Savoring The Flavors
Of Recipes Past
Empire's Express Meals are the easy, convenient way to
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EDITH BROIDA SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
We created a first for the kosher consumer: Choose from Chicken
Stir-Fry, Chicken Fajitas or Chicken and Pasta.
Everything you need is in the bright
green bag: Marinated Empire
Kosher chicken breast, rice,
pasta or tortillas, vegetables
1.
from Bodek and sauce. Plus,
each serving contains less than
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R
taste like you cooked for hours, but
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Consumer Hotline : I (800) 367-4734
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1pha Epsilon Pi, the Jewish Fraternity, invites recent high school
graduates to continue their Jewish leadership experience in
-
college. We are hosting an informational get-together with repre-
sentatives from many chapters from around the country.
AEII has more than 100 chapters across North America, including
fine chapters nearby at the University of Michigan, Michigan State
University, Eastern Michigan University and Wayne State University.
Event:
Date:
Time:
Location:
AEII Get-Together for Recent High School Grads
Saturday, June 29, 1996
4 p.m.
For further information, please call Scott Page at
(810) 542-9778 or send e-mail to
victorda@pilot.msu.edu
Bring your bathing suits!
116
We hope to see you there 9
1
ummaging for a recipe re-
cently reminded me how
a recipe box can reflect
family history. It's
a source of nostalgia as well as
nourishment.
I confess the recipes
themselves are in disarray.
Some are scrawled on index
cards; some are typed and
folded hand-outs from various
cooking classes, and some are
ragged even yellowed newspaper
clippings. But most mangled
are the most cherished:
my mother-in-law's matzah balls,
my mother's apricot strudel, my
Aunt Eve's bobka. What's
even more remarkable is that
I no longer make these delic-
acies; they are no longer
politically correct foods.
So why can't I part with these
remnants of cooking past?
First of all, they recall their
authors. Just seeing my
mother's neat handwriting
recalls her endless hours in
the kitchen, hours I watched her
roll rugalach and kreplach
dough. In retrospect, I believe
Jewish cooking was ordained to
keep women in the kitchen; her
recipes required a prolonged se-
quence of chopping, rolling, boil-
ing, cooling, mixing, stuffing, etc.
Yet I don't recall that my
mother was ever as frantic or
frazzled as women today. After
all, if you don't drive, you don't
worry about carpools.
My mother lived in an era
when food wasn't fast, and
casseroles were an art form. Cans
of mushroom soup and tomato
soup were stockpiled in the
pantry along with macaroni and
rice so that a moderately-sized
chicken or pound of hamburger
could be magically transformed
into an abundant dinner for six:
our family of four and whatever
playmates wandered by.
Eggs, cream and butter were
also staples. We drank homoge-
nized milk, disdained margarine
and devoured yellow omelets.
Frequently, the omelets were
Edith Broida is a freelance
writer living in West
Bloomfield.
orange, oozing with cheddar
cheese. How laughable this
seems compared to today's fare:
milk must be skim; eggs must be
yolkless and soy spreads mas-
querade as topping for toast.
We live in an age when calo-
ries and cholesterol count more
than the sheerness of strudel
dough or the budgeting potential
of meatballs. Assembling a
bobka requires more time than
most women (shall I amend that
to read "men and women"?) allot
for cooking in the typical week.
Remember pot roast? Swiss
steak? Goulash? My mother had
a veritable repertoire of these
family foods. The recipes lan-
guish in the recipe box.
So why don't I toss them? I be-
lieve they serve as souvenirs.
They remind me that nouvelle
cuisine displaces the hearty,
homemade cooking of my child-
hood; and then healthful eating
became even more de rigueur.
Today, we win our accolades for
lentil-laced soup and fat-free
lemon torte. Cous-cous is cool; red
peppers are hot; ratatouille is
good; lasagna is not. My recipe
box now bulges with recipes that
include bulgar, basil and bal-
samic vinegar.
Still I think wistfully of the
foods of my past: chopped
liver, corned beef sandwiches
mired in Russian dressing,
Lindy's strawberry cheesecake.
Sometimes, inexplicably, I long
for canned corn and green Jello.
The sage Martha Stewart
writes that recipes can be better
organized with a computer data
base. She explains that she has
just one file for rhubarb! I reject
that efficiency. I intend to keep
my stained, smudged, slightly
faded recipes, even if they are
outmoded. When blintzes and
brisket make a comeback, I'll be
ready!
❑