The purpose of this blog is to challenge tastes at the Shabbat table. Please print and share.
L'shana tova - Happy 5779.
(Happy New Year has the same afterglow as a birthday - you're allowed to say happy birthday to someone up to a month late.)
One of my resolutions is to try to expand my culinary horizons.
Thank Trader Joe's for making it so easy.
And if that link isn't proof enough, if you've been reading this space for long enough, you know that I'm a chocolate kind of guy.
(Although I admit, I've never shelled out $300 a box.)
Question for chocoholics: Does tasting new varieties of chocolate count as expanding your culinary horizons?
Maybe it's time to give chocolate's evil twin a chance.
I refer, of course, to vanilla.
Could we do with vanilla what we did with chocolate?
I.e., inspiration, perspiration and invention of the next up-and-coming beverage phenomenon?
(The chocolate invention is code-named the Hot Seinfeld.)
It is touted to have some appealing health benefits (which don't beat chocolate of course, but that's OK).
But as soon as I go to the baking cupboard (inspiration) to fetch the vanilla and start testing it with everything (perspiration) it becomes apparent that any invention is going to have to overcome a formidable challenge.
It turns out there's a reason why vanilla comes in those tiny little bottles.
Vanilla, like chocolate, has lost its innocence.
Real vanilla is actually quite scarce.
To quote National Geographic:
Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world (after saffron) because its production is so labor-intensive. Vanilla grows as a clinging vine, reaching lengths of up to 300 feet, from which sprout pale greenish-yellow flowers, about four inches in diameter. These-in Mexico, vanilla’s native habitat-are pollinated by melipona bees and, occasionally, by hummingbirds. Each flower remains open for just 24 hours, after which, if not pollinated, it wilts, dies, and drops to the ground.
It gets much more complicated than that, resulting in a product so scarce that 99 percent of the "vanilla" products don't actually contain vanilla.
Vanilla extract = good
Vanilla flavor = bad
Vanillin = ugly
Read those labels!
(Fun fact: while cookies like Nilla Wafers are typically 100% artificially flavored, by law in the US, vanilla ice cream must contain 100% natural vanilla.)
So how come they don't make vanilla bars like chocolate bars?
The best I could find are these Health Warrior bars.
One solution is to get your own beans and make your own.
So the perspiration goes on. In the meantime, if you have a favorite vanilla dish or recipe, please send it along.
(Hey, while we're at it, any suggestions for gourmet chocolate?)
Now your wondering how all this plain vanilla talk could lead to a dinner table conversation.
Here's a question for your table: How much effort should we put into making our food tasty?
Shabbat Shalom
and
Happy Sukkot
PS - Thank you everyone who responded to our appeal last week to support this email along with the rest of JSL's mission. To send this weekly message actually costs something. There is server time, hardware maintenance, and general overhead. If you enjoy this weekly or even on occasion, please consider a tax-deductible tzeddaka contribution of any amount. If you read this, please consider 25¢/week ($12/year). Here's the link: http://jsli.org/donate
L'shana tova - Happy 5779.(Happy New Year has the same afterglow as a birthday - you're allowed to say happy birthday to someone up to a month late.)
One of my resolutions is to try to expand my culinary horizons.
Thank Trader Joe's for making it so easy.
And if that link isn't proof enough, if you've been reading this space for long enough, you know that I'm a chocolate kind of guy.
(Although I admit, I've never shelled out $300 a box.)
Question for chocoholics: Does tasting new varieties of chocolate count as expanding your culinary horizons?
Maybe it's time to give chocolate's evil twin a chance.
I refer, of course, to vanilla.
Could we do with vanilla what we did with chocolate?
I.e., inspiration, perspiration and invention of the next up-and-coming beverage phenomenon?
(The chocolate invention is code-named the Hot Seinfeld.)
It is touted to have some appealing health benefits (which don't beat chocolate of course, but that's OK).
But as soon as I go to the baking cupboard (inspiration) to fetch the vanilla and start testing it with everything (perspiration) it becomes apparent that any invention is going to have to overcome a formidable challenge.
It turns out there's a reason why vanilla comes in those tiny little bottles.
Vanilla, like chocolate, has lost its innocence.
Real vanilla is actually quite scarce.
To quote National Geographic:
Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world (after saffron) because its production is so labor-intensive. Vanilla grows as a clinging vine, reaching lengths of up to 300 feet, from which sprout pale greenish-yellow flowers, about four inches in diameter. These-in Mexico, vanilla’s native habitat-are pollinated by melipona bees and, occasionally, by hummingbirds. Each flower remains open for just 24 hours, after which, if not pollinated, it wilts, dies, and drops to the ground.
It gets much more complicated than that, resulting in a product so scarce that 99 percent of the "vanilla" products don't actually contain vanilla.
Vanilla extract = good
Vanilla flavor = bad
Vanillin = ugly
Read those labels!
(Fun fact: while cookies like Nilla Wafers are typically 100% artificially flavored, by law in the US, vanilla ice cream must contain 100% natural vanilla.)
So how come they don't make vanilla bars like chocolate bars?
The best I could find are these Health Warrior bars.
One solution is to get your own beans and make your own.
So the perspiration goes on. In the meantime, if you have a favorite vanilla dish or recipe, please send it along.
(Hey, while we're at it, any suggestions for gourmet chocolate?)
Now your wondering how all this plain vanilla talk could lead to a dinner table conversation.
Here's a question for your table: How much effort should we put into making our food tasty?
Shabbat Shalom
and
Happy Sukkot
PS - Thank you everyone who responded to our appeal last week to support this email along with the rest of JSL's mission. To send this weekly message actually costs something. There is server time, hardware maintenance, and general overhead. If you enjoy this weekly or even on occasion, please consider a tax-deductible tzeddaka contribution of any amount. If you read this, please consider 25¢/week ($12/year). Here's the link: http://jsli.org/donate
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