Transcontinental Cooking

The other day, I was talking with some friends it it occurred to us that we didn't really have anywhere to go for Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner.

So, naturally, it just basically came down to who would host. My apartment is great, and pretty spacious, but we have desperately limited seating. That being said, I had already decided what to make, and I knew it would be too difficult to transport said dishes.

Once that was settled I called my mom (clearly). I said, Mom, I'm going to need the recipes for your chicken soup, and the brisket.

These recipes have been made in my home forever. Every time one of us was sick, we could pull a frozen container of liquid gold (this chicken soup is literally magical) from the freezer and even just knowing you were about to have the soup was enough to already make you feel better.

Thus, I made a list of ingredients and decided to join the masses at the supermarket last night. This was a scary decision but one I'm glad I made. On Tuesdays I have class until 520, so I came back to my apartment right after, dropped off my backpack, and grabbed my shuk cart and my list. I was super anxious because I didn't know how I was going to order the brisket at the butcher (more on that later).

I grabbed one of the few remaining carts in the store and starting shoving. The thing with Israel is that people will get a cart and then leave it in one place in the store (frequently that place is the checkout line) and then just walk around the store picking up an arm's worth, drop that load off in their cart, and repeat as necessary. So, I had to do a lot of cart moving last night. There were families at the store (lots of strollers, which is great, when they do basically the same thing with the stroller that they do with the cart except there's a kid in it), and people restocking shelves, and with good reason.

This evening, all of the stores are going to close because Rosh Hashanah is chag (a holiday). They will remained close through Saturday night. Wait, why would that be? Oh yeah, because as soon as Rosh Hashanah is over, it's shabbat so everything is closed anyway.

This timing means that every Jewish mother is frantically stocking up their kitchen for the next several days, wherein many of them will be cooking for an army. It also means that it was nearly impossible to navigate your way around the super without having to throw some elbows. Luckily my dad is a new yorker so I'm not afraid to be pushy when I have to. Not that you're pushy, Dad.

So anyway at this point I've gathered my vastly overpriced produce that I need, and I can no longer avoid the butcher. I walk over and this guy is working with a woman who is just the neediest customer I think I have ever seen. Then he moves over to the fish counter and this other guy comes up to the counter. I had panic in my eyes and a piece of paper in front of me with a pound to kilo conversion and some translations for brisket that I found online. I had a tiny bit of hope when I asked him if he spoke English.

Luckily, he did. So that made my whole shopping trip easier. So I got my chicken butchered (so gross) and a brisket cut to my liking. It was a giant success. Also, to say brisket in Hebrew, you say "brisket" (בריסקט) so I'll be remembering that the next time I want to spend over $65 (USD) on meat.

I got everything I needed even though the celery was a bit wimpy, and I came home with the mass of women and their children and their shuk carts heading in my direction. And then I called my mom.

We talked about the order everything happens in (which was funny because I had already made her write me the recipes...this was more fun) and how best to make everything. At that point (630 pm-ish) I still thought I'd be making the food Wednesday morning for a Wednesday night meal. That was silly. Brisket is easier to cut, and soup is easier to skim when it's cold.

Brisket!

I then proceeded to spend several consecutive hours online with my mom. Luckily we both have Facetime on our computers, so she was in her kitchen, I was in mine, and we were making the exact same food. It was so cool! I was making soup--she was making soup. I was making brisket--she was making brisket. We talked about the kind of apples she was using for her apple cake (something I'm not making this round). During all of this, her friend Cora came over to work on something, so I got to see her too! (Hi Cora!) Then later, my sister got home from school, and she got the role in the school musical she wanted! So proud. Clearly this was the greatest night--I was basically hanging out with my family at home in my own kitchen, even though I'm halfway around the world. I was even smelling the exact same smells that were happening in that kitchen.

It kind of sucks to be away from family at the holidays BUT I love that I can still kind of be with my family, through both the internet and traditions. I'm looking forward to dinner with a few friends, and I'm hoping we can make some of our own traditions and memories tonight.

Even if we don't, at least the food will be good. And, I got to cook with my mom for Rosh Hashanah even if we weren't actually cooking together. Love it.