Meat and milk – What’s the problem?

Judaism seems to disagree with it. Keeping meat (fleishig) and milk (milchig) seperate is one of the guiding principles in what we like to call as “Kashrut”, Jewish dietary laws. That’s right. It means we can’t eat a bunch of regular people foods like Chicken Parmesan (or parma for the aussies), cheese burgers, lasagna or pepperoni pizza. Even sipping on a cappuccino while eating a chicken sandwich or spreading garlic butter on a piece of steak is a no-no. Meat and milk are kept separate, to the extent that in many Orthodox Jewish homes you will find two sets of plates, cutlery, cups, serving dishes and sometimes even two ovens, two stoves and two sinks. To make things even more complicated, some families have a third set of dishes for foods that are neither meat or milk, otherwise known as “pareve” – neutral (e.g fruit and vegetables).

There are also differences among the Jewish people as to how long one waits between eating a dairy product and a meat product. Some wait 1 hour, 3 hours, 5 hours or even 6 hours – but this will also depending on whether or not the person is eating dairy after meat or meat after dairy. Sounds complicated? Only just a little bit. Welcome to the Kosher world.

And all this originates from a verse in the Book of Exodus (Shemot) which forbids “boiling a kid in its mothers milk”. Don’t freak out. This is not referring to cooking children (although that should also be forbidden), but rather baby goats. From this simple one-liner the dietary laws around meat and milk developed into three main principles.

1)    No cooking meat and milk

2)    No eating meat and milk

3)    Not even getting any benefit from a cooked mixture of meat and milk.

That last one sounds a little strange, it means you would be unable to own a restaurant that served cheeseburgers even if you didn’t cook or eat them.

Just to confirm – meat refers only to meat and poultry from kosher animals, not fish (although some groups of Jews avoid eating fish with cheese for a different reason).

One of the motivations behind this principal is the ethical aspect it represents. Using the milk of an animal to cook its babies is somewhat inhumane and pretty disgusting if you think about it.

And here comes the nutrition aspect:

People are always trying to come up with reasons as to why we keep Kosher. In ancient times, it may have been more obvious that keeping kosher had a positive impact on health, but in modern times it’s hard to support this notion. On the flip side, there are more and more people that choose to buy Kosher products for the supposed health benefits, so go figure...

When it comes to the topic of mixing meat and milk together there is some evidence that claims eating the two together interferes with digestion. The other benefit I guess, is that any restriction on your diet usually (but not always) results in eating less. Meat and dairy are both quite high in energy/calories so avoiding one of the two in a meal should make the dish lower in calories, you would hope.  It also happens to be quite convenient for any vegetarians – if a dish contains any sort of dairy, you can be certain it is meat free. The same goes for any lactards – a dish with meat in it, means they can enjoy it without any worries. Despite these possible benefits, and any other suggested reasons for this Mitzvah – the simple explanation is that we keep kosher because G-d told us to, even if we don’t fully understand why. Not an uncommon theme in Judaism.  

Growing up in an Orthodox home, I was never tempted to eat dairy and meat together. It wasn’t something that appealed to me, probably because my taste buds had never encountered this mixture before. It did however, become particularly challenging for me, when as part of my degree I did a unit on practical cooking skills. First thing I had to make? A caesor salad with bacon and cheese (which apparently wasn’t a problem since bacon isn’t considered “meat” in the Bible). Next thing I had to cook? Chicken stuffed with pesto. Even though I wasn’t eating the food, I had to use substitutes in many situations. The problem was, I never knew which version was better.

So that brings me to my next point. I’ve come up with a few of the classic meat-milk combos that seem to be so popular around the world, and suggested an alternative for the Kosher population that are just as good, or maybe…even better. This is without using soy products and fake meat or cheese.

Cheese burger – the classic meat-milk mixture. Simple alternative – swap the slice of cheese for a grilled portabello mushroom. Healthier and more flavoursome (speaking from a biased point of view). Unfortunately (or fortunately in my opinion) the Kosher McDonalds in Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv has closed down. Sorry guys.

Lasagna – funnily enough, growing up I only ever had vegetarian lasagna with cheese. The concept of having a “meat-lasagna” never occurred to me. Alas, google a lasagna recipe and the traditional recipe requires minced meat, mozzarella cheese and a white cheese sauce. There is always the option of going veggie, or using weird soy protein meat substitute (which surprisingly tastes great). But moving away from fake food, you can simply make a “white sauce” with margarine, corn starch (to thicken it), coconut milk, fresh garlic, salt, white wine, and any optional minced vegetables for extra flavour (e..g mushrooms, onions, celery). Granted, it is a little more complicated – but definitely worth it!

Pepperoni Pizza – something I’ve always wanted to try but never have, is cracking a whole egg onto a pizza and baking it. Alternatively fry an egg, cut it up and place it around the pizza – let me know how it works out.

Spaghetti bolognaise (spag bol) – Instead of serving with parmesan cheese, sprinkle basil and parsley on top.  Ok, it may be different in texture, colour and flavour but still sprinkle-worthy.

Chicken parmesan – In majority of these dishes, I’ve suggested dairy replacements. In this case its easy – why eat chicken parmesan if you could have eggplant parmesan? And if you can eat eggplant parmesan, why not zucchini parmesan, or carrot parmesan, or pumpkin parmesan? Ugh...that does sound kind of gross. Maybe just put a dollop of chummus on top of the chicken, make Zohan happy.

Cream of chicken soup (is there such thing?) – It might be an Australian product, but adding a can of creamed corn to chicken soup is delicious. Another option, that may sound strange but happens to taste great – is adding rolled oats to chicken soup. It makes the soup a lot more creamier and thicker.

I hope that this has provided some culinary inspiration, rather than a sense of hopelessness at the limitations that come along with Kashrut.  

Gefilte Fish: ge·fil·te fish (g-flt) n. Finely chopped fish, usually whitefish, pike, or carp, mixed with crumbs, eggs, and seasonings, cooked in a broth in the form of balls or oval-shaped cakes, and usually served chilled.

A Jewish legendary food. Somehow it hasn't crept into this blog until now – I guess better late then never? Also, I should point out that this blog has been in operation for a year already! Yay!

So. Gefilte Fish. Kind of like meatloaf, but with fish. Let me paint you a picture. Think of a slightly whitish-greyish oval shaped fish-sponge with a boiled sliced carrot on the top for decoration. It makes no apologies for being one of the most ugliest foods. Commonly consumed with a dollop of chrein (horseradish – blog article link), it is enjoyed by Ashkenazi Jews all over the world on a weekly basis, although as a child I was always terrified of it. One of my friends accidently served gefilte fish in her chicken soup, thinking it was matzo balls – needless to say, it was not a pleasant experience.

A little bit of history…                                                                                                          

The translation of the Yiddish word gefilte is “stuffed”. Back in the Talmudic period,  our sagely Rabbis encouraged eating fish at the Sabbath meal because of its aphrodisiac effect. They believed the tantalizing aroma of the fish at the Sabbath table would support couples in fulfilling the command to be “fruitful and multiply”, specifically promoted on Friday night. On a completely different note, the Hebrew word for fish, dag, numerically corresponds to the value of seven. This reflects the commandment of working for 6 days during the week, and resting on the 7^th. We picked up this custom, and Jews in Eastern Europe used to make a mixture of chopped fish, stuff it back into the skin of a fish and boil it. Hence the name for stuffed fish. They weren’t too creative with the names of their dishes back then.

As was common with dishes in the old times, anything that stretched the limited resources that were available was a plus. Gefilte fish was a cheap form of fish, and at the same time, it prevented the transgression of removing bones on the Sabbath (which falls under the category of “Borer”, separating the bad from the good). With time, Jewish families stopped stuffing fish altogether, and simply formed the fish mixture into balls for boiling or steaming. Less work, I guess. Onions were added to help with preservation, since refrigerators weren’t too popular at the time. Different European countries adopted the different flavours for the fish. While Poland enjoyed a sweet variety of gefilte fish, Lithuanians preferred horseradish and pepper.

Now you can buy prepared frozen logs of gefilte fish, cans of gefilte fish, or just pop into your local deli for a slice.

Fun Fact: New Jersey-based Manischewitz packs 2 million pounds of fish annually for its several varieties of gefilte fish!

A Spot of Nutrition…

The basic ingredients in gefilte fish include ground fish (usually whitefish, carp, mullet or pike), onions, carrot, salt, sugar, oil, eggs, matzo meal and spices. For quite some time now, fish has been put up on a pedestal as one of the most healthy foods out there – mainly because of its high omega-3 content. Omega-3 is an essential (i.e. our body can’t make it on its own but needs to get it from food) fatty acid, found in fish and plant oils. With it, comes a plethora of health benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, hypertension and alleviating symptoms of joint pain, depression and ADHD.

Unfortunately, it is mainly the oily fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel and herring (a positive for the popular smoked herring at a Kiddush) that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, absent in the traditional gefilte fish (although there is a variation that contains salmon).

Do not fret, white fish is not too shabby either.

Fish build a significant amount of muscle due to their active swimming life, making them low in fat. White fish are also rich in Vitamin B3 and B6, awesome for promoting healthy skin and eliminating toxins. They have a fair amount of iron, phosphorus, selenium and iodine (good for the immune system and function of the thyroid).

Finally, white fish contain less toxins than oily fish. Because our rivers are polluted with chemicals and toxins from industrial plants and factories, fish end up feeding on polluted plants. A lot of the chemicals are fat/oil-soluble, which means oily fish have higher traces of toxins compared to white 

fish (which only contain oil in their livers).

On the down side, canned gefilte fish is high in salt. Maybe the carrot on the top makes up for it? 

Australia Day

 A tribute to Australian Cuisine. 
*Spoilers alert: There is not an ounce of Jewish-ness to this blog post.

This week bears significance for Aussies. The 26^th of Jan is Ostraya (Australia) day. Not unlike any other Australian public holiday, we celebrate with fireworks, beers (pronounced beeahs) and barbeques. What is the reason for such celebrations you may ask? It is the official national day for Australians, commemorating the arrival of the Captain Cook and his Merry Men – the First Fleet from Great Britain to the Land Down Under back in 1788 (a very young country we are). We celebrate all things Australian, and like every other culture – food just happens to be a part of this.

Lets try an experiment: I say Australian cuisine – you think:

Meat pie?

Vegemite?

Weetbix?

Shrimp on the barbie?

Beer?

While it all sounds great, it isn’t exactly sophisticated or, “cuisine” like. More like a conglomeration of random foods that happen to be enjoyed by Aussies. So this brings me to my next point, what is Australian “cuisine”, and how did it develop? Sorry, not much nutrition included here…

It all started with the Indigenous Australians, where bush tucker was their primary source of nourishment. Animals that were hunted included kangaroos, wallabies and emus, as well as snakes, lizards, witchetty grubs and moths. For some strange reason this cuisine hasn't carried through till today - although it isn’t uncommon to find kangaroo and crocodile sausages sold in local markets and delis. If anyone knows of a Kosher version, please let me know.

Then the Brits came along and took over the Island of Oz. This brought about a whole new selection of food types. Salted meats, roast beef, lamb chops, damper (aussie bread), tea, butter, potatoes in any shape and form, beer and plum pudding. Food was pretty bland and tasteless.

But our cuisine didn’t culminate at the Aboriginals or the British. Instead, it exploded through the wave of immigration after the second World War. Primarily, those from China, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Europeans brought us espresso coffee – which has become the post popular beverage ordered in restaurants and cafes around Oz, something I really miss in Israel. Pasta is another dish that was brought to us by the Italians, as well as spag bol (spaghetti bolognaise) and souvlaki, a Greek specialty.  Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants have become popular venues for locals to eat at, while ingredients such as lemon grass, cardamom and Asian greens are readily available all over.  

Now Australia offers a diverse range of eateries and ingredients. All this aside, there are a few iconic Australian foods that remain prominent in our culture.  Here are some that spring to mind, but there are many, many more.

         Vegemite: offer this to any non-native Australian, and they may mistake it for chocolate spread (Yes, I have tried this before). Surprise them. They will be disgusted by the immediate hit of the salty-yeasty flavour vegemite gives off. Just to throw in a tiny bit of Judaism (not to get totally off topic) – I’ve used vegemite in a cholent before, and it happened to be a hit. It is more commonly eaten with margarine and cheese, although I like it with avocado, cucumbers and lettuce (you may not want to try this at home).

-          Lamingtons. Easy to make yourself: Sponge cake, cut into small squares, dip in melted chocolate, dip in coconut. Voila! If you want to get complicated you can put a layer of jam/cream in between two squares. Lamingtons were named after Lord Lamington (great name) who was the Governor of Queensland. The Lamington was created by accident, through a maidservant of the Lord. The servant dropped the Governors favourite sponge cake into melted chocolate by mistake. Not wanting to waste food, Lord Lamington suggested to dip the cake into coconut to avoid having messy fingers. Everyone loved the “accidental” dessert, and it became a success.

     Fairy bread – a favourite amongst the kiddies, even though I happened to have hated it as a child. I remember the disgust I felt as a 6 year old girl in school, when I opened my lunch box to discover I was given a fairy bread sandwich. I threw it out immediately. The concept however, is quite cool: White bread, butter and 100s and 1000s (otherwise known as sprinkles) sprinkled all over – creating a colourful, exciting lunch for anyone under the age of 10. Sorry, no nutrition there.

-          ANZAC biscuits: the acronym coincidentally stands for, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which was established in World War I. Apparently these biscuits were sent by the wives of soldiers overseas because the ingredients last for a while and keep well during transportation. The biscuits are made with rolled oats, flour, coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and water. On a side note, the term “ANZAC” is protected under Australian law and can only be used with the permission of the Minister for Veteran Affairs.

-          Pavlova: an iconic Australian dessert. No relation to Pavlovian conditioning, instead it was named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova, following a tour she did in Australia and New Zealand. Also called, “pav” – it is a meringue-based desert, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit like strawberries, passion fruit and kiwifruit. I say, be creative and add whatever you want. I’d go with chocolate, banana, figs and caramel sauce. Too much?

-          MEAT PIE! A real classic. Show up to any footy game (Australian Football – AFL, NOT American football) and the waft of meat pies will result in instant salivation. Minced meat packed inside pastry, dunked in tomato sauce (American version: ketchup). No cutlery needed, just your mouth. Check out this blokes guide on how to eat a meatpie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfSv4ZqkNJg

-        Damper – Australian bread. Israelies have pita, we have damper. It’s identifying characteristic is that it’s baked in the coals of a campfire. Mm.. burnt bread, the best.

All this Australiana talk has made me nostalgic…and possibly hungry

Cheap Eats in Jerusalem

I’ve made pretty clear that food happens to be a major part of Jewish culture. The other thing the Jewish people have been infamous for throughout history, is their relationship with money, i.e. being cheap. Unfortunately, there is no nice way to say it but it has been the stereotype for many, many years. Exhibit A. Shakespeare portraying Shylock from the Merchant of Venice as a rich, money hungry Jew.

So we happen to have a bad reputation for stinginess? (Stingy is one of those onomatopoeic words that sounds horrible in its own right). What better way to combat this than the list below:

Top 14 ways to get free food in Jerusalem

1)      Where else but the Chalva stand in the Shuk, Machane Yehuda? I acknowledge the fact that the Shuk has played quite a prominent role in this blog, but not without good reason. Walk past either of the 2 chalva stands (Mamlechet Hachalva) in the shuk on any given day, and the vendors practically shove chalva down your throat. Look out for the Chalva King himself - Eli, who continuously yells out "בא לטאום!" - come and taste!

2)      Speaking of the shuk, across from the Chalva stand is a shop specializing in olive oil. There are always bowls of sliced bread to dip into the oil. So if you feel like making a chalva sanga, grab a piece of chalva, bread with a dab of oil and you have lunch for the day.

3)      In general the shuk is one big taste test – ask any vendor "אפשר לטעום" - can I taste? and they will never turn you away. Often, they will give you a freebie (or a "מתנה" (, if you are only purchasing one item (e.g. a cucumber). Seriously, try it. It works.

4)      Moving away from the shuk, take a walk on the wild side, Ben Yehuda – a mere 10 minutes away. The well known falafel/shwarma store - Moshiko, throws falafel balls at any passerby. When I say throw, I literally mean: throw. Be careful, noone wants falafel splattered all over their face. They do however, have a reputation for having the best falafel in town so its rare that you’ll be happy with only one falafel ball.

5)      Then there are all the ice cream shops. Asking to try any of the flavours of ice cream will usually result in a bored shop assistant dishing out small spoons of ice cream, until they finally send you running or force you to buy ice cream.

6)      Supermarkets. Surprisingly, supermarkets are often promoting food items and will hand them out as you walk in. Icy poles have been quite common, but you’ll get a whole variety of products.

7)  Festivals (פסטיבל). Always thought it was “Pasta ball”.  Jerusalem, especially in the summer, is full of festivals. Shuk festival, bread festival, wine festival, beer festival, puppet festival, arts and crafts festival – any excuse for a party. There will usually be some form of free food at these street parties, so you will hardly go hungry.

8)      Nespresso @ Mamilla – I’m not entirely sure how long this will be going on for, but for the moment, this innovative shop is handing out coffee tastings of your choice. The coffee shop across the street isn’t too happy about this.

9)      I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but when it doubt – there are lots and lots of soup kitchens located all over. Maybe don’t go showing off to your friends if you did grab a free meal from one of them.

10)  Friday night meals at the Kotel. A man, by the name of Jeff Seidel helps tourists and nomads find meals to join on a Friday night. I’ve never actually tried it out, but I’ve heard some very interesting stories. On that note, I have been asked by a man on the street on a Friday night if he could join us for dinner. Of course we said yes.


11) English Cakes and other assorted bakeries - usually on a Friday, but sometimes on other days, English Cakes bakery (located all around Jerusalem) hands out free tastings.


12) This one is particularly stingy. Go out to eat with a friend, don't order anything, and enjoy the bread and salads they put on the table. You might even be lucky and your friend will give you his/her leftovers. 


13) Crashing a kiddush on Shabbat day - many Shuls host a kiddush after praying with all sorts of food and drink. This isn't unique to Israel, but you have to know the right shuls to get the right food. Also, get there before 12pm or else you'll probably miss it.

14)  And finally, although its not free – there are a colossal amount of coupon/discount websites that advertise cheap deals on restaurants.

Hungry in Jerusalem? I don’t think so. 

Sufganiyah (Hebrew: סופגנייה): a ball-shaped doughnut that is first deep-fried, then pierced and injected with jelly (aussie: jam) or custard, and then topped with powdered sugar.

When I think of a donut, I think of Homer Simpson - drooling over a box of pink frosted donuts. Mmm…donuts.

Doughnut?

Or donut?

Both. If you want to get technical, the correct spelling is doughnut. The word was shortened to donut in the US, allowing these fried balls of dough to be more marketable and easier to use in advertising (think Dunkin Donuts). More proof that our society is getting lazier with age.

An even older version of the word is doughnaught which means “dough zero”. Did they used to be made out of solely jam and frosting?

Anyway, for the sake of this piece of writing, I’ll stick with donut (the US has done it again).

The Hebrew word for donut, is Sufganiya, derived from the Hebrew word for sponge (sfog) because of its sponge-like texture.

Next week, all around the world the festival of Chanukah (Hanukah) will be celebrated. Instead of one day of presents, we get 8 craazyy nights:

(http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/adam+sandler/the+hanukkah+song_20003925.html)

-          apologies for the corny reference -

Most of our holidays have unique customs with religious or traditional significance, including Chanukah. However, the tradition of giving presents on Chanukah was taken from Christmas. That’s right, we couldn’t even give Christianity their holiday all to themselves..

Usually I celebrate Chanukah in the Land of Oz, with beaches, barbeques and Chanukah in Caulfield park with jumping castles and fairy floss. This year, I will be celebrating Chanukah in its rightful wintry state. The streets are already lit up with Menorahs and the bakeries have been bursting with colourful designer donuts throughout the past month.

A little bit of History…

Chanukah is one of those festivals where the focus is all about the miracle. The Miracle of Lights. Coincidently it falls out around the same time as Christmas, but really has nothing to do with it. Oddly enough, it also happens to be one of the festivals that no one seems to remember the actual story. So here it is in short:

In 165 BCE, a small group of Jews rebelled against the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus. At the time, the King had banned many Jewish practices and introduced idol worship in the Jewish temple. Antiochus and his army were destroyed by this small band of rebels (known as the Macabees), and the defiled Temple was brought back to its original state. Chanukah literally means dedication – referring to the re-dedication of the temple in J.town following the Jewish victory over the Syrian- Greeks.

At this point of the tale you may be thinking, where do lights fit in? When the Macabees were attempting to re-purify the temple, they planned to light the Temples Menorah with ritual oil for 8 days. To their dismay, they discovered that there was only enough oil for one day. They lit the Menorah, regardless of this, and hey presto – the small amount of oil lasted for 8 days! And that - is the miracle of Chanukah. So we celebrate this festival with lots of oil – oil in the Menorah, oil in our foods, and oil in our hair (ignore the last statement). Donuts just happen to be one of the many oily foods we enjoy.

A Spot of Nutrition…

What could possibly be healthy about oil, dough and icing sugar?

Ok, so really – not much. Fat + Sugar = ? Bad idea.

Donuts are almost always deep fried (a baked donut would be more of a piece of sweet bread). Most of us know that deep fried foods absorb a lot of oil, making them extremely high in fat. However, we also have another problem on our hands. Frying foods at high temperatures for a long period of time produces a carcinogen called acrylamide, which has been known to increase the risk of cancer.

While there are ways around this, such as using healthy, unsaturated oils to fry the foods (e..g canola, sunflower, safflower) or heating the oil to the correct temperature before frying the food so that it doesn’t absorb as much fat – majority of people aren’t frying their own donuts. They’re buying them.

So what to do?

The solution to every dietary issue – moderation. If your usual diet consists of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, healthy fats and whatnot, your body shouldn’t suffer too significantly from a few stray donuts.

Unfortunately this usually isn’t the case over the festive season. A common conversation over Chanukah is competing over how many donuts one has consumed. Usually its not 3 or 4..

As a famous Aussie once said..

“9 out of 10 nutritionists recommend your kids eat Weetbix”

How many (donuts) do you do?

This is not my t-shirt

Just for fun: I used to have a t-shirt that said “Hakuna Matata”. For some reason, every time I wore it people thought it said “Hanukah Matata”. I miss that t-shirt.

The continuation of food in Israel – the good, the bad, and the ugly

As promised, here is Part II, with more of a focus on processed foods in Israel.

Juice Drink:

On the one hand the streets are jam-packed with vendors selling freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, grapefruit juice or carrot juice. But, walk into a supermarket or a makolet (milk bar) and it is rare to find a bottle of real fruit juice.

You may be familiar with some of the brand like, “Prigat”, “Spring” or “Jump” . Do not be fooled by their deceptive claims. They are not in any way, a fruit juice. Real fruit juice is never that clear. Real fruit juice is never that sweet. If you are craving a real orange juice, either buy one from the street, spend a wad of cash on an expensive brand, or make your own (or collect juice from the floor of the shuk and pour that into a bottle, no - please don't).

Israeli Cereals:

Breakfast for me = cereal. The cereals in this country just don’t do it. They’re not so much of a breakfast food, but more of a dessert. Filled with chocolate, nougat, vanilla, coated in sugar, packed with sugar-coated nuts and fruit, you end up just wanting more and more and more and more until the whole box somehow ends up empty. On one my trips to the supermarket the other week, I noticed that majority of the cereal shelves were packed with these sickly-sweet cereals, with the exception of Branflakes, which apparently makes up for all of it. Breakfast cereals are also triple the price of cereals in Australia, most likely because the usual Israeli breakfast consists of vegetables, bread, cheeses, eggs and dips. 

* Note - this is one of the recent versions of a box of cereal in Israel, only in this country would the advertising feature for a childrens cereal be "WTF". 

Maafot:

I really like this word. So simple, yet so useful. I know the literal translation is a pastry, but I’ve always thought of it as any baked good. Kind of like an umbrella term. Bakeries in Israel are always boasting about their “Maafot” – buy a cup of a coffee with a free Maafeh. Usually there is a selection of chocolate, apple, nuts, chalva and cinnamon. 

Bamba snack.

Bamba is an Israeli snack food, with a overwhelming peanut butter flavour.. Doesn’t work out very well for the school-kids of today, where peanut allergies are taking over the world.  Interestingly, studies have shown that kids in London have 11 times the rate of peanut allergies as kids in Israel. Is Bamba snack the solution?

It’s been around since 1963, and is still a prominent feature in the Israeli supermarket. Think Cheezles, without the cheese. More modern variations include strawberry-flavoured Bamba (not my favourite), and nougat filled Bamba (weirdly delicious). Bamba is promoted as a healthy children’s snack, but given its high fat content (544 calories in 100 grams, or 137 calories in a packet), I wouldn’t be overly encouraging it (despite it’s peanut-allergy-protective-powers).

Chicken Soup – The Jewish Penicillin

It’s about time I pay homage to the food that has shown its face in Jewish cuisine for centuries.

Chicken soup.

Some like to call it the Jewish Penicillin. Jewish mothers around the world take pride in cooking up this aromatic broth. A Friday afternoon is not the same without its’ smell pervading through the house. It even has a book named after it, “Chicken soup for the  soul”.

A little bit of history...

Soup in itself has a rich history. It utilizes one of the most basic forms of cooking – combining a bunch of foods in a pot with water to create a nutritious and filling meal with minimal effort. Easy to make, easy to digest, inexpensive – it’s no wonder soups have existed through the ages. But how did Chicken soup creep into the  Jewish traditional Friday night menu? It seems to be something we all take for granted..

To start off, there is no law in the Torah (Bible) that states we must eat chicken soup on Friday night. In fact, I’ve had Friday night dinners with pumpkin soup, corn soup, veggie soup, cold mango soup, and…you guessed it – NO SOUP AT ALL. For someone like me who has a tendency of spilling soup over myself and any other victims in proximity, it’s probably a wise idea.

Secondly, it’s not all Jews that have chicken soup on Friday night, only those with a European or Ashkenazi background.

Thirdly and finally, it seems the answer is pretty simple. The meal on Shabbat technically should involve some form of hot meat. In their thrifty nature, when Jews would cook chicken for the Friday night meal instead of discarding the bones, they would turn it into a delicious and nutritious soup. Practically speaking, soup is also easily kept warm, which is fitting for Friday night where foods cannot be heated up directly.

A Spot of Nutrition…

How did chicken soup merit it’s healing properties, analogous to penicillin?

The chicken soup-medicinal phenomena began in the 12^th century, where the Rambam (Maimonides) recommended the broth of hens and other fowl to “neutralize body constitution”. He claimed that chicken soup was curative for leprosy and asthma.

Chicken soup doesn’t have one secret ingredient, it is the combination of its ingredients that makes it so special. A typical chicken soup would include chicken (surprising, I know) with it’s bones, carrots, celery, onions, herbs (e.g. parsley, dill) and spices (salt, pepper).

Nowadays, one of chicken soups more common claimed healing powers is its effect on the common cold.

A study done on the benefits of chicken soup found that some components in the soup have an anti-inflammatory effect, which may result in reducing the symptoms of a cold. Many claim it also prevents sore throats and phlegm production, through the production of an amino acid called “cysteine”. It would seem that the Jewish mothers were onto something...

While many think of the traditional soup to be laden with fat globules on the surface, you can easily skim the congealed fat off once the soup has cooled down. The carrots in the soup contain high amounts of Vitamin A, which is useful for night vision. Unlike vegetable soups, chicken soup has a high protein content which is great for muscle development and strength. Interestingly enough, the bones from the chicken may increase the calcium content of the soup. Why drink milk if you can have a cup of chicken soup?

NOTE: Please do not replace chicken soup for milk, it probably doesn’t go well with Weetbix. I do know a certain somebody that used to take much delight in eating rice bubbles (or rice crispies for any Americans) with his chicken soup. Needless to say, I did not take up such a custom.