Ha' Kol Sababa! The kids are just fine!
Like every Friday night, this Friday, we again sat down to share a family Shabbat dinner. Harissa-Honey Pargiyot (chicken thigh) from Sababa Cookbook by Adeena Sussman. Despite forgetting the chopped chives garnish, I added fresh fennel in with the onions for extra veggies and flavour, and it was, in every sense, a flavour sensation!
During dinner, the conversation grew quite interesting as we debated the question of this dish’s origin- “is this dish Middle Eastern, or Jewish, or Israeli?” leading to a conversation about both the similarities and differences between the cuisine of the Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Ethiopian Jews, and how the food of the scattered Jewish communities culinary practices and traditions weaves a rich tapestry of the Jewish diaspora.
I have always been drawn to Jewish cooking, but in the last decade, I have, I think, begun to better understand the gastronomical map that tells the story of the cuisine of Israel and the spices that define and intertwine.
When I cook these traditional foods, it feels like a homecoming of sorts- a sense of belonging and the answer to the question I have been asked my entire life, “what are you?”
In the past, when I was asked the incredibly intrusive question, I either answer Jewish or Middle Eastern. But at times, when I used to answer Eastern European, often they would respond that, “you don’t look Eastern European,” which served to remind me that despite a genetic test confirmation of my nearly 100% Ashkenazi Jew (Jew of European descent), with a wisp of Sephardic (Jew of Spanish descent), what they are seeing is my mixed European and Jewish features and the fact despite them I don’t feel like I have any Eastern European identity.
In opposition to me, my husband is blonde, undisputedly white, with certain Dutch and Norwegian roots. And our two sons also have blond hair and have never once been asked, “what are you”, and I doubt they ever will. And yet, they still proudly proclaim their Jewish identity on their social media profiles and wear it around their necks, hanging from a gold chain.
We are raising our kids in Eastern Washington in the USA, where they have often been the only Jews in their school or the only ones that sit down to Shabbat dinner every Friday night. So as I sit and watch them debate, laugh and eat, I am reminded why I choose to feed my family the food that connects them to not only our family, but our larger community and to the homeland of all Jews, to Israel. I choose to feed them with the diverse cuisine of the Jewish people, the foods that bring us all equally to the table.
Jesica is a librarian and book critic. To see what else she is reading, loving or recommending follow Jesica on Instagram, Facebook or visit her profile at Wrapt to see what else she is reviewing here.