Ancestry: Pickled Herring & Beets
I must be getting old.
I remember as a kid going to my paternal grandmother's house in Brooklyn and watching her and her 9 sisters (there was 1 brother, the poor thing) eat pickled herring and beets.
I was repulsed and swore I would NEVER eat this. Disgusting.
The Jackson sisters (strange name for a Jewish family, must've been changed at Ellis Island) all lived in either Brooklyn or Queens, and would get together almost daily to play cards and eat.
Yes, this was their life.
Raising their children and preparing the meals.
Mahjong, Canasta and other card games were the daily grind.
Babka and coffee, gossip, then a little smoked whitefish salad on a bagel, what could be bad?
High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes all plagued these sisters later in life.
But why give up what you love?
Take a little saccharine pill from a pretty silver case every day, and you buy some diabetic chocolate.
Were they all heavy? Yup.
But most of them lived well into their 80's (probably because they didn't eat processed foods).
My grandmother lived in a 3 story brownstone in Brooklyn, and they rented the ground floor out to tenants in the 1940's and until the house was sold in the 70's. I can still see that gross looking fish stuff and the red soup on her table.
Even though they were all American born, they hung onto their parents' Eastern European cultures by eating borscht, babka and smoked fish, of any kind.
Bring it on. Sable, herring, salmon, whitefish.
I couldn't wait to get away from them and their fish.
Well look how I've changed my tune.
It must be in the genes, I always say.
I eat smoked fish and beets almost every other day!
Even my husband loves it.
Here is a simple snack that I make instead of having a piece of cake lately.
It's packed with protein and goodness and makes me smile everytime I eat it.
I think of my heritage.
It's all about food and love (and the love of food!).
Pass the sour cream.
:)
I remember as a kid going to my paternal grandmother's house in Brooklyn and watching her and her 9 sisters (there was 1 brother, the poor thing) eat pickled herring and beets.
I was repulsed and swore I would NEVER eat this. Disgusting.
The Jackson sisters (strange name for a Jewish family, must've been changed at Ellis Island) all lived in either Brooklyn or Queens, and would get together almost daily to play cards and eat.
Yes, this was their life.
Raising their children and preparing the meals.
Mahjong, Canasta and other card games were the daily grind.
Babka and coffee, gossip, then a little smoked whitefish salad on a bagel, what could be bad?
High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes all plagued these sisters later in life.
But why give up what you love?
Take a little saccharine pill from a pretty silver case every day, and you buy some diabetic chocolate.
Were they all heavy? Yup.
But most of them lived well into their 80's (probably because they didn't eat processed foods).
My grandmother lived in a 3 story brownstone in Brooklyn, and they rented the ground floor out to tenants in the 1940's and until the house was sold in the 70's. I can still see that gross looking fish stuff and the red soup on her table.
Even though they were all American born, they hung onto their parents' Eastern European cultures by eating borscht, babka and smoked fish, of any kind.
Bring it on. Sable, herring, salmon, whitefish.
I couldn't wait to get away from them and their fish.
Well look how I've changed my tune.
It must be in the genes, I always say.
I eat smoked fish and beets almost every other day!
Even my husband loves it.
Here is a simple snack that I make instead of having a piece of cake lately.
It's packed with protein and goodness and makes me smile everytime I eat it.
I think of my heritage.
It's all about food and love (and the love of food!).
Pass the sour cream.
:)
Comments
Nice post.
There are differences, of course. I don't recall when I first tasted pickled herring, but I also don't recall having an aversion to it. As with most Jewish foods with the possible exception of gefilte fish, it was love at first bite. Another difference: I don't eat pickled herring or other kinds of pickled fish every other day. As a matter of fact, it's been well over a year since I last treated myself to a jar of pickled herring. Thanks to your post, I intend to correct that little oversight TODAY!
My grandmother's sister was also Esther (no Tillie, I don't think, but there was a Becky, Edith, Irene, Bessie, Morris (the brother), Molly....I can't remember the other names).
They lived in Crown Heights, Bensonhurst & Prospect Heights.
I didn't try the pickled stuff till in my 20's. Now I buy a big jar of pickled herring at Costco now (Acme fish makes good stuff, all natural), and I swear, I throw it in my arugula salad w/ some roasted beets and red onion almost every other day! I love it! It's part of my healthy eating diet, no joke! (pickling is just vinegar and sugar, really).
Enjoy!
Stacey
Lesley
xx
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