Food

Below please find diverse brief anecdotes on the theme of "food."

Very soon after Pesach, I bought more finely ground black pepper. With it, I made Yerushalmi kugel, and thereafter I was informed in no uncertain terms by no fewer than three people, that the rumors I heard 10 years ago are true. Israeli black pepper is generally cut with flour. But not on Pesach.

Also soon after Pesach, I bought sunflower seeds. Being a savvy consumer, I looked at the expiration date before putting the bags in my cart, and I was suitably unhappy to see that the darned things expired two days ago. Then I looked again: they expire in almost a year from now. They were packaged two days ago. My friends, freshly roasted sunflower seeds do indeed taste freshly roasted. Yum.

Other indignities include buying "עלי סלק" and upon Googling "beet leaves," discovering that although סלק is certainly beet, "עלי סלק" is actually Swiss chard. Luckily, I forgot to buy spinach, and cooked Swiss chard is pretty indistinguishable from cooked spinach.

Possibly the most exciting food-related adventure is that I finally caved and spent over 100 on a percolator. Let me just say, "Cofffffeeeeee." There is nothing like actual brewed coffee. I resent instant coffee so much that I've been drinking the powdered Elite stuff that has a smell somewhat resembling that of coffee, but is so far removed from the actual product that the fact that it isn't the real thing doesn't really bother me. But coffee. Real, brewed, coffee. Oh my Gosh. It's almost as good as Aunt Chef's Pesachdik Jelly Cookies made with flour. (And those are marvelously delicious.) Because I finished my matza meal, and if it isn't Pesach, why shouldn't I substitute flour for matza meal?