Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Food

Jewish Tastes Put to Cruel Test

Video by BuzzFeedYellow

I saw this video today, and I have to say, it kinda freaked me out. I felt quickly, viscerally defensive of Jewish food and indignant that the versions of classic Ashkenazic dishes on offer to an innocent band of non-Jewish young people looked like the least desirable ones imaginable.

There was a piece of gefilte fish plopped onto a lettuce leaf, with what looked like a big dollop of nose-clearing horseradish on top. Look, gefilte fish can be a bit scary — even for the initiated.

A pale, flaccid-looking kugel appeared overcooked and, from the tasters’ comments, overly sweetened and cinnamon’d. Where were the nice browned edges? Where was the balance of flavors? And why were there maraschino cherries and what looked like canned peaches on top of it?

A pile of ugly brown chopped liver sat sadly on a little plate, while incredulous would-be tasters poked it suspiciously with celery sticks and said nasty things about it. Where were the caramelized onions and heavy cream that characterized the chopped liver my mother used to serve on special occasions? Where were the lovely seeded crackers or crisp planks of matzo to scoop it up with?

Who knows what the matzo ball soup tasted like? The ball itself appeared fluffy (or maybe just enormous). At least it didn’t look like what my grandmother used to call a “sinker.” But had the watery looking chicken broth simmered slowly for hours to concentrate its flavor? Had a nice piece of flanken been added to lend richness? I don’t think so.

The rugelach was a hit, but really, it’s pretty hard to screw up rugelach.

Jewish food, like any cuisine on earth, comes in as many variations as there are cooks to make it. Did the cute band of intrepid eaters in this video need to be subjected to what looked like the least tasty version possible?

Take a look at the video and use the comment box toward the bottom of this page to let me know what you think.

Liza Schoenfein is the new food editor of the Forward. Contact her at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.