<p>So, as a Jew who has never kept kosher, nor has my family since we arrived in the United States. It is our choice. However I heard the explanation of WHY kosher is what it is and it is not because it is a health code. Keeping kosher is a reminder that at all times we have a relationship with God. Some things are forbidden to eat. You kill the animals that you are eating humanely. You thank God for the food that you are able to eat. It is not a heavenly health code.</p>
<p>Wrong time of year, but still a big favorite in this not-remotely-Jewish household: matzoh with deviled ham.</p>
<p>And heck, why shouldn’t we call all of them “latkes”? Maybe the word has successfully installed itself into the English language, like the way “cilantro” has completely replaced “fresh coriander” within the past ten years.</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to you, Slithey, in bad humor, just to the idea that eating pork = bad Jew. Sorry if you took it personally. If you read my comment closely, I don’t disrespect people who choose to keep kosher or who are fully shomer shabbat. My comment was that this is a choice. My uncle, who was an Orthodox rabbi, would be the first to say that his choices had no effect on what God does and that there are many superstitions - folk religion - which tend to creep in.</p>
<p>Potato pancakes are a traditional German dish, and the Germans also eat a lot of pork products, but if the TODAY chef called them “latkes” and one ingredient was bacon…sorry, but my brain just exploded. :eek:</p>
<p>Some of the popular chain bagel places in town serve ham & cheese on a bagel. No matter how long I live, I will continue to think of that as weird.</p>
<p>I have a problem with the Today show having a chef make latkes with bacon and cheese for it’s Hanukah cooking segment. There are so many other ingredients that could have been mixed into the latkes. I don’t have a problem with the cheese - but the cheese and bacon combo is a little insulting. Even if a Jew isn’t kosher, I don’t know that they would serve bacon at any holiday meal. If this chef were making latkes with bacon as a side dish for a differnt occasion I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Imagine if a chef, while doing a Christmas cooking segment, made matzoh brie or matzoh ball soup for Christmas dinner as an alternative to the traditional ham or turkey!</p>
<p>^^ trying to think of an analogy. Maybe a nice zucchini quiche instead of traditional ham or turkey? Serve buttermilk instead of eggnog? </p>
<p>Some things are just…stupid. And the people who produce the TODAY show should know that.</p>
<p>Edit: I guess matzo brei instead of turkey would be weird enough. But matzo brie? Sounds intrigueing!</p>
<p>Sorry mommusic - I didn’t realize I spelled it wrong. Now here’s an idea for a Passover cooking segment - matzoh brei with brie and bacon!</p>
<p>Brie sounds good to me!</p>
<p>But don’t let the folks at TODAY hear about the “brei with bacon” idea, or we’ll be seeing that on TV just before Passover. Gah!</p>
<p>Me, I like my matzo with that artichoke-garlic goop we make here in the midwest.</p>
<p>Matzos are great cheese or dip crackers cause they’re so plain. </p>
<p>Last week we bought a different brand of wheat cracker that was plain and perfect with good cheese…but everyone remarked that they tasted like matzos!</p>
<p>The Today Show faux pas reminds me of when Costco puts out the hamantashen for Passover! Someone there knows it is a Jewish food, they just don’t put it out for the correct holiday. Or maybe they know and just want to get rid of the leftovers from Purim!</p>
<p>lololu in 34:</p>
<p>My opinion – great post. I love it when people bring the richness of their knowledge and experience in on CC. This is a wonderful thread. It reminds of why America is such a rich country, because we have so many different traditions. There is no “good or bad”.</p>
<p>Not to segue, but I remember once at Catholic Mass on Christmas with my in-laws in a very traditional church in the Midwest, and the priest rather blithely noted that the Christmas Tree tradition is in fact pagan. Gasps of horror all around! What? Pagan! </p>
<p>One of the best things I ever saw on the subject of holidays was a planetarium show at the Brooklyn Museum called “Season of Light”. It showed the confluence of ceremonies in cultures around the world which involved light and stars, whether Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali, and many others. Interesting, right?</p>
<p>Back to latkes, mmmm.</p>
<p>oops. And I just learned how to spell “intriguing.”</p>
<p>There’s a lot of incentive in this thread! :)</p>
<p>Anuddahmom–exactly.</p>
<p>Learning to create light and fire was one of the things that separated us humans from dumb critters.</p>
<p>And fighting the approach of darkness, winter, death…yeah, I’d do whatever it took to entice light to come back!</p>
<p>My German mother always made marrow ball soup on Thanksgiving. Instead of matzoh she used saltines, beef marrow and nutmeg. I loved it but my kids, not so much. My Scottish born paternal grandmother always had matzoh and jam with her afternoon tea.</p>
<p>:) I can see the Scots going for matzos. They aren’t exactly noted for <em>exciting</em> cuisine. :)</p>
<p>I remembered seeing a recipe for marrow balls in my old Joy of Cooking book, so I looked it up. It calls for marrow, eggs, & cracker crumbs.</p>
<p>There are also liver dumplings–liver, white bread, eggs, etc.</p>
<p>Annuddahmoom, I love food. I love to talk about it, buy it, cook it, eat it. But one of the things I love best about food is how it weaves it way in and out of cultures. Many people consider food to be one of the primary markers of a culture, but it always astonishes me how very similar food can be across cultures. A taco is nothing but a sandwich, an egg roll is just a burrito, pasta is just chinese noodles. We are more alike then we think.</p>
<p>Lololu, I remember reading an article noting how many cultures have some kind of dumpling – dim sum, ravioli, pierogis, piroshkis, I’m sure you can think of many others (tell!).</p>
<p>And the pancake! The crepe, the blintz, the aebelskiver, and the latke or potato pancake. For me the ultimate pancake experience in comfort food is the Austrian Kaiserschmarrn. Get this: the pancake comes to you ALREADY CUT UP in bite-size pieces:
[Austrian</a> Pancake Recipe - Kaiserschmarrn Recipe with Raisins - German and Austrian Dessert](<a href=“http://germanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/Kaiserschmarrn-Austrian-Pancake.htm]Austrian”>Austrian Pancakes With Raisins (Kaiserschmarrn) Recipe)</p>
<p>^^mich: that’s what I found so interesting; the timing…I don’t even know if it actually WAS a Chanukah cooking segment, but using the word “latkes” or “potato pancakes” THIS WEEK perked up my ears…then hearing bacon with it was the kicker…as someone eagerly pointed out earlier, this could have been a European cooking segment (Norweigien I think) but timing was awful…</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>As soon as we figured out how to make flour from wheat, and then dough from that (with or without yeast), it was just a matter of what to stuff it with, and how to cook it. (Which depended on how much fuel you had…stir fry vs. boiling, for instance.)</p>
<p>Otherwise, we’d all be eating the same diet…roasted meat with berries & greens on the side. Oh, and potatoes, rice, or taro root for carbs. </p>
<p>Fascinating subject. But I am definitely getting off this site and getting some cooking done, right now!</p>