An Israeli Halloween

November 1, 2011 - 1:47 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, Business, Entertainment, Environment, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Movies, Pop Culture 

Halloween cookies from the Cupcake Caterers

Halloween’s over, and I’m thinking about how this Celtic and then Christian holiday has entered the Israeli consciousness, or at least to my knowledge.

Not having celebrated myself growing up — rabbi’s kid, although we did hand out candy to all the neighborhood kids — I don’t have any strong connections to the holiday. And because we were the rabbi’s family, our house did not usually get pelted by raw eggs and such — neighborhood protection. So it was the best of all worlds; appreciating someone else’s ‘chag‘, despite the anti-Semitic associations (we lived in a fairly non-Jewish neighborhood) but not having to take it on ourselves.

Living in Israel, I haven’t really given it much thought, except for cruising through various online store catalogs for Halloween costumes that could work well for Purim. But something’s happening this year, at least through my lens. Halloween has always been different for me than Thanksgiving, which I’ve always celebrated here in Israel, and have continued to do so, despite light censure from Israeli-born nieces, nephews and stepdaughters who think that the American-born adults in their lives are crazy to continue with such a blatantly chulnik (Israeli slangish for ‘foreigner’) celebration.\

Maybe it’s Facebook, and the exposure offered to what other people are doing and celebrating. Or perhaps it’s that global village thing, in which we adapt and adopt others’ trends and rituals because they seem worthwhile. All I know is, Halloween is out there, now translated to ליל כל הקדושים, All Hallows Eve.

There are parties advertised online, mostly hosted by Americans, exhorting invitees to “Do it the same in Israel as we would at home!!” There’s also the potential for doubling up on costumes, wearing what you wore for Purim on Halloween, and vice versa. And there are the comments from many, missing that easy availability of candy corn, half off Halloween candy the day after.

Halloween isn’t the American version of Purim, as Senator John McCain once mistakenly noted, despite the similarities. But it does have its appeal, particularly to those of us who hail from the land of the U.S.A. Check out the cookies made by Sidra Collins Muoio, owner of Cupcake Caterers, for her co-workers.

And, finally, there’s Rabies, Israel’s first horror film, which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last May and played in Toronto in honor of Halloween.

If it’s a celebration of candy, costumes and good times, I’m actually all for it. And I can never argue with an Israeli film that succeeds on North American terms.

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Chanukah gelt guilt

December 1, 2010 - 9:20 AM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture 

Chanukah season is upon us, and it’s interesting to note what we do about it and for it. Yesterday I found myself spending three hours buying Chanukah gifts. Nothing extravagant, but many, and only for my nearest and dearest, which includes sons, stepdaughters, nieces and nephews, mother and mother-in-law, a little something for the husband, and some more somethings for siblings, dear friends and their kids, and one of the friends’ parents who just made aliyah.

That doesn’t include the purchasing of Chanukah candles, and ingredients for various Chanukah meals being eaten at Chanukah parties. Nor does it include the five-day vacation for the family next week, over the Chanukah break.

So is it conspicuous consumption? Christmas envy? The need for a holiday? I mean, we just had Thanksgiving last week, and I got to lavish a lot of love on an eight-kilo turkey, gravy and pumpkin-pecan pie.

I don’t think so. I know that I am a sucker for celebrations, and Chanukah — with eight days to fill — offers ample opportunity to mark the moments (It also explains the vacation, given that kids are off from school for a full week). It’s also a very kids-oriented chag, and with two-year-olds excited to experience candlelighting, that amps up the holiday. The presents? Well, I love buying gifts, and that particular tradition of giving to certain friends and family was set long before I showed up on the scene, so I’m just going along with the plan, albeit as frugally as possible.

In fact, at my family’s Chanukah celebration, we do a grab bag, on which we’ve had several variations, but the general theme is that each family puts in a gift worth about NIS 50, and then you grab another gift. Don’t like whatcha got? Trade with someone else. It always works and I’m still eating out of the purple cereal bowls that I grabbed five years ago. As for gifts, creativity can often be cheaper. Download some $0.99 apps for the teens, put together raw ingredients and recipes for the twentysomething with her own apartment, offer fluffy fleece blankets to the tweens and fun, comic book figure t-shirts for the 11-year-old boys.

Another blogger and old friend, Mara of Kosher on a Budget, put together a list of Chanukah crafts that are great for this week and next, and significantly easier on the wallet.

In any case, I’m not suffering from too much guilt, just thinking about what it all means. Bottom line, the best part about a holiday is spending it surrounded by people you enjoy. Chag orim sameach (Happy festival of lights).

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A Thanksgiving surprise

November 26, 2009 - 4:43 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays 

turkeyYou wouldn’t know it by any outside trappings, but for many Israelis of American descent – and for US travellers and tourists finding themselves here today – it’s still Thanksgiving.

Over the years I’ve been here, it’s become more commonplace for Thanksgiving get togethers to take place – mainly to eat the holiday delicacies that we all grew up with, the turkey, yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, etc..

When we first started our Israeli Thanksgiving traditional meal more than 20 years ago, it was a hit or miss gamble whether you can even find a turkey. The butchers at the supermarket meat counters were stumped when we asked for a ‘whole turkey’ as if it was impossible to find – which it apparently was, even though turkey is one of the most commonly eaten food products in the country.

It’s become easier to order a turkey, but you never know what you’re going to get. This year, we had to cancel our traditional meal with a few families because of parent-teacher meetings and work obligations. But because this is our daughter’s final Shabbat at home before joining the army for three years and because our older daughter and her boyfriend is coming for the weekend for a farewell party, we decided to get a turkey for Shabbat.

My wife went in to order it on Monday, and the meat counter guy said he wasn’t sure it was possible, and to come back on Tuesday. On Tuesday he said he could order the bird, and my wife told him not to make it too big. He said it was impossible to tell what would arrive and we would have to just take what came.

I’m going to pick up the big guy in a few minutes – can’t wait to see what it looks like. In the meantime, we’ll join our fellow Americans in Israel in giving thanks – for our families, our health, and our two countries we call home.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Turkey Feeder

November 23, 2009 - 12:40 AM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Life, Nostalgia Sunday 

thanksgiving_turkey_barYou would think that Thanksgiving would be a more popular holiday here, given the size of the poultry-breeding industry and the large quantities of turkey meat Israelis consume. Yes, Israel has the highest per capita consumption of turkey in the world at 28.8 pounds annually.

But no, Thanksgiving remains an obscure oddity to Israelis, one quirk among the many exhibited by the “Ameri-kooky” population here. No matter. On one day a year, we celebrate the United States and all the good things it has done and continues to do. We also, as do our Stateside counterparts, stuff ourselves silly with… well, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and, of course, a big roasted bird.

Many of us who worked on kibbutzim as volunteers in the 60s, 70s and 80s, had the dubious pleasure of dealing with turkeys who are, bluntly put, the stupidest of birds. Yes, it’s true, they will look up in a rainstorm and drown themselves. They do peck one another to death. And one of the worst jobs one could get was an all night shift to vaccinate them – the only saving grace was that you were allowed to sleep late the next morning.

And yet, amidst all the stink and squalor of the turkey house, one element stood out, a modern design so strong it could not be ignored. These were the water dispensers manufactured by the Plasson company. Every few meters or so there hung a bowler hat-shaped “bell waterer” made of red plastic that was well-nigh indestructible — try though we might. They were a symbol of Israel’s agri-technological prowess — Plasson has set the worldwide industry standard for 30 years now — and those rosy sawed-off globes glowing under the bright turkey house lights at midnight were a somehow beautiful sight.

TurketDrinkers200

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Beaujolais Nouveau

November 19, 2009 - 5:11 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness 

beaujolaisIf it’s the third Thursday in November, that means it’s a) the Thursday before Thanksgiving and more importantly, b) the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau, the first wine of the harvest. Drunk when the wine is still young and fresh, the million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau that are shipped from France worldwide each November has become a wine world ritual, and one that is also, of course, celebrated in Israel.

For me, it marks my friend Andrew’s annual party, which he revolves around Beaujolais Nouveau, hounding his local wine stores to be sure that he’ll have enough cases to keep his friends happy. It’s sort of like my annual Thanksgiving bash, for which I order my turkey within plenty of time to thaw it and roast it for my turkey eaters. In another sense, it’s our way of keeping track and abreast of the world out there, and not getting too lost in the ways of our adopted country.

So here’s to young red wine drinking this evening — or tomorrow and through the weekend — and we’ll talk about Thanksgiving next week.

(And a little more explaining about Beaujolais Nouveau:)

AT ONE MINUTE PAST MIDNIGHT on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! “The New Beaujolais has arrived!” One of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun.

By the time it is over, over 65 million bottles, nearly half of the region’s total annual production, will be distributed and drunk around the world. It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve to this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a growers vineyard. But by an expeditious harvest, a rapid fermentation, and a speedy bottling, all is ready at the midnight hour.

Beaujolais Nouveau began as a local phenomenon in the local bars, cafes, and bistros of Beaujolais and Lyons. Each fall the new Beaujolais would arrive with much fanfare. In pitchers filled from the growers barrels, wine was drunk by an eager population. It was wine made fast to drink while the better Beaujolais was taking a more leisurely course. Eventually, the government stepped into regulate the sale of all this quickly transported, free-flowing wine.

In 1938 regulations and restrictions were put in place to restrict the where, when, and how of all this carrying on. After the war years, in 1951, these regulations were revoked by the region’s governing body—the Union Interprofessional des Vins de Beaujolais (UIVB)—and the Beaujolais Nouveau was officially recognized. The official release date was set for November 15th. Beaujolais Nouveau was officially born. By this time, what was just a local tradition had gained so much popularity that the news of it reached Paris. The race was born. It wasn’t long thereafter that the word spilled out of France and around the world. In 1985, the date was again changed, this time to the third Thursday of November tying it to a weekend and making the celebration complete. But wherever the new Beaujolais went, importers had to agree not to sell it before midnight on the third Thursday of November.

Apart from the fanfare, what makes Beaujolais Nouveau so popular? And especially in the U.S. where consumption of red wine is less than 30%? Simply put, Beaujolais Nouveau is as about as close to white wine as a red wine can get. Due to the way it is made—the must is pressed early after only three days—the phenolic compounds, in particular the astringent tannins, normally found in red wines, isn’t there, leaving an easy to drink, fruity wine. This, coupled with the fact that it tastes best when chilled, makes for a festive wine to be gulped rather than sipped, enjoyed in high spirits rather than critiqued. As a side note, it makes a great transitional wine for anyone wanting to move from white to red wines.

Finally, the race from grape to glass may be silly, but half the fun is knowing that on the same night, in homes, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and bistros around the world, the same celebration is taking place. It hasn’t the pedigree to be a classic wine, but it is always good. Any other opinion you may regard as boorish and uninformed.

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