Words matter. These are the best Gil Marks Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The processing and preparation of food can transform a kosher item into a non-kosher item.
The knish is a classic example of peasant food evolving into comfort food and even sophisticated fare.
I don’t understand a mentality that will accept eating something that doesn’t taste good just because it’s low-fat or is made with matzo or whatever.
Throughout history, Hanukkah was a relatively minor festival, but it’s become very popular in America due to its proximity to Christmas.
Food is never static; culture is never static.
A Jewish food is one that is almost sanctified, either by its repeated use or use within the holidays or rituals. So food that may have not been Jewish at one point can become Jewish within the cultural context.
We can all be defined by food.
I tend to avoid cakes made with matzo meal instead of flour. Also, most prepared dessert products and mixes. Sometimes the packaging they come in tastes better than the product.
Most of the traditional foods we eat on Jewish holidays start out with a seasonal reason as to why we eat them, and later a religious significance is tacked on.
Preparing foods from other Jewish communities is broadening. It’s interesting to sample the foods of other Jewish communities and see what they developed.
The key to Judaism’s survival is the emotional attachment to the religion.
In the New York metropolitan area, you can find Jews from just about every Jewish cultural community in the world.
Throughout history, particularly in the last 2,000 years, Jews have been key in adapting local foods to Jewish sensibilities and dietary laws and then spreading them.
Judaism is not just a religion but a people, and the food and customs of one part of the people is connected to the other part of the people. They are part of a larger story.
My family is notorious for its sweet tooth.
The Passover experience is an incredibly pedagogic one.
Although I generally avoid the cloyingly sweet wines, I have used them for poaching fruit.
I have been collecting recipes and information for over 20 years, but three years ago, my editor said to me, ‘You’re a walking encyclopedia of food, so why don’t you do an encyclopedia?’
The kosher community tends to follow often several years behind the general societal trends.
