Culinary Tourism

Chapter 7. Kashering the Melting Pot: Oreos, Sushi Restaurants, "Kosher Treif," and the Observant American Jew

CHAPTER 7 Kashering the Melting Pot Oreos, Sushi Restaurants, "Kosher Treif, " and the Observant American Jew Miryam Rotkoviiz It made us remember our own teenage years, when we had felt the awkwardness of standing out, the shame of being unable to be fully part of the crowd. And back then, it had been easier. Many of us had gone to public school, and being Jewish, regardless of how observant, was a lot in common right there. We had been allowed to join the B'nai Brith youth grOUPi our parents were happy that at least our friends would be Jewish. The Orthodox world wasn't as strict as it was now. Candy bars that we used to think were kosher were no longer considered so, the synagogue dances we used to hold were now considered scandalous. It wasn't only here that we were becoming more stringent. The whole Orthodox world had taken a giant step to the right, and like partners in a dance, we had followed. Tova Mirvis, The Ladies Auxiliary, 1999 Hstorically, there has been enormous fluidity and variety to the way in which Jews have observed kashrut in America. More recently, as reflected in the above passage from Mirvis's novel, there has also been a growing move to the "right" and a greater emphasis on technical stringency among observant Jews in general. Additionally, in recent years, the availability of foods certified as kosher has grown exponentially. As a result, observant American Jews have been increasingly able to keep the kosher dietary laws with more ease on the one hand and greater stringency on the other, while participating more fully in both American consumer and food cultures. There are multiple phenomena of culinary tourism in the observant American Jewish community, several ofwhich are related to the burgeon- 158 I Kashering the Melting Pot ing kashrut certification industry. In fact, a touristic imperative on the part of kosher consumers is arguably responsible-at least in part-for fueling the industry's tremendous growth. Many manufacturers now opt to bring new products to the mainstream market with kosher certification in place and to reformulate formerly nonkosher products to meet the requirements for certification, thereby providing kasmut-observant Jews ever-widening access in the marketplace. Of particular interest in the discussion of culinary tourism are products such as the Oreo cookie and M&M candies, which, until their relatively recent certifications, were off-limits and arguably exotic foods, due in part to their iconographic status . Great anticipation preceded their certification, and the swift integration of these foods (versus less special or more common products; for example, a newly certified brand of strawberry jam) into the diet is a point of interest. Also noteworthy is the proliferation of kosher restaurants serving authentic ethnic (read non-Jewish ethnic) cuisines. There are now kosher Japanese, Thai, Italian, Indian, and French restaurants, to name a few. When, for example, the sushi chef is a non-Jewish native ofJapan, so much the better for many kosher diners. "Legal" experimentation seems key here and is likewise reflected in the consumption of kosher "treif" (treif is the Yiddish word referring to nonkosher foods). Products including Crisco, beef-frye (a bacon analog), andBac-O-Bitshave enjoyed immense popularity. Kosher versions of /I crab" and "shrimp" are available. Even some kosher cookbooks try their hand at "kosher treif. /I The Kosher Creole Cookbook, for example, includes a recipe for mock-crawfish salad, suggesting a desire among some kosher cooks to taste the foods other Americans freely enjoy, without transgressing the kosher laws. Not only may cookbooks offer suggestions for toying with the boundaries of kashrut (however artificially), they can also reflect other modes and styles of culinary tourism. As folklorist Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett pointed out in an article entitled "Kitchen Judaism," /I cookbooks, though not direct indications of what people ate, nevertheless represent Jewish cuisine and social life./1 They can serve as excellent barometers of the psychosocial or cultural concerns of the author or of the targeted group, or as reflections of the way those concerns play out through food. The perceptions that both Jews and non-Jews harbor about the meaning of kosher are vital as well. For while many observant Jews seek out kosher ways to eat like Americans (this includes participating in the nonkosher -observant American's ability to eat through other cultures), many Miryam Rotkovitz I 159 kosher consumers are not Jewish at...