Once I convert, will my taste-buds be converted too?

As I prepare for Shabbas, I'm confronted with a discussion Ari and I a couple of weeks ago: whether nuts would be an acceptable addition to kugel. Yup. The exciting life we lead.

Below are some photos of what we made that week. 

1 challah

2 challot

3 challot

Four!

Kugel sin nueces

Although we share in the same excitement when preparing for Shabbas, there's a fundamental difference in our views of its festive food. Ari believes that the Ashkenazi food he's grown up with deserves the traditional recipe, tested and true from the Old Country. Kugel and challah are best enjoyed with refined flour, lots of oil, eggs and salt. And they're pretty damn good, I must say. Jews from Eastern Europe have been using the same recipes for hundreds of years and an attempt to modernize these recipes can be seen as an assault against tradition. Besides, where do we draw the line? One Friday its nuts in the kugel, the next its fish tacos or sushi and then, who knows, un-Kosher wine or bacon cheeseburgers. It's a slippy slope when we start making compromises between tradition and modernity.

But, what Ari likes to call, the "hippy" in me can't help but chime in "You know, nuts would be really good in this kugel!" or "Let me try making the challah with whole-wheat instead of bleached flour" (examples in the four photos above). And I admit: whole-wheat challah isn't as bouncy and fluffy and traditional as white challah. Kugel tastes better with that much sugar and oil. My attempts to bring a bit of modern, sustainable eating to the Shabbas table is innocent, but its reprocussions could reach far beyond a meal, say the critics.

After looking at Hazon's website (www.hazon.org) and The Jew and the Carrot (http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/), I see other young adults questioning the traditional recipes too. Our modern values of local and sustainable eating often stem from similar values that turn us towards a more religious life: questioning the monotonous daily grind most people in the 21st century find themselves in. Conscious eating helps bring us back to the basics of health and lifestyle choice, while a religious life brings us closer to The Basic: God. 


While I'm still a novice in terms of Jewish study, I found a wonderful example in a recent article of the overlap between ancient tradition and modern "green" thought (http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/147068/). In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides writes "In the summer time, cold food should be consumed; one should be sparing with condiments; vinegar should be used. During winter, warm foods should be eaten; condiments should be liberally used with a little mustard and asafetida.” (Mishne Torah, 4:8). Maimonides doesn't exactly settle the "to nut or not to nut kugel" debate, but he provides a beautiful example of how our seemingly modern whims actually take root in ancient food philosophy. I gather this isn't the only example and I intend on finding more like it!


For this Friday night, the challah is whole-wheat, the cookies are vegan, but the kugel remains nut-less. Shabbat Shalom!