What's So Special About Gefilte Fish?

The worse smell I have ever had the pleasure of sniffing is definitely my mother’s gefilte fish. This Passover tradition can stink up the apartment and the hallways for days. Unlike me, everyone in my family would kill for this dish and looks forward to it every April. Gefilte fish, a Yiddish term meaning fish stuffing, is typically prepared by Ashkenazi Jewish people (Jews from Eastern Europe). Gefilte fish is a ground fish dish that has many different variations, which have changed through generations. This fish dish usually consists of large poached quenelles of group carp, whitefish, eggs, matzah meal, and seasonings. Gefilte fish is served cold or at room temperature and is frequently accompanied by carrots and chopped horseradish (Deutsch and Saks, 75). Although this may sound appealing to some, I could never figure out why this dish needed to be made on Passover. Researching this paper finally gave me my answer. This seemingly meaningless tradition, eating smelly fish on Passover, is important to not only maintain tradition but also to connect different sects of Jewish people.

In all religions cooking is a communal act that many enjoy, but in the Jewish religion eating and cooking are sacred. Throughout the year “Jews share a special relationship with food, and this relationship is expressed not only in all aspects of the food itself, but also in all aspects of food preparation and execution” (Deutsch and Saks, 35). Ever since I can remember, all of the Jewish gatherings that I have been apart of centered on food. Whatever the occasion might be, cooking and food play an enormous role. Throughout history, Jews have always had a special connection to food because of the way it brings together family. Even in the days when only the wife and daughter would prepare the meal, other members of the family always got involved, if merely as food critics. Jewish food is different from other cuisines because it is “an endlessly rich compendium of flavors and forms [that] may be derived from the endlessly delightful and delicious interweave of Jews within the tapestry of humanity” (Soltes, 39). When a Jewish family gathers around the table, there are two main focuses: the taste of the food and the bonding over the preparation and eating of the food. At the table, there appears to be no generational gaps, but rather just family enjoying each other’s company; when Jews eat they feel connected to all generations (Nathan, 2). My family is constantly worrying about the next meal, and this is what most of our conversations focus around. Although food plays a big part in a Jewish person’s everyday life, on the Jewish holidays there is an increased concentration on food.

In April, Jews are very busy with one of the most important holidays of the year: Passover. This eight-day holiday, in which gefilte fish is eaten, celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and signals the beginning of spring. On the first two nights of Passover there are traditional services called Seders (meaning order), which include prayers, stories, and blessings. During the Seder Jews eat symbolic foods, which are present to remember the event of exodus. One of the more important characteristics of this holiday is that to each person and each generation, Passover means something different (Sherman, 195). For example, to the younger generation Passover is the eight-day holiday where they can bond with their cousins over the fact that their parents will not let them eat their favorite foods. But to most adults, Passover brings celebration and happiness; my mom explained to me, “all Jewish holidays have a special meaning to me because they bring family together, but Passover especially makes me think of how lucky I am to have the family and the freedoms I do.” As one spends more time with the Jewish holiday and understands the meaning more, I believe that they come to appreciate its value. Although Passover has the same technical definition to each Jewish family, each family has their own values, traditions, and memories.

Passover comes with many customs but it is also possibly the most food-obsessed holiday on the Jewish calendar. This may seem odd to some because the most significant part of Passover is the removal of chametz, leaven, from one’s home and diet. This includes anything made of wheat, rye, barley, oat, and spelt that have not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water (Deutsch and Saks, 92 and 93). Jews do not eat leavened foods to commemorate the fact that while leaving Egypt, the Jews were in such a hurry they did not have enough time to let the bread rise, so they had to take it unleavened. Another reason Jews do not eat chametz is because it is “a symbolic way of removing the ‘puffiness’ (arrogance, pride) from the soul” (Deutsch and Saks, 92). Since Jews are forced to eat foods that are atypical in their diet, they think about the hardship that their ancestors went through in order to become free. These are the Passover rules for Sephardic Jews who come from Spanish, Portuguese, or North African descent. However, to make matters even more complicated, Ashkenazi Jews also stay away from rice, corn, peanuts, and legumes because these foods are potentially used to make bread. In some homes these traditions are so prominent that families cover countertops and use separate dishes, pots, pans, utensils, and glasses to ensure that it is not possible to consume any chametz (Deutsch and Saks, 92).

To supplement this no leavened foods policy, Jews eat a hard cracker called Matzah. This crunchy “bread-like” food is the replica of the uncooked bread the Jews made right before they left Egypt. There are certain regulations that come with making matzah, one of which is that there can be no longer than 18 minutes between time the water touches the flour and the matzah is finished baking. Additionally, Matzah is made only with cold water and a special flour called kemach shel matzah shamura, it is then kneaded and rolled extremely thin and poked with holes and baked for two to three minutes (Deutsch and Saks, 93). However, as my mom pointed out, today’s generation is lucky to have all the “kosher for Passover” items that are available in supermarkets. There are array of food from cakes to snack foods. Although this holiday sounds like there are many things that cannot be eaten, there are many traditional Jewish dishes that we only get to enjoy once a year such as Matzah ball soup, brisket, charoses (a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon), and of course, gefilte fish.

As my mom informed me, in past generations, Gefilte fish was an inexpensive dish typically made by Eastern European Jews. The fish and matzah meal provided nourishment and came to be seen as a special treat. This fish, once eaten as an everyday meal, became a holiday tradition for Eastern European Jews in the United States (Cooper, 179). My mother explained that Gefilte Fish came to be celebrated because its round shape was a representation to all of the Jewish people, Sephardic or Ashkenazi, religious or assimilated, that there is a continuation of Jewish traditions in America.

April not only brings showers, but also a hectic atmosphere around my house as my mom prepares to host the first night of the Passover Seder. My mother orders my sister and me to clean our rooms and set the table, as she stays in her sweatpants and locks herself in the kitchen. All day she is busy making brisket, matzah ball soup, and of course gefilte fish. But actually, by the first day of Passover, my nose has already gotten used to the fishy smell. My mom cannot make the gefilte fish on that day, but rather she needs to start the process a couple of days before, on the day she buys the fish. Making gefilte fish is a many hour process over the course of several days, and it is a process my mother frequently shares with a friend. Why, I ask myself does she spend so much time making the fish when we live in New York City where decent fish can be bought?

Around 8:00pm a few days prior to the first Seder, I step out of the elevator on the fourth floor to smell the most potent fish one has ever inhaled. Not loving fish to begin with, this smell at times feels like it could knock me out. As I drop my backpack by the door, I stroll into the kitchen pinching my nose. I see my mom putting the balls of fish on beds of lettuce and placing them in Tupperware. Luckily, I never really see the whole process. The next time I see the fish is during the Seder when my mom plates each piece on her good china and passes the plates down the table to the adults. I have noticed that each year the plates are scraped clean and some people even venture to have two pieces. After that night, I try not to focus on the leftovers in the refrigerator; I know that very soon I will not have to think about gefilte fish again until next Passover.

The gefilte fish recipe that my mother makes today is inspired by my grandmother’s recipe. Grandma Lillian made gefilte fish for Rosh Hashanah in addition to Passover to commemorate my grandfather’s Polish background. As her main ingredients she used matzah meal, carp, and pike, which are very traditional gefilte fish ingredients. My mom remembers her mother working extremely hard to prepare this dish because my grandmother ground and deboned the fish herself. Even though making my grandmother’s fish required a great deal of effort, my mother, like me, did not like the fish. She did grow up to appreciate both the taste and the ceremony of making the fish. My mom fondly remembers the hectic atmosphere of her house right before the holidays. Days before the holiday began, my grandmother would be busy cooking, cleaning, and preparing the house for the upcoming festivities. Finally, once the guests arrived and everything was set, my mother remembers the satisfaction of her mom and observed the fact that she truly enjoyed the holiday.

My mother first made Gefilte fish on the Passover after my grandmother died, so her father could continue to enjoy the tradition. Only seventeen when her mother died, my mom went to a family friend’s house to learn to make the dish. However, little did she know that this friend’s family was from a different section in Europe than her father. My grandfather was a Litvak, which means not only that he came from an area close to Lithuania but also that he did not like his gefilte fish sweet. The friend who taught my mother to make the fish was a Galitzianer, a person who comes from Austria where they liked their gefilte fish with extra sugar. The Litvaks and the Galitzianer are two types of Ashkenazi Jews. When my grandfather tasted my mom’s sweet fish, he spit it out and was flabbergasted that my mother did not know that “his people” did not eat this type of gefilte fish. This funny story is a typical reaction from my hardheaded, polish-speaking, sarcastic grandfather. My grandfather associated a specific kind of fish with the specific group of Jewish people with which he identified. In America, gefilte fish has brought together Jewish people from many groups. Although diverse types of Jewish people may continue to make the gefilte fish differently today, they all associate it with their Jewish culture. Even those who buy it in a jar, perhaps having forgotten the historical differences between fish, continue to associate it with their Jewish culture. I have come to understand that the slow preparation of this food, in a more traditional manner, strengthens Jewish identification. Although each sect may have different practices and traditions, food has become a symbol of both their common past and present connection.

After this episode, my mother did not make the dish again until she had kids of her own and wanted them to experience the same holiday tradition she had experienced growing up. However, she does not make the fish with the same ingredients that my grandmother used. My mom makes fish that has a cleaner and more modern taste, which is also easier to make. She accomplishes this by using salmon, white fish, and pike and not grounding and deboning the fish herself. Starting a number of years ago, my mom created her own tradition of buying the fish she is going to use in Monsey, which is an Orthodox area in Rockland County. As mother describes it, when you walk through Monsey “you feel like she stepped back 100 years.” She tried to explain to me that this area is not like anything I have ever seen before: all the Hasidic Jews speak Yiddish rather than English, women cover their heads, and men will not even speak to women. But each year the fish from Monsey is reasonably priced and of good quality. Although my mom did not exactly feel comfortable in this extremely religious neighborhood, she continues to go to Monsey for the experience of feeling the Jewish culture. My family is conservative, which is a movement reacting against the radicalism of Reform Judaism, and the traditionalism of the Orthodox. Conservatives reject extreme change and advocating moderate relaxations of traditional Jewish law. Even though Orthodox Jews are much more religious than conservative Jews, they share in the tradition of eating gefilte fish.

After making the fish all these years, my mother has become accustomed to the smell.  I guess there is hope for me. Although it is very simple to pick up a jar of gefilte fish at the supermarket, she continues to make it because it reminds her of her parents. My mom hopes that by her making the gefilte fish my sister and I will learn the importance of tradition and gain incite to our grandparent’s culture.

Although different sects of Jews, and within those sects, Jews from diverse geographical regions, have distinctive beliefs and rituals, they all have the common ancestors and memories that unite them. American Jews today may identify with both a Jewish sect (Ashkenazi or Sephardic), and a level of observance, (Orthodox, Conservative, or Reformed). To maintain their identity today it is important for all categories of Jews, to identify with each other no matter their generation or sect. A common history and religion helps to maintain the population. The preparation and eating of food, and in particular, Gefilte Fish, helps Jews to maintain and enjoy their histories, their families, and their common Jewish heritage. 

My Mother’s Gefilte Fish Recipe

Fish Balls:

3 lbs. fish ground (white fish, pike, small amount of salmon @1/4 lb) (app. 45 pieces or balls)

6 eggs

3 tlb salt

½ tsp pepper

2 onions

 Grated

2 lag carrots grated

7 ½ tlb sugar

Mix all ingredients in cuisanart or by hand the place hands in ice water to make the balls after the stock comes to a boil drop the balls in pot.

Stock:

5 quarts water

3 tbl sugar

1 tsp white pepper

2 tsp salt

Large onion sliced

1 bag baby carrots

Fish bones and heads

Bring stock to a boil add the balls and cook for 1 ½ on a medium flame.

Works Cited

Cooper, John. Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1993. Print.

Deutsch, Jonathan, and Rachel D. Saks. Jewish American food culture. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print.

Nathan, Joan. “A Social History of Jewish Food in America.” Food & Judaism. Leonard J. Greenspoon, Ronald A. Simkins, and Gerald Shapiro. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 2005. 1-14. Print.

Sherman, Sharon R. “The Passover Seder, Ritual Dynamics, Foodways, and Family Folklore.” Food in the USA. Carole Counihan. New York: Routledge, 2002. 193-203. Print.

Soltes, Ori Z. “The Art of Jewish Food.” Food & Judaism. Leonard J. Greenspoon, Ronald A. Simkins, and Gerald Shapiro. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 2005. 27-65. Print.

Weinberg, Judith. Personal interview. 25 November, 2011.

Dessert Bites

          As I always told my mom, there is a different compartment in my stomach for dessert, meaning that there is always room for something sweet at the end of the meal. In my opinion, dessert is not really an option, but rather a necessity. But for me, Levain Bakery In New York City is especially essential to my diet. Cookies are a typical dessert because they are universally known as a tasty delight. However, the monstrous cookies from Levain are far from ordinary. Levain has a couple of different types of cookies. These choices span from oatmeal raisin to dark chocolate chocolate chip and they even have dark chocolate peanut butter chip. Although all these choices are excellent, my all-time favorite Levain cookie is the chocolate chip walnut. I was reminded of these orgasmic treats over thanksgiving when I decided to pay Levain a visit. When I step foot into the bakery I prepared myself to fall into the sweet coma I have so dearly missed. Straight out of the oven, my chocolate chip walnut cookie was oozing melted chocolate chips and out popped the crunchy walnuts, which created an amazing texture. As I bite into this heavenly delight, the moist insides fall into my watering mouth. The hard exterior of the cookie is merely the shell for the soft and fluffy insides. This almost two inch cookie usually takes me a while to finish, and over the years I have realized that it is almost impossible successfully complete a Levain cookie without a glass of ice-cold milk. My one complaint about these divine cookies is that they are extremely pricy, $4.00 is more then I would like to spend on a cookie, however, they are probably double the size of the average cookie.

            Prior to coming to school in August I knew there would be ABSOLUTLY no substitute to Levain. But being a huge dessert fan, I knew it would be my ultimate challenge to find something I could eat at the end of each meal. Surprisingly, this alternative to Levain came to me in my first meal at the DUC. After I was done with my less than satisfying meal I took a lap around the DUC to hopefully find some halfway decent dessert. Much to my surprise, the one area that the DUC is not too shabby at DUC is the dessert part. I had my choice of chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, cupcakes with whip cream, vanilla cake with chocolate frostings, cherry tarts, peach cobbler, and brownies. I decided to stay away from the cookies because I did not want to start my dessert experience at Emory with a disappointment. So I took the lead from one of my friends and opted for the vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. This piece of moist cake did not have overpoweringly sweet butter cream chocolate frosting, which is what I would have expected from cafeteria cake. But rather, it contained the perfect ratio of chocolate frosting to cake and even had a bit of a crunch from a few sprinkles that were fluttered on top. I was able to end my meal with just the right amount of sugar I needed, thankfully! 

Photo 1 From: Levain Bakery

What is College Bites?

          Everyone knows that transitioning to college from high school is difficult: being away from home, more work to do, and of course the big one of meeting new people. But what most people don’t realize is that one of the hardest things about going to college for the first time is the food situation. At home, you can get a wide range of foods: mom’s home cooking, take-out, or snacks. Yet, it can be a brutal awakening if students step into their first collegiate experience thinking their stomachs are going to be fed the same way. This new period in the lives of young adults is clearly a challenging adjustment, so why not make this scary process a little easier by giving your body the food it loves…with a little college twist? Through this blog, I hope to give all you Emory freshman some tips on where you can get a substitute, at college, for your favorite meals from home. 

Dinner Bites

            Growing up in New York City, I have always been lucky enough to be exposed to various cuisines. I have experienced many different types of food from Vietnamese to French and everything in between. But even after trying various dishes, one of my favorites still remains to be Mexican.

            There are an uncountable number of Mexican restaurants in the City, and even a good number in my neighborhood of the Upper West Side. However, where I like to go to get my Mexican fill is not exactly what most would call a restaurant, it’s more of a whole in the wall. Taco Grill definitely reinforced the common childhood lesson of “don’t judge a book by its cover.” This shack may not have fancy tablecloths, or even tables for that matter, but it sure does serve up a tasty burrito. Typically, I prefer to take out Taco Grill for obvious reasons but that does not make this Mexican delight any less yummy. The wheat flour tortilla serves as the protective covering for the Mexican-style yellow rice, steak, black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and of course Monterey jack cheese. Talk about a mouth full! The first bite can be a little tricky because you have to be sure not to get too excited and rip open the whole tortilla, making all the fillings fall out. Once you do manage to safely sink your teeth into this burrito the ingredients come alive. The rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and melted cheese all mix together to form a sort of delicious, creamy, crunchy spread. And every so often, you grab a piece of the streak, which is covered in this mouth-watering mixture. Taco Grill makes the best, and cheapest, burrito because they are somehow able to put in the perfect balance of each ingredient. They manage to have all of the items in the burrito tasted evenly, without one overpowering the rest. Taco Grill puts in enough steak to get your meat craving satisfied but not too much that with every bite you have to be tirelessly chewing. There are many small qualities about this dish that make it special: the streak is cooked perfectly to medium rare, the lettuce and cilantro are not soggy but rather fresh and crunchy, the pico de gallo gives the burrito a little kick, but nothing too spicy, and the tortilla is cooked so that it is the tiniest bit crunchy but still soft and fluffy. Did I mention that this dinnertime fiesta comes with a side of tortilla chips and guacamole?

            Now of course you all know what is coming, I am going to attempt to come up with a viable solution to my Mexican crave at college. However, this one wasn’t so easy. The only place on campus to get Mexican food is in Cox Hall at Salsa Rico. But when I tried a burrito there the first week of school, I was sadly disappointed. The ingredients were soggy and the pico de gallo over powered the meal to the point where I could did not even want to finish my dinner. So, for a long time I stayed away from Salsa Rico, and even Mexican food for that matter. But this past week I had such a Mexican craving; I decided to give it another try. This time I came into the experience with my previous knowledge about the burrito, so I stayed away from that dish. Instead, I got the fajita bowl with grilled chicken. This sizable portion comes in a large plastic bowl containing a flower tortilla at the bottom, Mexican-style yellow rice, grilled chicken, black beans, roasted peppers and onions, guacamole, pico de gallo, tortilla chips and shredded Monterey jack cheese. It was very overwhelming when I first look at what I had decided to order. I couldn’t help but think: is this too many ingredients mixed together in a bowl? So I played the first bite safe, scooping up a tortilla chip and dunking it in guacamole, which had a fresh taste to it. After swallowing that bite, I decided to sink my fork into the mixture. There seemed to be a good balance of each ingredient and nothing was soggy. Being a rice lover, I could have gone for a greater quantity of the Mexican-style rice, but the amount wasn’t too shabby. The sprinkling of the cheese was done so that each part of the bowl was covered with the melted stringiness. The chicken was seasoned and cooked well and the roasted peppers added some crunchyish texture. The flower tortilla did cause me some problems; not only was this getting in the way of attempting to eat the rice at the bottom of the bowl, but it also was just plain bad. It was clearly not freshly made and it could not have tasted any blander. However, this was a decent Mexican meal. Salsa Rico definitely did not live up to the caliber of Taco Grill, but it satisfied my Mexican dinner craving. 

Snack Bites

           The time period in between lunch and dinner is a daily challenge. You do not want to eat too much and ruin your appetite; however, the embarrassing, grumbling noises generating from your stomach cannot ultimately be avoided. Thank God someone created the revolutionary idea of snacks, or as my grandmother calls them, “hold me overs.” Although snacking is typically thought of in the context of elementary school children, over the years I have discovered the role it plays in my life.

            At home, right around snack time, my stomach would rumble like clockwork. Since it was Tuesday and I had soccer in downtown New York City, I knew where my hunger would lead me. Finally, after what seemed to be an exceedingly long subway ride, I ran up the block to 24^th Street.  I saw the blue awning protruding out the side of the red brick building and under the bright red letters reading “Ralphs.”  Additionally, there was an illustration of icy smiley faces on the awning. Ralphs Italian Ices has locations all over the tri-state area of my hometown: Manhattan, Long Island, Queens, New Jersey, and Staten Island. Throughout all of the locations, the building structure and method in which a customer orders his or her food is identical. The consumer orders outside a window located directly underneath the blue awning attached to the building. 

Ralphs has an array of sherbet flavors that range from the typical icy flavors of Cherry, Lime, Orange, and Passion Fruit, to wild and creative mixture flavors such as Banzai Banana, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Pineapple Cheesecake, Rainbow Cookie, and Crazy Coconut. Personally, I can never go wrong with Graham Cracker sherbet. The coolness of the ice, mixed with the crunch of the graham crackers, creates the perfect balance of textures.

If you venture on to enjoy the sherbet at Ralphs, then there is one vital piece of information that must be known beforehand. There are no toppings or cones that accompany the frozen treats, for according to Ralphs, “they are not necessary.” As a frequent customer, I can definitely attest to the statement that there is nothing else required to accompany the deliciousness of the sherbet.

            Now what is a girl supposed to do when she discovers that her favorite “hold me over” is nowhere to be found on her college campus? That’s right; I had to find a substitute. After my first week at Emory University, I found my “Ralphs.” Although Freshens is classified as a smoothie vender, it also sells cakes, milk shakes, and frozen yogurt. I have never been characterized much as a fro-yo girl, but desperate times call for desperate measures. One Wednesday I was hungrier than ever, and so I decided to prance around COX for a good fifteen minutes to find that perfect 4:00p.m. bite. I passed by Freshens a few times, and by the third go-around I decided to give it a try. 
          The two women working there were extremely polite and accommodating. Since I was a new customer who obviously did not know what I was doing, they not only let me take my sweet time, but also allowed me to try all of the flavors. I carefully tested my pallet with Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate, Cookies ‘n Cream, and Raspberry.  I landed on what some may call mundane: plain yogurt. But have no fear, I had a strategy in mind. I would get the tart tasting yogurt and fill in the missing flavor with toppings. At Freshens there are so many topping to choose from; being the indecisive person I am, this part got a little tricky. The toppings seemed endless: M&Ms, coconut shavings, blueberries, white chocolate chips, Heath bars, strawberries, and so many more. A small serving can accommodate up to three toppings, so I went with my gut and choose granola, Butterfinger bites, and M&Ms. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. How good could frozen yogurt be from a place I had never even heard of? But to my surprise, this was a decent snack. Now, it may just have been my excellent selection of yogurt and toppings, but the cool, tangy yogurt mixed with the crunchy and sweet toppings definitely got my taste buds going. Bite after bite I ate up my afternoon snack with satisfaction. I happily found a snack at college that is not only a respectable “hold me over,” but also one that can be paid for with Dooley Dollars!

 Photo 1 From: Ralph's Italian Ices

Lunch Bites

        I’m not going to lie; I am not a big lunch person. I like hot meals, so naturally I am not a fan of cold cut sandwiches or bland salads. Because of this, lunch for me is a hard meal to be satisfied with. Lunchtime in high school came with a much-needed break from classes and hunger that was indescribable. New York City’s Zabars is one of those places that one must try while in the Manhattan. It is known to be a supermarket, but right next door to this hectic superstore, there is a small place called Zabar’s Café. Conveniently, this café is right around the corner from my high school. As soon as we heard our last period teacher mutter the words lunchtime, off to Zabars we went. When reaching Zabars, I would rush in and wait on the dreaded line, tapping my foot like the impatient New Yorker I am. When I finally received my tomato, basil, and mozzarella Panini, I gobbled down a hot piece of melted mozzarella cheese, while trying not to get part of the skin of the tomato stuck in my teeth. Then, when I finally saw the green piece of basil, I got a refreshing bite of wilted plant. I had to wipe my chin from the little bit of balsamic vinaigrette dripping from the Panini to my jaw line. Biting into the next ridge of the Panini, I got a bit of toasted crust that fell off the side of the sourdough bread. It is simple pleasure to mix the stringy mozzarella cheese with the slightly warm but still cool parts of tomato and basil.

             Not having this meal in college was not as big of a surprise for me because I prepared myself that at Emory there would be no Zabars. However, I have been looking for a solid lunchtime hot sandwich in college. This one was tricky, because “solid lunchtime hot sandwiches” do not exist at the Duc. So when I asked my sister, who happens to be a sophomore here at Emory, where I could get these apparently hard to find sandwiches, she let me in on a little secret; “Cox,” she said with a little snicker. I decided to take her words of wisdom and last week I took my inexperienced self to Cox for lunch. The atmosphere felt a little like my beloved Zabars: it was very crowded and I had to wait in a long line before I got to place my order. Since I was in college, a place where you should expand your horizons, I decided be a little adventurous and order a hot sandwich with chicken, mozzarella, lettuce, and Russian dressing. I do have to admit, this was not a Panini, but a grilled sandwich. Aside from this slight disappointment, it was particularly appetizing. After my first bite I knew this had the potential to become my new, but never quite as good, version of “Zabars” during the next four years. The chicken was cooked just right, not too dry but definitely fully cooked. The mozzarella was not as melted as I would have liked but still enough that I needed to rip the excess string of cheese hanging from my mouth. Finally, the lettuce and Russian dressing added some freshness and flavor that the sandwich absolutely needed. I would have liked the familiar sign of ridges on my sandwich, but overall this was a “solid” substitute for my favorite hot sandwich from home. Who knows, maybe I will even have a new favorite meal...lunch.

Breakfast Bites

Ever wake up in the morning from a nice long sleep and realize that your stomach is churning and possibly making some unpleasant sounds? This might mean it is time for possibly the best meal of the day: breakfast.  At home in New York City, after being cuddled up in my warm full sized bed, I loved to start my day off with a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich from the deli downstairs.  Café On Broadway is what you would expect from a typical Manhattan deli: the atmosphere seems a little rushed and I definitely would not recommend enjoying a leisurely meal there, but they do make some of the best and cheapest breakfast sandwiches around. Almost drooling to take a bite of this bad boy, I would dive into the hot crispy Kaiser roll wrapped in tinfoil. The sandwich was cut perfectly in two and oozed out melted yellow American cheese.  It had just the perfect balance of omelet-style eggs joined with a thin patty sausage. If you have ever had a truly good breakfast sandwich, you can understand the mastermind of these four ingredients mixed together.

After leaving Manhattan, I have had many disappointing mornings at college. I finally realized that this yummy breakfast treat is nowhere to be found within the freshman meal plan. So, after the first day of school I was left with the question of what to get for breakfast in college? This answer may not be pleasing to many of you, but there are not many appetizing selections Monday though Friday. But good news! The weekend comes with not only parties and late nights, but also an eatable breakfast. This Saturday and Sunday blessing is the create-your-own omelet station at the Duc.  While this may not be your favorite breakfast diner at home or mom’s pancakes, this is certainly not a bad option. Waiting on line that first Saturday morning, I did not know what to expect.  But my turn came quick so I muttered: mushrooms, onions, spinach and cheese please. The eggs were well cooked with actually just the right balance of each ingredient. I also decided to drizzle salsa over the top for the omelet for a little kick. The taste of the omelet reminded me of something I could have at home; it possessed that special sense of being personalized to your own likings, rather than the typical the big pot of scrambled eggs they serve to the whole school. Personally, I added a piece of toast with peanut butter and guzzled the meal down with a cold glass of OJ. After this, for the first time in college, I was satisfied after breakfast. So, for those of you missing your favorite sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich or mom’s pancakes for breakfast, head down to the Duc on your weekends for a little taste of something familiar. Oh, and did I mention this luxury is open until 2pm for all you late risers…