# If I were to go to a Jewish food festival, what would I expect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248 "2010-02-16T20:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/41 "2010-02-18T23:14:04Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Turkey bacon is surprisingly hard to find kosher. It’s frustrating. I’ve heard that the best substitute for pig bacon is goose bacon, but that you’ve got to cure yourself, since it certainly isn’t available commercially. I saw a TV documentary recently- on NatGeo I believe- that said some kosher Jews (I’m guessing the “super kosher”- the kind who are also orthodox and count their steps on Sabbath) will not eat turkey because it’s not mentioned in Jewish dietary law. Some kosher Jews will because the only birds forbidden in the law are scavengers and birds of prey and turkey are neither, but some of the ‘X-Treem Kosher’ have a “turkeys weren’t known so they weren’t mentioned one way or the other, so why take chances?” philosophy. Presumably they won’t eat emu or the 4 Winged Ice Birds from Titan or anything else that’s not either specifically mentioned or covered under a blanket rule (like animals that chew their cud or fish or whatever) either. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/42 "2010-02-18T23:21:41Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Turkey bacon is surprisingly hard to find kosher. It’s frustrating. I’ve heard that the best substitute for pig bacon is goose bacon, but that you’ve got to cure yourself, since it certainly isn’t available commercially. For some reason I thought that said “Turkish bacon.” I was trying really hard to make sense out of “Turkish bacon” for a while there. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/43 "2010-02-18T23:29:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I saw a TV documentary recently- on NatGeo I believe- that said some kosher Jews (I’m guessing the “super kosher”- the kind who are also orthodox and count their steps on Sabbath) will not eat turkey because it’s not mentioned in Jewish dietary law. Some kosher Jews will because the only birds forbidden in the law are scavengers and birds of prey and turkey are neither, but some of the ‘X-Treem Kosher’ have a “turkeys weren’t known so they weren’t mentioned one way or the other, so why take chances?” philosophy. Presumably they won’t eat emu or the 4 Winged Ice Birds from Titan or anything else that’s not either specifically mentioned or covered under a blanket rule (like animals that chew their cud or fish or whatever) either. Yeqah, but those schmucks will take whatever excuse they can find to act holier-than-thou. Most Jews have no problem with the bird - in fact, Israel is the largest per capita consumer of turkey in the world, by a large margin. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/44 "2010-02-18T23:55:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Yeqah, but those schmucks will take whatever excuse they can find to act holier-than-thou. Most Jews have no problem with the bird - in fact, Israel is the largest per capita consumer of turkey in the world, by a large margin. I figured this was more like the Jewish version of fanatical vegans and not indicative of the general kosher community. I didn’t know that about turkeys and Israel, though I knew that chicken farming was huge there. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/45 "2010-02-19T00:25:31Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Maybe the cost varies regionally, but in my Expensive Manhattan Supermarket, the last jar of tahini I bought was $4.09 for half a kilo of the stuff, which has lasted me for over a year. You only need a couple of tablespoons for a batch of chumus. I’ll note the price when next in the Kroger’s that has it. Mrs. Plant and my Stepdaughter pour tahini over falafel. And it didn’t keep for me in the frig. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/46 "2010-02-19T00:34:55Z")
The new…well, only…Modern Orthodox Rabbi invited us for Passover several years ago when we were new to the Synagogue, and mentioned that he paid an exorbitant amount for a Kosher goose. This is Arkansas, not a lot of market here. I think Kosher meat is available in Memphis. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/47 "2010-02-19T03:10:57Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The new…well, only…Modern Orthodox Rabbi invited us for Passover several years ago when we were new to the Synagogue, and mentioned that he paid an exorbitant amount for a Kosher goose. Couldn’t he cowboy up and kill the goose himself? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/48 "2010-02-19T03:58:14Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Couldn’t he cowboy up and kill the goose himself? Say what? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/49 "2010-02-19T04:12:51Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Say what? Buy a live goose and do the shechitah himself. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/50 "2010-02-19T04:38:18Z")
Not everybody’s a shochet, you know; it’s a fairly rare and specialized thing, requiring training, specialized knives, and passing written and practical exams. I know a total of three (AFAIK), of all of the several thousand Orthodox people I know. None of them are synagogue rabbis: one sells tow trucks, one (my husband, actually) is in finance, and one does actually work for the [OU](http://oukosher.org/) in kashrut, but doesn’t do any slaughtering professionally himself, other than teaching a shechita class each year at Yeshiva University. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/51 "2010-02-19T06:12:51Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Not everybody’s a shochet, you know I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve had to remind people of that.😃 ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/52 "2010-02-19T10:44:50Z")
I just want to profess my love for canned gefilte. I know that it breaks my grandmother’s heart every pesach, but I love eating the stuff right out of the jar. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/53 "2010-02-20T01:26:42Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Buy a live goose and do the shechitah himself. He is a Schochet. No facilities to raise or butcher the animals. When he found out we lived on five acres in the woods, he wanted us to raise chickens for him. Mrs. Plant and I determined that we would have fifty new pets and declined. 🙂 The synagogue couldn’t pay him and he left. They are on second Rabbi since him. He was a trip at Purim, though. 🙂 …And I’m posting on Shabbes. Darn. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/54 "2010-02-20T06:36:11Z")
2 things many of the recipies and food mentioned seem to come form the Ashkenazic (European) Jewish traditions, while not many from the Sephardim Sephardic (Iberian) jewish tradition. Some of the Separdic food I have had in the past, especially the Pesach specialties are AWESOME - Everyone shoudl try Sepharic Charoset. It is made from dates as opposed to apples, and i felt it had a much smoother texture - I see it representing mortar better then a chunky charoset made of diced apples and no one mention anything about Kosher wine. Every major wine producing country in the world now makes some greta kosher wines. I hope the food festival got to show that off (but I guess being a kosher wine salesperson I would know thie really well) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248/55 "2010-02-20T20:35:24Z")
Thanks for all the recipes. I’m going to try a couple this week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-were-to-go-to-a-jewish-food-festival-what-would-i-expect/529248.md?page=2)