurant is stuck in the past, replaying an old formula without ever adapting. Soon it'll have its own kosher coffee roaster to go along with its existing selection of kosher beers the logo of which features a stencil of Rosenstein's charismatic grin topped with a yarmulke (a kippah or skullcap). The pandemic prevented him from publishing a cookbook for the restaurant's 25th anniversary, but plans are underway to release one in honour of the 30th anniversary in 2025.

Suffice it to say, Rosenstein isn't slowing down any time soon.

"I keep the fire alive through my dishes, or through welcoming and serving a large number of Jewish guests coming from abroad," he said, something he credits in part to his appearance in a 2017 episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods.

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Posted By admin on July 21, 2022

LOS ANGELES The colors are fading, but the photograph of the Carnegie Deli from 2008 still calls up a world of heaping pastrami sandwiches, pungent smells of brine and smoke, and tourists lined out the door onto Seventh Avenue in New York.

A few steps away, a kosher carving knife, a pushcart, a pickle barrel and a battered traveling valise used by immigrants from Lithuania are lined up against a wall. They conjure the Lower East Side of a century ago, bustling with Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, in the midst of creating a cuisine and a new kind of restaurant.

This attics worth of artifacts sprawls through Ill Have What Shes Having: The Jewish Deli, an exhibit chronicling the rise of that restaurant culture in America. It is by all indications the most sweeping survey of this culinary institution attempted by a major museum. (Why that name? Do you have to ask?)

The museum, though, is far from the tenements of Lower Manhattan: The Skirball Cultural Center, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, created the show and over the next year will send it to three other venues around the country, including the New-York Historical Society.

The exhibition is an exploration of the food and culture that thrived in New York and later Los Angeles, with their large Jewish and show-business communities, along with cities like Chicago, Houston, Miami and Indianapolis. As such, it surveys the story of immigration as a force behind changing American tastes: The pushcarts, as the curators note, foreshadowed the food trucks now operated by a new generation of immigrants. A grainy film clip near the start of the exhibit shows police officers fanning out to clear carts from a New York street in the early 1900s, a scene reminiscent of the 2020 crackdowns in Los Angeles on unlicensed food vendors.

This show is making the argument that the Jewish deli is an American construct, said Cate Thurston, one of the curators. Its an American food and its born of immigration.

But there is also something elegiac about the exhibit, a reminder that delis and the food they served are no longer as prevalent as they were 50 years ago, even in Jewish life. The show is an exercise not only in history, but in nostalgia. There were an estimated 3,000 Jewish delis in New York City in the 1930s; now there are just a few dozen, according to the New-York Historical Society.

The children of the immigrants who built their lives behind a deli counter did not, as a rule, follow their parents into the family business. Growing up, they showed more interest in Chinese and Italian food than in the smoked meat, bagels and knishes that filled their family tables. The demand for kosher food, prepared under rabbinical supervision, is nowhere near as strong as it was in those first decades after the immigrants arrived. There are now deli counters at most supermarkets. And many delicatessens were not able to survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

What does this mean when Jewish culture becomes part of a museum exhibit? said Ted Merwin, the author of Pastrami on Rye, a 2015 history of the Jewish delicatessen. Is my experience already in the past, a fossil? Is it sort of a last gasp?

There is no doubt that Ill Have with its menus from the Stage Deli in New York (now closed, like the Carnegie Deli), and its celebration of matzo ball soup, chopped liver, knishes, kugel, salami and pickled herring draws people who want to relive the memory of a grandmother or uncle or neighborhood long changed. But Lara Rabinovitch, a food writer and historian who helped curate the exhibition, said this was not intended as a sentimental journey.

When I came on board I had two caveats: One is we had to treat the Jewish deli as part of the American landscape, she said. And two, we could not succumb to kitsch and nostalgia. When it comes to Jewish food, deli or Jewish food can evoke a lot of conversations and a lot of kitsch and nostalgia.

Margaret K. Hofer, museum director of the New-York Historical Society, said the exhibition was designed to enliven admittedly dry history lessons on, say, the creation of the Bagel Bakers Local 338 in New York by Yiddish-speaking organizers with the dazzle of eye-catching menus from vintage delis and photographs of stumping politicians. (Here is President Barack Obama visiting Canters Deli in Los Angeles in 2014; over there is Senator Ted Cruz at Shapiros Delicatessen in Indianapolis.)

We think its the sort of perfect history exhibition, Ms. Hofer said, adding, We can attract the visitors to an exhibition like this and then surprise them with all kinds of history.

There are few things more New York than the Jewish deli; sitting down for an overstuffed, and overpriced, pastrami sandwich at the Second Avenue Deli or Katzs Delicatessen has typically been on any tourists must-do agenda. Yet this exhibition was conceived by two women who live in the San Fernando Valley and are curators at the Skirball, a center devoted to Jewish culture.

We are both Valley Girls, Laura Mart said of her and her colleague, Ms. Thurston. We like to eat. And we were having one of our 4 p.m. snack breaks and kind of spitballing different ideas. We often go pretty wacky with the ideas, and then break it down from there.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area has the second-largest Jewish population in the United States, and more than its share of classic Jewish delis. Jessie Kornberg, the Skirballs chief executive, said she thought there were advantages to telling the story from outside New York.

Much of the history of the deli has been told by New Yorkers, or with a focus on New York delis, Ms. Kornberg said. This exhibition is intentionally national in scope, which no doubt reflects our perspective as a West Coast institution.

Though the Jewish deli was born in New York, as Jews started moving to other places, so did the restaurants.

Jews have migrated across the country, said Ziggy Gruber, the star of Deli Man, a 2014 documentary on Jewish food, who now runs a delicatessen in Houston. The reason you find a lot of delicatessens in L.A. is because of all the Jews, with the invention of motion pictures, who migrated to Los Angeles.

New York, a city that has never walked away from a fight, could be forgiven for feeling a little put off by this West Coast interloper. But Ms. Hofer of the New-York Historical Society said she was drawn to the Skirball idea the moment she heard it.

Its not just a New York story, its an American story, she said. So theres no competition over who gets to tell it.

The exhibition will also head to Houston and to Skokie, Ill.: At each stop, it will be tweaked to include local lore.

The New York show, which opens on Nov. 11, will survey Jewish delis in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as Manhattan. It features photographs of Mayor Edward I. Koch and Representative Bella S. Abzug in New York delis, and revisits the 1979 quest by Mimi Sheraton, a New York Times restaurant critic, to find the citys best pastrami sandwich. (The winner: Pastrami King in Kew Gardens, Queens; it moved to the Upper East Side, and a sign from that location will be displayed at the historical society.)

Museum exhibits are usually based on sights a painting, a sculpture, a looping video and sounds. This one had the challenge of conveying tastes and smells, not an easy task in a gallery where food is not allowed.

An attempt by food stylists to recreate a facsimile of a deli sandwich out of nonfood ingredients turned into an unappealing mess. We had a minor panic attack about this corned beef sandwich, Ms. Mart said during a recent walk-through of the exhibition.

Ms. Thurston picked up the story. We asked for a corned beef with mustard, and the mustard looked like thick, thick American cheese, like a fiesta of treyf it mixed meat and dairy, in violation of kosher law. We couldnt have it out on the gallery floor.

The food fabricators went to work, pulling the plastic cheese off the sandwich before deeming it ready for the exhibition.

The exhibition has plenty of striking artifacts that do work in a museum, like the original neon sign recovered from Drexlers Deli, which was opened by Holocaust survivors in North Hollywood in the early 1950s and is now closed. It bears a yellow star and the word kosher in Hebrew.

The curators retrieved the cigarette machine that stood against a wall at the Kibitz Room at Canters Deli, once a late-night hangout for rock stars and actors. And there are matchbooks collected from restaurants across the country, as well as menus from theater-district delis in New York, many with sandwiches named after performers like the Ginger Rogers Special and the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis.

There is also, appropriately enough, a screen at the end of the exhibit, replaying the classic deli scene with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, from the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally, that inspired the exhibitions name.

The exhibits Los Angeles run was supposed to end on Sept. 4, but attendance has been so strong that museum administrators have extended it through Sept. 18. Ill Have What Shes Having will no doubt draw much interest when it arrives in New York.

But I wonder what people will take from it, said Mr. Merwin, the author. Theres often a question: Can we bring the deli back? I want to say no. How do you turn back the clock? The place that delis occupied in Jewish culture doesnt exist anymore.

Ill Have What Shes Having': The Jewish Deli is at the Skirball Cultural Center through Sept. 18. It will be at the New-York Historical Society from Nov. 11 through April 2, 2023; the Holocaust Museum Houston from May 4, 2023 through Aug. 13, 2023; and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie, Ill., from Oct. 22, 2023 through April 14, 2024.

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A Traveling Jewish Deli Exhibit Tells an American Tale in Pickles and Pastrami - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on July 21, 2022

In 1957, a new kind of restaurant opened at 135 Essex Street in Manhattan, more or less equidistant from the boroughs Chinatown and the tenements that had served as the epicenter for Jewish immigrants since the turn of the 19th century.

It wasnt the cuisine that was new. Americanized takes on Chinese food, like moo goo gai pan in a velvety slick of soy sauce and broth thickened with corn starch, had become ubiquitous in New York City since the collapse of the Gold Rush fueled discrimination and violence that forced Chinese immigrants living on the West Coast to move east.

But Bernstein-on-Essex, as the restaurant was called, was the first in the city to offer up these dishes in strict compliance with kosher standards. The egg foo yung, for $2.50, came with chicken livers instead of pork. Shellfish was nowhere to be found. And the restaurants sign featured a man in a yarmulke, next to text that declared the eatery the tastiest delicatessen in the world.

In her new exhibition Open Sundays, now on display at the Harkawik gallery on the Lower East Side, Stephanie H. Shih displays a stunningly rendered version of this sign in her signature painted ceramic. It is one of 30 sculptures she has created to explore the overlap of Chinese and Jewish communities in the neighborhood for the roughly hundred-year period beginning in the late 1800s.

A few yards from where the Bernstein-on-Essex sign hangs is a long table that displays Shihs sculpted takes on other iconic food and drink, like a bilingual bottle of Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki, roast pork on garlic bread, Golden Plum Chinkiang Vinegar, and a can of Dr. Browns Cel-Ray Soda.

A lot of my solo shows are about this idea of authenticity, says Shih, who has been working in ceramic full-time since 2015. There are no cultures that are untouched by other cultures. These are two communities that grew up alongside each other. It was not always friendly, but simply from proximity and the fact that they were the two largest non-Christian immigrant groups, they had commonalities. For example, she says, the tradition of Jews eating Chinese food on Christmas began right near Harkawik, on the Lower East Side.

Shihs RPG sculpture, featuring 10 glossy slices of roast pork arranged appealingly across a slab of garlic bread, depicts another classic crossover: a sandwich stuffed with Cantonese-style char siu and duck sauce, popular in the Borscht Belt in the 1950s. (Just a few neighborhoods northwest, the Manhattan outpost of Court Street Grocers still peddles an RPG under the moniker Catskill Roast Pork for $15.)

Shih says she almost named her show safe treyf, after the colloquial way Jewish immigrants referred to Chinese food in New York City. (It was characterized as such because of the lack of milk mixed with meata kosher no-noand because, as some historians posit, discrimination against both immigrant groups in New York City made for a sort of culinary safe haven.) Chinese food started to get this pass, when people might have kept kosher otherwise in the home, Shih says.

Instead, she called the exhibition Open Sundays, to capture yet another commonality: while most businesses closed in observance of the holy day, the doors to both Jewish and Chinese businesses remained unlocked, ready to tout frozen dumplings, warm loaves of challah, and heaping plates of lo mein that were, in some cases, completely kosher.

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The Fascinating Connection Between New York Citys Jewish and Chinese Immigrants - Saveur

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Posted By admin on July 21, 2022

Money Matters:WhatsApp founder Jan Koum donated $2 million to the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project last month, according to its newly released June donor report. HighSage Ventures founder Jonathon Jacobson donated $1 million.

Nuke Deal:Special Envoy for Iran Rob MalleytoldCNN that the odds of reaching a new nuclear agreement with Iran diminishes by the day.

Spielberg Scenes:Filmmaker Steven Spielbergdonated$20,000 the maximum legal amount to the reelection campaign of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. Separately, the Hollywood mogulmadehis music video debut, with a video featuring British band Mumford & Sons shot on the movie directors phone.

Money Matters:Eduardo Saverins B Capital Group investment fundnetted$250 million in an early stage venture capital fundraiser.

Crypto Kid:Bloomberglooksat FTX founderSam Bankman-Frieds flurry of crypto transactions carried out over the past two weeks, which together amount to $1 billion.

Hungry for History:The BBCspotlightsa Budapest restaurant owned by a Holocaust survivor that features traditional Jewish-Hungarian cuisine.

Army Announcement:The Israeli Defense Forceslifteda media ban on discussing its use of armed drones.

Court Case:The International Legal Forum, an Israeli legal network, isappealingto the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations that the Palestinian Authority tortures journalists, dissidents and activists.

Trending Up:Israeli exports areprojectedto reach $165 billion in 2022, up 15% from last years numbers.

Morocco Moment:IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, in Morocco this week,invitedhis Moroccan counterpart to make an official visit to Israel.

War Warning:Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallahagain threatenedmilitary conflict with Israel as the country negotiates a maritime dispute with Lebanon.

Transition:Kara Blond, the former executive director of the Capital Jewish Museum,is joiningthe National Archives as director of the Office of Presidential Libraries.

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Daily Kickoff: Tom Nides and CIA Director Burns on Biden's Mideast visit + IDF @ Aspen - Jewish Insider

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