Learning through Eating

By Gabby Leigh
American University

Jewish food (or as my non-Jewish friends like to call it, Jew food): there is no real way to describe the food that my family has been eating forever, which is in my opinion the best food in the world. Even when I try to describe certain meals to my friends, there is no accurate way to do so. Take brisket – you can say it's similar to other ways to cook beef and that it's similar to a pot roast, but really, it's not. The only way I can really describe the food is by putting it on their plates and having them eat it. Of course, I am only a college student, and do not have the money or skills to cook brisket, so that is not an option right now -- though I do plan on learning how to do so one day.

I have taken smaller steps toward introducing my friends to Jewish food culture. I made latkes around Hanukkah and hamantaschen for Purim. They all enjoyed what I made and often beg me to make it again. The only problem with cooking Jewish foods for my friends who aren't Jewish is that they aren't always the best judges of whether it is really good or understanding why I only make certain foods at certain times of the year.

I always try my hardest to have my Jewish friends give me an honest opinion on my cooking because they can make a better judgment since they have had it before. If I just wanted to hear that my cooking is good, I would have no problem serving it only to my non-Jewish friends. But if I want to know if it is real Jewish cooking, I need to serve it to my Jewish friends. They know what I am looking for when I ask how the food is, and they aren't afraid to tell me the truth. Last year, when my hamentaschen were too floury, only my Jewish neighbor was able to say so and agree with me. Though my Jewish friends are the ones who know the backgrounds of the foods I make, I will not give up trying to get my non-Jewish friends to understand the importance of Jewish food, not only in the tradition it holds but also when it comes to getting them to agree that nothing else is better.

Gabby Leigh is a senior at American University majoring in Marketing and minoring in education.

Trying to sort out keeping kosher on campus? Try KOACH's basic primer here.

[Posted 1/6/11]