Discussing Religion at the Dinner Table.

I was raised in a traditional-ish Jewish family with a fairly idiosyncratic approach to Kashrut, the compendium of Jewish dietary law: two sets of plates and cutlery (plus others for Passover, and still others for the High Holidays), but take-out pepperoni pizza would be eaten on the meat plates. It would have raised some eyebrows to eat it on the dairy plates, even though the meal itself is completely not Kosher, and neither plate choice is appropriate. Cheese on a hamburger = o.k in my folks' household, but a glass of milk to wash it down = not o.k. Bacon = o.k, so long as it's not cooked in the house, but a pork chop = treif. Similarly, my family (with the exception of my brother and his wife, who have a more observant lifestyle) are lovers of shellfish and crustaceans, none of which are Kosher, but Passover and Yom Kippur, with their attendant eating/not eating rules are observed strictly. I don't think this is my family cherry-picking religious practices in terms of their convenience, but rather their way of making sense of the competing and contradictory religious and secular worlds they inhabit. All of this makes sense to me, and I have no trouble navigating the religious/cultural expectations of eating in my parents house.

There is not a lot of widespread agreement on the rationale behind Kashrut, and there is even disagreement on whether or not we, as mere mortals, should even be seeking to understand G-d's law. Operating on the assumption that it always preferable to seek to understand, rather than to blindly obey, I find some arguments for the purpose of Kashrut way more compelling than others. In fact, the two that make most sense to me are, while not mutually exclusive, at least incompatible. On the one hand, Mary Douglas, in her book, Purity and Danger (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966) suggests that the Kashrut laws are a set of prescriptions and proscriptions designed to establish a pattern of wholeness (and therefore holiness) reflective of G-d's own holiness and perfection. Every act of eating, and even menu planning becomes a meditation on holiness. Animals that are kosher to eat are animals that conform perfectly to descriptions of wholeness. Land mammals that are good to eat have cloven hooves and ruminate, tasties from the water have fins and scales, birds have feathers and are capable of flight, and edible insects have to locomote by hopping, not swarming. Potentially delicious meals that either do not conform to these categories of cleanliness, or inhabit a grey area, fall short of perfection, and are therefore not Kosher.

On the other hand, it also makes sense to me that the Kashrut laws might be a way of maintaining a distinct society, rather than a holy one. Creating a very specific set of rules governing what may, or may not be eaten is an effective way of minimizing contact between different groups. For example, pigs don't offer much in the way of wool, milk or hide, and they consume grain: they probably weren't kept as livestock by the Israelites. The injunction against eating the flesh of pigs (and other strange animals) is maybe a way of keeping the Israelites separate by preventing them from sitting down to eat with other groups and cultures. Familiar and homegrown = kosher and delicious, strange and unfamiliar = contrary to G-d's will.

And while I think that these arguments are coherent and intelligible, they don't do much for me in terms of guiding my behaviour. I think all of G-d's creatures are delicious (with the possible exception of the strange and unfamiliar hopping insects, to say nothing of the swarming ones), and they all taste even better with butter on top.

I hope this doesn't offend you.

Erev Christmas

Update:

1. David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream turned out beautifully. As in, it firmed up slightly in the ice cream maker. (A Cuisinart ICE-20. Am I expecting too much of this machine?) From everything I have read, I was expecting the consistency of soft-serve. Granted, it's been some time since I've had any soft ice cream, but I distinctly remember it holding shape. In any event, it solidified beautifully in the freezer.

2. Thusly encouraged, I threw the lemon ice cream/granita mess into my stand mixer to break up the ice crystals and whip some more air into it. The result? Delicious. Still a little icy, but definitely ice cream.

3. I made a butterscotch sauce to accompany the vanilla (and who are we kidding? Probably the lemon, and anything that stands still long enough for me to drizzle it onto.) Lovely. Brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, heavy cream, a little fleur de sel, brought to the boil, then simmered to thicken, then finished with more butter, some vanilla extract and some blended Scotch.

4. Feeling awfully proud of myself, I started a third batch of ice cream, truffled honey/saffron. I let the custard stay on the heat too long, and it curdled. Garbage. Expensive garbage, at that. Pride goeth before a fall, or something, right?

5. I took a nice (well, angry, actually) break from my kitchen, went to a houseparty, home now for dinner. Not, as it turns out, the traditional Jewish Christmas eve festive meal of Chinese takeout, but leftovers from last night: braised short ribs. Here's how to make them:

**Unfortunately, I don't have any accompanying photos for this one, because last night when I was cooking, I didn't know I would have a weblog today!! I'll do better next time.

Braised Short Ribs: A Recipe in Broad Strokes. (Also, an all-purpose method of braising things)

Serves 4 big appetites

1. Finely dice: 1 large yellow onion, 2 ribs celery, 2 peeled carrots. Sweat these vegetables in 2 tbsp. butter or flavorless cooking oil (canola or some such), about 10 minutes over medium/low heat, or until veggies are translucent, but not browned. Season very well with Kosher salt and ground black pepper. Add 4 cloves chopped garlic, and 2 cups sliced mushrooms (whatever kind, really. I used white mushrooms, but cremini would be fine, shiitake would be lovely and rich, portobello would be meaty and lovely as well.) and cook a further 4-5 minutes, then scrape into a roasting pan, dutch oven or similar.

2. Dredge 6 pieces of "flanken cut" short beef ribs in all-purpose flour. Using the same pan, heat 3 tbsp. cooking oil over medium/high heat, and brown the short ribs in the oil until deep brown all over. Place on top of the vegetables you just set aside. Drain off most of the oil remaining in the pan.

3. Deglaze the pan with about 2 cups of a medium-bodied red wine. I was introduced to the Casal Thaulero 2007 Sangiovese, a medium red wine, dry, cherry notes, a bit of a metallic finish, INCREDIBLY inexpensive ($7), considering how darn drinkable it is. Anyway, keep the heat on under the pan, pour in the wine, and use a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula to release all the delicious brown bits stuck from the browning of the meat. Let the wine reduce a little, to concentrate its flavour, and then dump it over the meat and vegetables.

4. Heat up some chicken stock (beef stock would be better, but I had neither the inclination nor the fridge space to make any), about 2 cups, or as much as is needed to have the meat 2/3 submerged in liquid. If you don't have any chicken stock, go on ahead and use beef consomme or bouillon, but keep in mind that the stuff you can buy in the store is wicked salty, and so you'll want to show some restraint in adding salt to the vegetables as you sweat them. Pour this onto the meat.

5. Halve some small red potatoes (8-10 of 'em) and fit them into the spaces around the pieces of meat.

6. Add 1/2 large can (not the industrial large size) diced, canned plum tomatoes.

7. Toss in 2 bay leaves, 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme.

8. Cover and put in an oven preheated to 350F for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, or until the meat is very soft, the braising liquid has reduced into a nice sauce, and the potatoes are fork-tender. Every 45 minutes or so, baste the meat, and taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

Leftovers? Shred the remaining meat into the remaining sauce, heat with some extra tomatoes for a rich ragù that is delicious over pasta. Or just reheat and eat as is.

This is some tasty eating, right here.