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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:	BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:	1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:	SMURF::FENSTER

Created:	Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1524
Total number of notes:	18709

64.0. "Memories" by GRAMPS::LISS () Fri Jan 31 1986 11:17

    	I'm going to say good bye to this note file, but just for a 
        little wile. We are not going to get VaxNotes on this system 
        for quite a while. I'll still be active on the USENET 
        newsgroup net.religion.jewish. For those of you who want to 
        participate in that group, drop me a note and I'll let you 
        know how. Better still, pester Mike. He's in that group too.
    
    	Before I go I would like to share the following thought with 
        you.
    
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    	I have some fond memories of growing up in The Bronx, (NYC) 
        during the early 1950s. For those of you who are unfamiliar 
        with the Grand Concourse during that period, it was one of 
        those neighborhoods, where for miles around *everyone* was 
        Jewish. This is no exaggeration. I was about eight or nine 
        years old before I discovered that there was such a thing as a 
        non-Jew. But that is another story. Every five or so blocks 
        there was a shul. Some were small, some were very large, and 
        all were full when Shabbos came. It was not uncommon to see a 
        group of Lubovitchers, with there long coats and broad brimmed 
        hats, on their way to shul. If someone had gray hair, by 
        definition they also spoke with an accent. It's unfortunate 
        that neighborhoods like that have dispersed.
    
    	I remember my grandmother taking me with her to Bathgate 
        Avenue to go shopping. Even on a weekday the narrow street was 
        crowded with shoppers. Both sides of the street were lined 
        with red brick tenements and there were small shops on the 
        ground floor of each one.
    
    	Our shabbos meal was always centered around chicken and 
        chicken soup. Because of the importance my grandmother placed 
        on this meal the chicken had to be a fresh one. By the way 
        when is the last time you had chicken soup with the egg yolks 
        taken right from the chicken. 
    
    	I remember Tony's Chicken Market. I think the building 
        originally was a garage. My grandmother would take me by the 
        hand up to a pile of chicken coops. She would point out a 
        chicken to Tony. He'd grab it by the neck and bring it to the 
        shoychut for slaughtering. I remember him wearing a long black 
        coat and sitting on a milk box. He would say a broucha and 
        then cut the chickens throat. He also would put the chicken 
        into a barrel until it stopped flapping it's wings.
    
    	If someone wanted a non-kosher chicken, Tony would take the 
        chicken to a block and chop the head off with a single blow. 
        To this day I can close my eyes and see the chicken heads 
        lying in the sawdust on the floor. Come to think of it, in 
        those days just about every store had sawdust on the floor.
    
    	When the chicken was dead my grandmother would take it to the 
        back of the store where she would pull out all the feathers. 
        Then she would remove the stubble over an open fire while she 
        exchanged greetings with the rest of the women standing there.
    
    	I always looked forward to the treats my grandmother got me. 
        Next door was a store that sold dried fruits and nuts. Just 
        inside were peanut roasters. The smell and taste of fresh 
        roasted peanuts is indescribable.
    
    	Sometimes she would take me across the street to the spice 
        shop. The owner was an older and very thin man. He would be 
        standing in the corner of the store rocking back and forth 
        with a yarlmuka on his head and a sider in his hand. When we 
        entered the store he put down his prayer book and stood before 
        us with clasped hands. For only a few pennies my grandmother 
        would get me enough rock candy to last me for a few days.
    
    	I also remember Rudy's fruit and vegetable store. My 
        grandmother told me that Rudy had to be watched very closely. 
        He once put a small rock in with a bag of potatoes and she 
        never trusted him again after that.
    
    	A little further down the street was the kosher butcher. There 
        were no neon lights in the window. Instead, big silver decals 
        with Hebrew letters spelled out "kosher bosher". It seems that 
        everything in the store was white and shiny. As a little boy I 
        was fascinated by the rail on the ceiling that extended from 
        the street to the refrigerator. When there was a delivery I 
        used to watch them put the carcasses on pulleys and roll them 
        into the refrigerator. Once the butcher let me pull the rope 
        to operate the switch so the meat would be directed behind the 
        counter.
    
    	This story, however personal to me, is not unique. We share a 
        common heritage and I am sure each one of you has your own 
        little story to tell.
    
			Litraot,
				Fred

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
64.1		CADDLE::MAHLER		`Fri Jan 31 1986 14:32`	24
	Fred, I can deeply relate to the mentioning of the fact that maybe not many share the memories that you have; but I seems to feel that, not so deep inside, I share a love of life and heritage as you have protrayed. My Mother's parents lived and Bbrooklyn and I was born in The Women's Hospital. I do not remember much about the area as a child but have lots of memories of going down to visit my Nanny and Grampse in Brooklyn (L Ave. I believe). I remember going with my grandfather to the Brooklyn Zoo and also to a place on King St. to have some Danish and lox/bagels. More recently I have visited my folks (On Long Island) and find I miss that area even more. On Long Island, too, I found that I was not aware of Non-Jews until High School. I thought everyone knew what Passover was and Kosher. SHelterd life I guess, but if anyone had told me then that Jews were a minority, I would thought they were crazy. Michael
64.2		ROXIE::OSMAN		`Thu Feb 06 1986 15:52`	14
	> Our shabbos meal was always centered around chicken and > chicken soup. Because of the importance my grandmother placed > on this meal the chicken had to be a fresh one. By the way > when is the last time you had chicken soup with the egg yolks > taken right from the chicken. What does this mean ? I've never had egg yolks in my chicken soup directly. I'd image there are probably yolks in kenadloch. Is that what you mean ? And what do you mean by "taken right from the chicken" ? Does this mean an expectant hen is slaughtered, and her was-to-be-laid egg is extracted and cracked into the chicken soup ? /Eric who-thought-he-knew-chicken-soup-and-is-not-so-sure
64.3	Thief.	NONAME::MAHLER	FBYPMO,IWRYFRO	`Thu Feb 06 1986 16:24`	10
	Yes, Fred Did these chickens give up those eggs of free will ? We WANT TO KNOW !!!!}
64.4	Which came first, chicken soup or eggs?	LATOUR::YOUNG		`Thu Feb 06 1986 17:22`	16
	Back in the "good old days" before meat inspection became so paranoid (when chickens came with feet!) a chicken would have eggs in it. these eggs (the yiddish word, transliterated would be something like eyeluch) would be in various stages of development, and would not have hard shells. They were thrown in with the chicken soup. I've never had this, it's before my time, but my mother remembers it as part of her childhood on the lower East side. By the way, my mother also used to make chicken soup every Friday. Unfortunately, the byproduct of chicken soup is boiled chicken, and having to eat that for dinner every week turned me off to chicken in a big way. I've only recently discovered that not all chicken is tasteless. Paul
64.5	Egg Melancholy	PFLOYD::WROTHBERG	Curiouser and curiouser	`Thu Feb 06 1986 19:43`	8
	My, my, my. You've just brought back a memory I had forgotten all about. It's been 25 years since I had the eggs in my soup. Indescribably delicious !!! Fondly remembered, Warren
64.6	chicken feet and cow lungs	LSMVAX::ROSENBLUH		`Mon Feb 10 1986 14:16`	0
64.7	maybe "loss of one chicken foot" ?	AVANTI::OSMAN		`Tue Feb 11 1986 10:07`	7
	"Meat inspection" was, however, responsible for the loss of one The above line is what the previous reply ends with when I read it. Loss of one what ? Brother ? Chicken ? How do you keep a moron in suspense ? how do you spell relief ? Gaaaak.
64.8	cow lungs, eric, cow lungs	LSMVAX::ROSENBLUH		`Tue Feb 11 1986 11:13`	20
	[This is a continuation of 64.6. The connection between my machine and cadzoo went down while 64.6 was being written. So, to the best of my memory....] No no no, Eric, read the title of the note! "Meat inspection" was responsible for the loss of one of my favorite dishes. Sometime in the 60's, it became illegal to sell cow lungs for human consumption. The dish in question involves parboiling the lungs, mincing them finely and saute'ing with chopped onions, and finally mixing with white rice. Also, lots of black pepper. I believe the prohibition on sale of cow lungs might have been due to the possibility of contracting tubercolosis or something equally gruesome from eating diseased lungs. However, it seems slightly unfair that kosher cow lungs had to be included, since of course, after ritual slaughtering, the lungs must be inspected and if they are damaged or diseased, the meat of the cow isn't kosher. But (as my family tells me) that's life in galut! Kathy
64.9	Further proof that the Scots are a lost tribe	DELNI::GOLDSTEIN		`Tue Feb 11 1986 18:12`	8
	Cow lungs? Sounds a bit like the Scottish national dish, Haggis. Which I can never find in the states! (I smuggled a tin of it home from England, saving it for a special occasion.) Only the Scots use sheep offal mixed with oatmeal instead of rice. Lotsa pepper, though. Sounds disgusting. Tastes like mama's chopped liver, only a bit stronger. fred
64.10	Waxing Nostalgic	BOOLE::GOLD		`Wed Feb 19 1986 17:15`	15
	Boy, this note sure has brought back memories!!!!! I used to love the eggs and the chicken feet. I had forgotten about that. I also shared the "discovery" that chicken was not always boiled and did have some flavor, when I finally grew up and ate chicken somewhere other than at my mother's Shabbas dinner. Being a parent, it seems a bit sad to me that my children will never experience some of these now-gone customs. I guess they will feel the same when they grow up and have children, but it still leaves me with a very nostalgic feeling. Anyway, enough sentimentalism. Sooo...... Does anyone want to have a chicken leg and egg party? Jack
64.11	I LIVED THERE TOO!!	COMET2::KAUFMAN		`Wed Feb 19 1986 22:28`	5
	I was born in that neighborhood in the Bronx off of the Grand Concourse!!! Lived there from Dec of 53 to Jun of 57. My grandparents stayed there until my grandfather passed away and then my grandmother moved. That wasn't until 76. Man did that neighborhood change!!!
64.12	In England we still have the Zigel	BLOTT::LEVY		`Sun Mar 16 1986 15:21`	16
	I must admit to being surprised that the chicken eggs and feet have been outlawed in the states. When I go home for Shabath this is the way my mum always makes her soup. With the eggs and feet noch! I remember that a few years ago my mum asked the Rabbi about a chicken she had bought because it had two left feet! She wanted to know if it was kosher. I think that the problem was that it had no zigel. (The stamp attached to the foot with a piece of wire that certified that it was kosher). It was probably attached to the other foot. Do you remember the zigel? best wishes, Malcolm in Reading, England
64.13	More Eggs	NYALYF::HORWITZ		`Thu Jun 19 1986 15:49`	22
	RE: all proceeding replies - ahh, what memories! I grew up in Newark, NJ. The Weequahic section to be exact. For the New Yorkers in the crowd, think of an all Jewish Bensonhurst. For you others, remmber Archie Comic Books?, now make everyone, including Veronica Jewish. We even had a "malt shop" with a big light-up Wurlitzer juke box for dancing. Few shops were open on Shabbos - but Saturday nights were jumping. In the late 50's to early sixties, I remeber that the kosher butcher was a source of fascination- not only was there poultry hanging by hte feet, but there was the everpresent CALF'S HEAD staring back at you. (No mistaking where tongue came from!) Any one remember the warnings from goyishe teachers the day before a holiday that no one should be caught near the school?!? Re: EGGS - at least around Pesach and Rosh Hashonah, some supermarkets will carry un-laid (?) eggs, and the K.B.s always have them. Hmm, since Central Jersey still seems to abound in haimish(homey) culinary delights, maybe I should look into running an export business. L'hitraot Rich
64.14		SEARS::WOLF		`Tue Sep 30 1986 14:24`	14
	I grew up in Brookline (Mass). During the high holidays there were maybe 2 kids left in any class. Its only recently that they wised up and just close the school... I can remember my mother putting the chickens feet in the soup. It was always a treat to get one. BUT, the only treat that no one here mentioned is the (I hope the spelling is write) pupik (gizzard). That was (is, fortunatley these little guys are still available) the cats meow... Also as a side note, growing up in Brookline it wasn't until I attended high shcool that I realized that not everyone in the world keeps a kosher home....what a bummer... /jeff
64.15		GRAMPS::LISS	Fred - ESD&P Shrewsbury MA	`Tue Sep 30 1986 15:45`	11
	< Note 64.14 by SEARS::WOLF > "...It was always a treat to get one. BUT, the only treat that no one here mentioned is the (I hope the spelling is write) pupik (gizzard)." Your family must have come from northern Russia. Mine came from further south. We called it a "pipik". Fred
64.16		ELWOOD::SIMON		`Wed Oct 01 1986 11:19`	3
	It is pupok! (Emphasis on "ok"). I know that since I AM Russian! Leo