Barefoot Balabusta

Remember when the only place to find cooking shows was PBS, and when the only cooking shows on PBS were reruns of The French Chef (that voice!), The Frugal Gourmet (that beard!), and Yan Can Cook (those knife skills!)?  Well with the undeniable boom of the cooking show genre, and the subsequent births of TV star chefs, I find it curious that kosher food is so underrepresented.  Sure, Marc Summers has unwrapped a pastrami sandwich on camera, and brisket has had it’s time in the spotlight being competitively smoked by teams called "Bubba-Q Brothers" and "Hog & Kisses."  In the sea of highly-specific themed cooking and food-related shows out there (coming up next: A Gluten For Punishment, followed by Vegan Diva and Living in the Raw), why no Shabbos on a Shoestring, Pareve Paradise (vegan!), or Barefoot Balabusta? 

Last night I caught an episode of Ina Garten’s (née Rosenberg) Barefoot Contessa entitled “International Pasta” where she featured recipes spanning the globe from China's Szechuan region, to Italy with a layover in Poland.  

If you look super closely, you can see the unmistakable orange and green Manischewitz logo on the egg noodles (OU pareve).

Though technically her's is a recipe similar to my own mother's dairy kugel recipe (subbing sour cream, cottage cheese and crushed pineapple for Ina's half-and-half, ricotta and raisins), I don't know, there just seems something foreign about her preparation.  I bet it's the bain-marie.

Not Just A Pretty Loaf

I’ve fallen in love with a bimbo.  A total package:  blue eyes, button nose, adorable smile, modeling gig, and tons of kosher pride.  Here is my bimbo on a billboard on westbound I-76.

That speck under the loaf reads "Kof-K Pareve"

I love when exotic products bear (no pun intended) kosher symbols, but conspicuous central placement on giant outdoor advertising just goes above and beyond.  Okay, white bread might be the opposite of exotic, but this long E sound Mexican brand’s international status and quirky name choice up the exotic ante.  I’m sure Bimbo is a perfectly cute marketing move in Mexico, but loses something in translation.  Just ask any Israeli named Dudu or Osnat. 

This bimbo is also athletic.  Bimbo Bakeries just announced its sponsorship of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union.  If this doesn’t get Americans to start caring about soccer, I simply don’t know what will.

And so in celebration, I propose a toast to my favorite bimbo with, well, toast!  Go get a jar of Smuckers preserves (OU Pareve) and enjoy OK Go’s golden brown video.  

Life In The Matrix

If we were to plot some recent news on a New York magazine style PopKosher Approval Matrix, where Highbrow and Lowbrow scale the Y-axis and Brilliant and Despicable span the X-axis, it might look something like this:

Last week, celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton toured the homeland with his mother and blogged about it in a 5-part series.  Part 5 is the best, but do yourselves a favor and don’t read the comments.  Always the polite and genteel country, Israel reciprocated with some of that famous Middle Eastern hospitality. 

Typically his obnoxious, crass comments about celebrities and doodles on their unflattering paparazzi shots are the trash reserved for the workday afternoon doldrums.  But, his solid hasbara has earned him a firm spot near Brilliant.

And in the other corner we have Jewish darling, Natalie Hershlag/Portman who recently announced her shotgun wedding to Benjamin Millepied.  Her failure to swallow the red pill, the blue pill, or The Pill has given her a bellyful of trouble and earned her a spot in the northwest quadrant of The Matrix.  We are shocked!  This is so not the Natalie we don’t know at all and have never spoken to.  Regardless, mazel tov!

But this is PopKosher and not PopIsrael or PopIntermarriage.  So here is Natalie keeping it kind of kosher on Top Chef last year when she guest judged an all-vegetarian challenge.  She eats clean, but her mind is dirty.  Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised after all.