Stores in Charleston SC, did not stock any matzah
for Passover this year. We Amazoned our matzah,
and payed ridiculous amount of money for overnight shipping of KOL shank
bones. Somehow, over the past five years
I ended up taking over the family Passover.
The majority of them are not observant, yet they were honoring their
ancestry. My husband’s conversion, me
having a daughter, and some other factors started me on my slow transition to
Kosher life. When asked, I say that we
eat Kosher-style.
In Charleston, that
meant avoiding “Fleishik Treif” (non-Kosher animals), and doing our best while
eating out. I would do my best to
support Kosher vendors and Israeli manufacturers when I happen to find them ,
but I did not examine very label. Let’s
face it, the U is present on many Parve (neither meet nor dairy) products and
canned items by default, but stores in the “middle of nowhere America” don’t
consider that when making stocking decisions.
After my husband lost his job and was weighing
his options, we started researching Kosher stores in each city that scheduled
an interview for him. I could barely
keep up with locations texted to me with my survey of Jewish Days schools,
Jewish Community Centers, and Synagogues.
We settled strategically within 2 miles of a
JCC and a Chabad Center. We are also 2 miles away from Shopper and
Trader Joes. The Kosher departments in
both are considerable in comparison to my former options. My mother calls me crazy on a daily basis,
and says that I imagined Kosher dairy and especially Kosher meets to taste
better. Sometimes, I wonder if this is
really a placebo effect. However, Kosher
products also have stickers like non-GMO, organic, free range, preservative
free… and so on. In short, they are free
of mystery ingredients and by in-large chemical additives. So, simply buying Kosher products is a
healthier choice. Granted they are more
expansive, but, what I found out, is that those prices are National. That is relatively the same in every part of
the country. At the end of the day, how
much are you willing to pay for your health?
So, my next step is to make my kitchen Kosher. As my mother slowly relinquished the kitchen,
I became a better cook. Most of what I
prepare in the kitchen is ancestral. I
duplicated many of my grandmother’s and mother’s recipes. Sometimes, I search online, or attempt to
recreate something I tried at a restaurant.
But, by enlarge it’s Russian, Jewish, Georgian, and therefore
Kosher-style.
We all know the rules in gest. Separate dairy and meet, have a separate set
of dishes for each, and a third set for Passover. But what does that mean in detail?
Two sets of knives for each, really? Why would
I need a cheese knife in the Fleshik (meet) section, or a carving knife in the Milchik
(dairy) one? Let’s face it. Most of us
don’t even know what the knives in our set are for. We all know the bread knife, and the
peeler. Then every cooks picks the one
they find the most comfortable for them and uses it for everything else. So, dear Balabostas (Jewish house-wives),
please send me a picture of your two sets of knives.
Two sets of kitchen utensils? How do you color code a wooden spatula set? Why do they make all the silicone and plastic
utensils black?
Then there is a question of what you use most
or more often. Is your milchik section
smaller than fleishik? Soviet psychology
dictated the opposite since beef and lamb were hard to come by. But, after talking to a few people, I realize
that would make more sense.
Since I now shop Kosher, I decided to practice
dividing my kitchen right away. I happen
to have two sinks in my kitchen. I
purchased two dish racks and Corel bowls with red and black trim. Well, the husband confused it on second
day. His excuse “It wasn’t labeled. But
you look great in that apron and I love you for trying. It’s the thought that counts.”
That taught me a few things right away.
1. I have to experiment and
change my mind about how to position things in my kitchen many times before I
find what works.
2. Label everting.
3. The husband is supportive, in love, appreciative, and absolutely
useless when it comes to resolving my dilemma.
4. I jumped the gun purchasing anything for the kitchen before further
research.
A question of materials and manufactures came
up in conversations. Granite imitations
and other mystery material countertops can’t be Koshered. Plastic coted dishwashers, wooden bowls and
Corel dishes have to be thrown away and replaced. The list goes on and on. The question that haunts me most though is:
What’s chicken got to do with it? “Though shalt not bath a kid in it’s mother’s
milk.” That is how it all began. But, what’s first the chicken or the egg? If
the Egg is Parve – (neither meet or dairy) why is chicken fleishik? Sephardim (Hispanic Jews) don’t think so.
Chickens, turkeys, and ducks don’t produce milk and they are not really
mentioned in the Torah.
So, meanwhile, we are acting as Sephardim and
consider it parve. If you have an
explanation, I am listening.
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