Steve, It's Called Tzitzit and It's But One Undergrament

Steve Erlanger, its seems, is probably finishing off his regular job as the NYTimes' correspondent in Israel and as is the custom, is preparing for his removal and replacement by gathering material for a book. In doing so, he is finally hitting the "soft news" field which he as his predecessors have done before him have ignored (and in doing so, pervert the reality of what Israel is but that's another issue).

In an article on the buying power and purchasing tastes of the Hareidi community, I spotted this:

Here in Ramat Beit Shemesh A, the spacious “Shefa Shouk” is an outlet for the ultra-Orthodox segment of a large grocery chain, Blue Square-Israel Ltd. Shefa Shouk has its own food labels with the strict “Badatz” kosher certificate. There is special clothing — undergarments with fringes, for example — and a large baby section.

Steve, it but one garment and, in Hebrew, it's popularly called 'tzitzit' which refers to the fringes, as commanded in the Torah, that need but fixed to four-cornered clothes, under or over.


Picture source

By the way, my grandmother always called it "arba kanfot" (four corners) because 'tzitzit' sounds too much like 'tzitzim' which in Yiddish means female breasts. She wanted me to grow up proper, in deed and word. And don't get it mixed up with 'tzimmes' a great dish for Rosh Hashana or Succot.

Joan Nathan and I

Joan Nathan is running a recipe/cooking blog for the NYTimes in this pre-Rosh Hashana period.

I checked it out, - after all, my wife not only cooks but blogs a Kosher Carnival (and I have lurking secret hopes of eventually being a better cook than I am now, which is not saying much but I do make a not-that-bad chicken soup). Joan nor anyone else there hadn't yet mentioned tzimmes.

So I asked:-

68. September 11th, 2007 4:31 am
Is Tzimmes missing from this collection? No one has new recipes for it?

— Posted by Yisrael Medad

and her reply:-

70. September 11th, 2007 6:12 pm
#68 Yisrael
You are right! No one asked for Tsimmes. But the carrot souffle with pecan topping that I used in tomorrow’s New York Times is just like a tsimmes. Otherwise, look in my books.
Happy New Year!
Joan Nathan

Well, that's my good culinary deed for the new year.

Oops, at leasst one recipe, yes?

CARROT, PRUNE, & POTATO TZIMMES CASSEROLE
Yield: 8 servings

1 Onion, chopped
4 tablespoons Chicken shmaltz
1 pound Brisket of beef
1 pound Prunes, tenderized
3 cups Water
5 Carrots
4 Sweet potatoes
1/2 cup Honey
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
2 tablespoons Potato flour

Saute onion in 2 tbsp shmaltz. Heat a pot; sear meat on all sides, turning until brown. Cover bottom of pot with sauteed onions. Add meat, prunes, and water. Cook 1 hour on low heat, covered.

Scrape carrots. Wash; slice into thin rounds. Pare sweet potatoes; cut into thick rounds. Add carrots and potatoes to meat and prunes, distributing well around meat. Add honey, salt, and lemon juice; cook til tender. Shake pot gently from time to time, but do not stir. Water can be added to prevent sticking.

Make thickening by browning potato flour in 2 tbsp melted shmaltz, adding 1/4 cup liquid from meat-and-vegetable combination. Stir until smooth, cooking over moderate heat about 5 minutes. Turn thickening into the tzimmes; shake pot gently. Turn whole contents into casserole. Cover; bake in 350 F oven for 2 hrs. Remove cover for last 1/2 hr. to brown top. Do not mash vegetables. Tzimmes is not attractive if "mushy".

From: Nancy Berry (nlberry@prodigy.net)

Actually, I prefer a sweet potato in my tzimmes.

Go fool around here.

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UPDATE

My wife's blog sent me here.