Anyone who thinks Jewish food begins with bagels and ends with lox is living in a cultural wasteland.
Sunday’s Jewish Food Festival at the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center debunked that notion in tasty, mouth-watering, caloric detail.
It was a smorgasbord, so to speak, of Jewish foods from around the world.
Everyone, but everyone was there — restaurateurs, caterers, bakers, dairy farmers, herb importers, vintners, beer makers, pickle producers, beekeepers, market owners and even a kashrut supervisor or two.
The list of exhibitors at the second annual fest read like a Who’s Who of East Bay dining — from Garibaldi’s, Lalime’s and Autumn Moon to Bette’s Oceanview Diner, Saul’s Deli and Bongo Burgers — with over 70 exhibitors in all.
The BRJCC was transformed into an Israeli shuk with its auditorium and courtyard filled with umbrellas, awnings, palm fronds, imported rugs, floral arrangements and platters upon platters of food. Strains of live klezmer and Mideastern Jewish music filled the air.
The $15 admission price entitled the 1,400 attendees to drift through the four-hour event and sample all the foods, wine and beer they could hold.
It was the best deal in town.
The fest could have been heaven’s dining hall with bowls of olives, humus, eggplant salads, chopped liver, tabouli, tomato and cucumber salads, couscous, rice, breads, herring, rugelach with currants and chocolate chips, bagels, pastries, gefilte fish, lox, fresh herbs, yogurt, kugel, piroshkis, knishes and on and on and on.
There was everything except Tums.
But the Jewish Food Festival was about more than just eating.
With the slogan “Celebrating history in the kitchen from generation to generation,” the fest explored Jewish communities throughout the world. It also focused on how traditional recipes move from one culture to another and then back again, all the while adapting to local spices or produce.
Passports were handed out at the door with information about the history, cuisine and population of Jewish communities throughout the world.
“We did a lot of research, [such as] how Syrian Jews traveled to India and moved to set up business to be part of the spice trade,” says Laura Sheppard, the festival producer. “We wanted to enrich people about the Jewish culture all around the world to open people’s awareness and consciousness.”
This year’s co-sponsors were Semifreddi’s, Saul’s and Cafe Olam. Michael Rose, Semifreddi’s co-owner and a BRJCC board member, chaired the event.
Throughout the day there were events to nourish the mind such as cooking demonstrations, talks about everything from the Zen of eating and herbs of the Bible to family farming, and a slide show about chicken soup.
And if it was shopping you wanted, there was plenty to buy such as packages of imported rice, an east Indian spice palette, or perhaps an imported handmade rug.
The stories behind the exhibitors were a veritable study in Jewish culture. And, this being a good Jewish crowd, everyone was happy to talk about what they did.
Like Ellen and Bill Straus, owners of Straus Family Creamery in Marin County since 1941.
She was born in Holland, he in Germany. The route that brought Bill, the dairy’s founder, to the Bay Area includes fleeing Nazi Germany, living on an Israeli kibbutz and an unplanned detour to San Luis Obispo because he was told they were drilling for oil. There was no oil, so Bill went to U.C. Davis and got a job on the side milking cows. Today, he and his wife own a dairy farm, process and bottle organic milk, and make kosher yogurt.
Then there’s Jeremy Cowan, owner of the 2-year-old Schmaltz Brewing Company, which produces He’Brew, The Chosen Beer.
Cowan markets beer and humor. He calls his first product, Genesis Ale, a “gourmet kosher microbrew with chutzpah.” The company’s logo, designed by Cowan’s girlfriend Tracy Ginsberg, shows a smiling Chassid holding bottles of beer in his raised hands.
Cowan, who grew up in Menlo Park, touts his product as “the first Jewish beer in America.” Cowan’s beer is sold at Andronico’s, Safeway and Whole Foods.
Natan Ibragimchayev of Nina’s Kitchen was there with an array of piroshkis. Ibragimchayev emigrated from Russia to the United States seven years ago and started his piroshki business 4-1/2 years ago. Today he sells to health food stores and farmers markets throughout the Bay Area.
“I am the pickle man,” says Alan Steinberg, owner of Shenson’s Delicatessen in San Francisco. Although he only bought the 67-year-old deli in April, he claims to make “the best pickles west of the Hudson.”
And with their rich garlic flavor, he could be right.
How did he acquire Shenson’s?
“I wrote the best essay and the biggest check,” he says. Originally, the former owner wanted to give the deli to the person who wrote the best essay. But, he explains, the government stepped in and said it would be an illegal lottery. Hence the check and the essay.
If you missed the Jewish Food Festival this year, there’s always next year. Sheppard is already making plans for a bigger, better afternoon of Jewish dining and perhaps adding some Judaica, a Russian tea room and a festival cookbook.
So mark your calendar and start your diet.