Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food

The Fine Art of Knish Making

Aromas of onions and potatoes ricocheted from kitchen cabinets and cinderblock walls. Empty wine bottles reclined , mucked with dough. Fifty of us milled around, raised our glasses, and congratulated ourselves. Soon there would be knishes. “Let’s say the Shehecheyanu,” I blurted, to a room of non-Jews. We were a group of artists, coders, and tech types in Tunnel Mountain Lounge, in the basement of Lloyd Hall, next to the The Fine Art of Knish Making 175 Silver_Knish_Book.indb 175 1/31/2014 11:51:47 AM Knish 176­ laundry room. We were in the Rocky Mountains, home to more bears than people of Hebraic extraction. More stars graced the night sky than grains of kasha in a knish. More peaks than platters of whitefish. The mountains just stood there, impervious, super­ sized squeeze bottles dribbled in snow. Silence coated the environs. I had no reason to believe the knish had ever inscribed itself on that landscape. Or that it ever would. A Prayer for First Times the banff Centre, Alberta, Canada, August 2009 Shehecheyanu is the name of a blessing that marks newness; it acknowledges fruition and arrival, and exudes gratitude. It is a celebration and a reminder that nothing is guaranteed. The arrival of Chanukah, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah are reasons to say the Shehecheyanu; so is a new home, a new suit, or meeting a friend after an absence of thirty days.1 “Let’s say the Shehecheyanu,” I blurted, then regretted it. Who was I to proselytize? Jews don’t proselytize. We make it a point not to proselytize. And we’re proud of that. A few hours earlier I was ready to skulk away and leave the knish—and my new friends—in the lurch, and now I wanted them to bless the operation. These were people of technology and art, people of code and tweets, open rates and blips, beeps, and pings. Who was I kidding? I was not against introducing the knish to the mountainous terrain . That had been my plan all along. I was in Banff for a five-day Silver_Knish_Book.indb 176 1/31/2014 11:51:47 AM The Fine Art of Knish Making 177 conference, a festival for artists and visionaries in video, television , and design from all over Canada and the world. I was there to talk knishes—what else?—and guessed that the audience just might not be familiar with my topic. I had planned to pick up some knishes en route. Before I left New York, I phoned My Marvin’s Deli of Calgary. Three times. The phone rang and rang and rang. I figured Marvin (probably related to Finkelsztajn) had friends in town or bar mitzvahs to cater. I envisioned the store inundated with customers. I tried to place an order in advance, then decided to do it on the fly, but arrived to find the shop shuttered. Plan B: Order in from New York. Yonah Schimmel’s could ship them overnight. (Gabila’s does mail order, too, but not with overnight turnaround.) Launching a dozen knishes across the country costs a hundred bucks, easy. I couldn’t risk a delay at the border, and would need far more than a dozen to sate the curiosity of fifty newcomers to the food. “What exactly is a knish?” “Do you know how to make them?” “Where can I try one?” They asked, I sidestepped. How to Act Out an Ethnic Food It’s not that I lacked experience in the realm of introducing friends to the ways of the Jews, which is to say, the foods of my family. My track record included ushering paramours to Ratner’s for crash courses in the ways of my people and making matzoh ball soup for my peers in a Spanish-language immersion program Silver_Knish_Book.indb 177 1/31/2014 11:51:47 AM Knish 178 in the Mexican town of Guanajuato. Even as a kid, I understood that foods familiar to my family would probably not make it to mainstream menus, palates, or mindsets. Exhibit A: charades, at a party for my eleventh birthday. Sounds like (I mimed doling out dollar bills). —Money? Dollars? Rich? Cash. Little word (I mimed a pinch, with thumb and forefinger). —The? In? Of? On? A (pronounced “uh”) New word (My left hand chopped my right forearm, two times). Sounds like (My hand cupped my ear, then moved up and...