New: Shmiras Halashon Voting
This morning, my Google Alert picked up a news article posted on a purportedly Orthodox website about the Conservative Movement’s purportedly ethical Heksher Tzedek. Turns out the article was just a repost from the Forward, but the comments beneath it were homegrown, and ranged from embarrassing to atrocious.
Without a doubt, there have been a couple shameful comments posted on this blog. Rather than censor comments any more than I have to — I do draw the line somewhere — I’ve decided to trust the wisdom of crowds. Now, each comment features two buttons: a green “Lashon HaTov” button, and a red “Lashon HaRa” button. Use the prior to give kudos to the commenter for something helpful or insightful, and use the latter to gently scold someone for name calling, generalization, or useless bickering about the legitimacy of a hechsher. The numeric tally next to the buttons should indicate how much or how little our readers appreciate any particular comment.
Next step: a picture of the Chofetz Chaim next to the comment form!
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Upgrades coming
Jabbett here — I’ve come out of hiding to announce that, ideally within the week, I’ll be migrating the Kosher Blog to new, more reliable servers, upgrading our blogging software, and debuting a new look that will be cleaner, easier to read, and faster to load. Shortly thereafter, I plan to open a new forum that integrates tightly with the blog, so that it’s simpler for people to start discussions of their own.
Our e-mail system will get an upgrade, too. I sincerely apologize for neglecting my Kosher Blog inbox the last several months; the planned switch to Google Apps will take better control of spam so that all of us Kosher Bloggers can find and respond to your messages promptly.
These changes will require some downtime, since I don’t have a dedicated IT staff to perform the migration seamlessly. I’ll try to keep them to a minimum.
UPDATE, Thursday Night: A database migration hiccup has caused some data corruption, so bear with the missing categories until I get access to our latest database backup. I’ve also disabled comments for the time being.
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
My, my, my - it has been really quiet around here lately! That can happen when the primary writers for a blog are paid to do a job that isn’t to write about food. (Oh, how I wish I had that job!) On behalf of Jabbett and myself, I’d like to apologize for the lack of new posts. We’re hoping that circumstances will allow us to be more involved in the near future. Moving on….
Pesach 5768 was an interesting one, wasn’t it? Let’s see…
- Early on, Manischewitz announced that there weren’t going to be any KFP Tam-Tams this year. Riots were narrowly averted.
- In parts of the US, there were Matzah shortages. Even if there wasn’t a shortage in your area, the rising price of wheat probably affected your Matzah purchase.
- MargarineGate ‘08! KFP stick margarine became a rare commodity, as Mother’s brand decided not to produce any this year, leaving Haolam 1 lb. blocks as the only option. Pesach bakers frantically searched for supplies of the treasured trans-fat. (I found a source, and immediately bought 14 pounds of margarine, which was shared among my family. 5 pounds are going in the freezer for next year.)
- As with every year, KFP Coke flies off the shelves, since soda aficionados believe that cane sugar sweetened soda tastes better. I’m a die-hard diet-cola drinker, so I can’t say.
- The Susie Fishbein Empire grows larger, as (possibly) the most popular Pesach cookbook ever, hits the shelves. 100+ reformulated recipes, 30 new recipes. More on that later. The NY Times interviews her. Non-KFP Celiacs buy the book for the wheat-free recipes.
- I’m saying that Quinoa for Pesach has hit the mainstream, as Ms. Fishbein included 2 recipes with it in her book. I’ve had it on Pesach for a few years now. This year I tried to make Quinoa Sushi, but couldn’t get it to hold together. But Hadar brand KFP soy sauce (and teriyaki) was available to season it right. Naturally, it had no soy in it whatsover.
- Chef Hung cooked for the Pesach Seders at Solo. Did anyone hear how that went?
And, looking forward…
Hopefully, I’ll be writing more in the near future. Until then, feel free to contribute your Pesach stories…
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Pre-Pesach Kosher Wine Round-Up
As per usual, the Wall Street Journal (link) and New York Times (link) featured kosher wines in their wine pages recently. I will let them speak for themselves, for the most part, but I am happy that these columns left the usual refrain (”This isn’t your parents pancake syrup…err…Manischewitz anymore”). Eric Asimov, in the Times almost belittles those who write-off this growing section of the wine market.
I was glad that Dalton was well represented and well reviewed. That’s hardly a new development, but I remain a fan of most of their wines and recently attended a tasting run by Alex Haruni, Dalton’s owner. In addition to all of their single grape wines, which are great, I recommend the Alma, a Cab-Merlot blend, that I have had a few opportunities to try. It is a very drinkable wine that will certainly go well with anything on your seder table. I was also happy to see Galil’s Yiron ‘03 on the NYT list. I have loved the Yiron for the past few years, so I like to see it get good press.
I also recently attended the annual Kosher Wine Extravaganza at the Jewish Center on the Upper Westside, run by Gotham Wines & Liquors. As I mentioned to a number of people there, an event like that, with hundreds of wines, is too overwhelming to write about cogently. And then I misplaced my notes. Anyway, a few of the noteworthy wines were:
- Tabor’s Adama line: I won’t say that I loved these wines, but I think it’s great that an Israeli kosher wine is giving consumers the opportunity to taste and compare the effects of terroir on wine. The line features volcanic, chalk and clay soil, among others. From the few that I tasted, the differences were very dramatic. Of course, there are other factors that might explain this and I’ll allow for the gimmick factor, but I welcome this addition to the market
- Recanati Cabernet Franc: I wish I had my tasting notes for this. This wine was specifically recommended to me and I really enjoyed it. It’s 100% Cabernet Franc and may be the first such wine from Israel. For those who want to expose their palates to something a bit different, it’s worth picking up a bottle or two.
- Chateau Leoville Poyferre: I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about French wines, but that is one of the great things about an event like this. I could taste a number of French (and fairly expensive) wines. The Leoville is already wonderful and will be great over the next several years.
If I find my notes, I will add to this post, but for now I leave you with these and wish you a chag sameach!
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Dinner at Solo
As previously reported, Hung Huynh (winner of Top Chef Season 3) spent the last month as the executive chef of Solo, an upscale Kosher eatery in NYC. My wife and I made dinner reservations for our wedding anniversary. We put our palates in the hands of Chef Huynh, and ordered the tasting menu. (That’s 4 courses + dessert. Tax, tip & wine extra). Our courses consisted of:
- a Duet of Bigeye Tuna. Seared and spiced and tartar. With hearts of palm, avocado and tomato vinaigrette.
- Grilled Turbot on Oyster Mushrooms, with Roasted Fish Jus.
- 5 Spice Braised Veal Tongue. Apple Parsnip Puree, Cubed Beet.
- Roasted Blank Angus Filet. Carrot Puree, Cipollini Onions, Red-Wine Beef Reduction.
Our desserts were made by Solo’s regular pastry chef, and were amazing as always. I had the Jack Daniel’s Mousse and my wife had the Sticky Toffee Pudding.
The food was absolutely amazing. We found each course perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. The accompaniments were too small to qualify as side-dishes, but their flavor always complemented the entree. Chef Huynh spent much of the evening coming around to tables, posing for photos and signing autographs. I’m not ashamed to say I got my menu signed.
One can only hope that other well known fine-dining chefs give Kosher consumers a chance to sample their cooking.
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WSJ Talks Israeli Wine…And it’s not even Pesach!
Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article discussing Israeli wine (kudos to the IsRealli blog for the link), but focusing on Domaine du Castel’s owner/founder, Eli-Gilbert Ben Zaken. The article gives a good quick history of the changes in the Israeli wine market due to the changes in the Israeli economy and travel habits of Israelis.
For those who have not yet tasted their wines, Domaine du Castel is doing great work that has been recognized globally. Robert Parker recently did a survey of Israeli wines (both kosher and non-) and the wines did very well, with many scores in the 80s and 90s. (articles: Israel21c; HaKerem 1, 2). Of course, the value of objective numeric scores for wine is highly debatable and Robert Parker has been at the head of that controversy since he started publishing Wine Advocate. The point, though, is that Israeli wines are increasingly on the world wine map and that can only be a good thing for quality.
I will hopefully have the time soon to write up my notes from the recent Galil Mountain Winery tasting that I attended as part of the Kosher Wine Society. They remain some of my favorite Israeli wines.
I look forward to the upcoming Pesach wine articles and events and will post what I can.
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Kosher ‘Top Chef’ News
A few Top Chef related news items made it into my inbox this week. (If you don’t already know, Top Chef is a reality-show on the Bravo network, where chefs compete for the title of ‘Top Chef’. It’s great fun, in my opinion.)
First, came the article about Ilan Hall (winner of the 2nd season), facing off against the executive chef of the University of Michigan Hillel, Emil Bloch, in a “Dorm Room Challenge“. After a little searching, and I found that this wasn’t Ilan’s first time cooking for a Hillel event. In April 2007, he was at the Fiedler Hillel Center at Northwestern University, cooking for the students. To be honest, I didn’t like him very much as a contestant, but I think that doing these sort of events is a really nice gesture.
Next, the New York Times is reporting that Hung Huynh, the winner of the Top Chef title in the 3rd season, will be doing a one month stint as the executive chef at restaurant Solo in NY, starting March 2nd. You may recall the KosherBlog review of Solo, after KosherFest 2006. I’m making my reservation now….
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Things to come
It’s depressing to only see 3 new posts in the last 2 months. This is an inevitable consequence of our writers having families and full-time jobs. But, you’ve been loyal readers, as the ongoing threads of comments attest. Thanks for that. I wanted to take a second to give you all a heads-up on some upcoming events, and hopefully upcoming posts:
- On February 27th, I’ll be attending (and reporting on) the Manischewitz Simply Kosher Cookoff finals in NYC.
- The deadline for the OU Kosher Essay Contest is March 7th
- The leap-month gives us some extra time to prepare, but Purim is coming! (March 21st) I hope to get at least a few Purim-food posts up.
- Save the date! The 20th Annual ASBEE/Kroger BBQ Competition will be on Sunday, September 7th. Can we get a KosherBlog delegation?
That’s all I have for now. To keep things lively, here’s a question: Hamentashen are the definitive Purim food (IMHO). What foods do you consider integral to the holiday? And I specified “foods” - not “refreshments”. And no “but it’s made from grains” objections. :-)
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OU Kosher Essay Contest for Grades 4-12
I like getting the word out there about Kosher contests. In this case it’s not a cooking contest, but a writing contest. The Second Annual OU Kosher Essay Contest is now open to students of grades 4-12:
Among the suggested topics in the essay contest are: describing your favorite OU certified candy, snack, food or drink; how eating kosher makes you feel better about being Jewish; writing a letter to a non-observant friend about keeping kosher; describing the kosher experience of walking the supermarket aisle; and how someone stranded in Montana can eat while keeping kosher. Applicants can also make up their own topic. Prizes will be $50 gift certificates to Eichlers.com, a leading Judaica website.
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2nd Avenue Deli Set to Reopen
Gothamist and Kosher-NY are both reporting that the Second Avenue Deli, which closed at its long-standing location last year due to rent issues, is set to reopen on Monday, December 17. The pictures that Gothamist has look great. And, in exciting news for carnivorous insomniacs and those of us who work odd hours on occasion, “The new location, on 33rd Street near 3rd Avenue, will be open 24-hours a day starting Monday with a ceremonial salami cutting of ‘nickel shtikel’ links at 11 a.m.”
To avoid the apparently inevitable “my hashgacha can beat up your hashgacha” conversation, I remind you that Kosher Blog recommends that you check with your local rabbi regarding any questions about appropriate kashrut. This, in my opinion, is not the appropriate forum for that discussion, since such decisions are not universally applicable and we prefer to avoid the lashon harah that often accompany these arguments.
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