Goose Fat
Back in the Old Country, cooking in Jewish families meant a tradition of preserving rendered goose fat for use throughout the year. It was especially useful for making something called schmaltz, but over time the tradition has faded away in most families. The author situates the collection and maintenance of rendered goose fat as a different sort of schmaltz: a nostalgic for lost traditions dying out in the face of modern conveniences.
Which Came First: Eggs or Judaism?
The symbolisms of eggs also takes on a nostalgic connotation, but within a more serious contemplation of theological philosophy. In fact, she goes far as to directly implicate the symbolic dimension of eggs, suggesting a parallel between eggs as a kitchen staple and the Jewish religion itself:
“grandmothers believe in eggs, daughters took them granted…my affection is complicated by science and the times.”
Dairy Fork
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book for those not raised in a Jewish family is learning the truly labyrinthine rules and rituals of what it means to really and truly eat kosher. It is amazing that it can be one at all. A dairy fork becomes the symbol of the generational loosening of kosher observance:
“In my bubbe’s kitchen, if a dairy fork found its way into the meat things…she would bury the offending item in the back yard for two muddy days.”
Blood
There’s not such thing as meat served rare when observing kosher rules. Blood tops the list of things which are forbidden. Why? Symbolism: “You must not eat the life fluid, blood.”
Lucky Number 18
When the author ventures deep into the world of archaic Jewish ritual known as the mikvah. Spotting a sign on the wall informing visitors that a “donation” of $18 will be assessed as a late fee for charges made after 11:00 PM, the reader who is not wise to the ways of Judaic symbolism is educated:
“Eighteen dollars. Of course. Eighteen is a lucky number. The Hebrew word chai means life. Spelled with the alphabet’s eighth and tenth letters, the word also signifies the number 18.”
