Several days ago, I applied to a job at zagat.com, the website for the famous survey that rates restaurants. I applied because I am insanely passionate about food and would love to actually report about it for a living. But I am starting to sense, after applying to a variety of foodie-type jobs, that I am a major turn-off to the foodie world.
Why? Think of the last word of this blog: kosher.
While the pig is the king of the culinary world, there seems to be no place for a woman who refuses to eat it, particularly if it’s on religious grounds. Sure, I may be able to produce dynamite recipes and eat fish and vegetarian when I go out, but what does it matter? I won’t eat your pig, your shellfish or your cheeseburgers.
Yet the vegetarians have objections to me – after all, I do eat meat. And if vegans think I’m giving up my cheese, I will fight them to the death in order to keep my Humboldt Fog.
The truth of the matter is, no matter how hard the kosher world tries and how the mainstream media boasts that kosher is now gourmet, the fact is that being kosher isn’t taken seriously by most foodies. It doesn’t matter how great our wines are or how much we follow French techniques and have wonderful dishes. The truth is that we just can’t seem to win.
We have restaurants that transcend the borders – Tierra del Sur in Oxnard is considered to be a gem in the kosher world, and Solo in New York is considered the tops when it comes to cuisine there. However, they are recognized more as being good food rather than good food that’s kosher. Kosher restaurants seem to be a crapshoot, with many of us settling and saying, “It’s good enough for kosher.”
So what can we do about it? Well, my solution may sound drastic, but the truth of the matter is that we, as kosher people, need to speak with our money. I have written a letter to the restaurants on this blog, but it isn’t enough. Money is what talks, after all.
If there is a place that doesn’t serve good kosher food, don’t spend your money there. Don’t keep them in business when the truth is that they aren’t up to par with the other restaurants. I know that many people in the kosher world don’t have a choice – either they go to the restaurants or they are forced to cook themselves – but we should foster healthy competition. For those in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, where there are a ton of kosher places, I certainly believe that this can be arranged. That also applies to all your kosher products, too – if they’re terrible, don’t buy them. It’s the YBK Kosher Food Challenge.
Please feel free to comment with your favorite kosher restaurants and those which you feel don’t deserve to remain open, yet (shockingly) do. Maybe if we start holding higher standards for our kosher restaurants, they will have a better reputation and make better food, and in turn the word kosher will not be a dirty word for foodies in the world. Who knows?
Meanwhile, I will continue dreaming of the day when there is a “Top Chef” kosher challenge that has all the chef-testants screaming bloody murder because, G-d forbid, they have to live without their beloved pork.
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