A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - What's The Best Hanukkah Food?

Episode Date: December 1, 2021

Today, we're giving Hanukkah food the attention it deserves. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. Yo Christmas sugar cookies, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but roogla is one of the best holiday desserts of all time. Eh? Anyone? Kanye West, 2009 VMAs, I'm schvitzin' over here. Anyways, today we're giving Hanukkah food the attention it deserves. This is a hot dog as a sandwich. Ketchup as a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich.

What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show where we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Scherer. And I'm your host, Nicole Inaidi. And, Nicole, we often reference the fact that we are Jewish on this podcast. Ma kore, Josh? Ma kore, a kol beseder? Ken?

Bless you. And someone recently said in a comment, I wish you would devote a whole episode to Jewish food. That's so nice of them. That is very nice. And I think it's cool. We can bring our cultures in. One of the problems, I think,

is I don't know how knowledgeable I am about Jewish culture and food outside of my own experience. Interesting. I think you are very well-versed in the majority of foods, not just limited to Jewish foods. I think you're just like a, is there like a word like for a polyglot, but for food? Oh, polyphage.

I think that's you. I think you eat everything. I think you're a polyphage. I'm on a seafood diet. I'm a, you're a polyphagist. Thank you. That's the nicest thing. Nicole, as my best friend thank

you so much you heard it here first ladies and gents josh said he's my best friend finally after how many episodes of this damn podcast we've spent 85 85 episodes it took you this long to admit that you're my best friend thank you so much oh just in the hanukkah giving spirit uh but no today i thought we would you know both rank our top three Hanukkah dishes that we grew up eating But for me, we were just talking, like you mentioned, you were like, is Rugla a Hanukkah dish? And I was like, listen, at my family, we are reformed Jews We, you know, my great aunt is like 85 years old She would get drunk off Manischewitz and be like, you know, Jews can be atheists

I'm atheist And I'm like, oh, come on, don't tell me that Yeah, of course No, because like, let me tell you, Judaism is weird because it's like you can be culturally and traditionally Jewish, but not believe in God. Yeah. Like, like that's how my dad is. Like he's, he doesn't believe in God one ounce, not at all.

Total atheist. But he's like, are you coming home for Shabbat? And I'm like, yes, sir. I am. Yeah. I view it for myself, at least as like a shared cultural history. We were all affected by the same things in history. We all have the family stories going back.

And it is in your genetic lineage. I recently went to a Chabad for the first time for a couple of weeks ago. And I mostly like it. It was great. They were all just slamming Irish whiskey. And I was like, this isn't the Chabad that I remember going to for Hebrew school when I was younger and I had a really great time.

But point is, all my experiences are based on what I grew up with with my family and a lot of it was divorced from, you know, a lot of strict

religious tradition. So that's where my point of view is coming from. Nice. So what are your favorite Hanukkah foods? Also, should we say,

wait, do you think I remember the Hanukkah prayer? Do you think I can do it? How much do you guys want to bet that I can do it? Josh wants to try and I think if you want to try and this is the place to do it, do you think I remember the Hanukkah prayer? Um, you want to try? Do you think I can do it? How much do you guys want to bet that I can do it? Josh wants to try. And I think if you want to try and this is the place to do it, do it. Okay.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam. Asher kereshanu b'mitzvotov yivitzivanu leher nahat. Lehedlik? Lehedlik? Uh-huh. Lehedlik? Lehedlik? Hanukkah?

Ner? Nershel. Lehedlik Nershel. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam. Asher kereshanu b'mitzvotov yivitzivanu. Like, God dang it, God danghel. Lehedlik Nershel. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam esher kereshanu b'mitzvotov evitzivanu God dang it! God dang it! Lehedlik Nershel.

Lehedlik Nershel Hanukkah. I'm pretty sure that's how it is. We'll take it. We'll take it. I'll take it. That was wonderful. What'd you like to eat on Hanukkah? Well, I don't have necessarily an order,

but I... Can I just say my number one favorite thing? Tell me. I don't want to say my three. Tell me about it. I have one favorite thing, and it's guilt. Oh, no. Hanukkah thing. I don't want to say my three. I have one favorite thing and it's guilt. Oh no. I heart

guilt. Tell the people about guilt Nicole. Guilt is just chocolate coins and then it teaches little kids how to gamble and that's fun for me. Did you do you fall on do the game the dreidel gambling game? Oh of course. Which is I mean a dreidel it's gambling die is what it is. Yeah it is.

It is and it's it's like I don't know I don't remember gimel dollet hey i don't remember what all those things you don't want none you want gimel yeah you always want gimel you always want gimel for g for gold yeah yeah yeah um i just i just always thought it was fun because you know there was like the big coins and then the little coins and then like the little coins had some sort of denomination no matter like where you were and then like you would all like try to hoard the big coins. And it was just fun. And then Megia actually reminded me of this. You remove the gold and then you put it on your teeth and you have grills.

So it was like fun. Everyone, people are going to say like sufganiyot, latkes, brisket, gefilte fish. I don't eat gefilte fish. You don't eat gefilte fish? No.'t eat gefilte fish no no no no no no gefilte i okay so one time i tried gefilte fish thinking it was gondi gondi is like the persian equivalent of a matzo ball and honey no no no sweet fish ball not very good well gefilte fish technically is a matzo ball that should be the title of the episode. Well, I mean, it's a ball of fish that's mixed with like matzo meal and other root vegetables like parsnips and whatever. Yeah, one thing I never got was why Ashkenazi people eat matzo other than like Passover.

Like, why do y'all do that? If you're ever asking a question. Did you get constipated? No, I mean, I don't know. I think a lot of the questions about what is Ashkenazi food, first, for people who don't know, Ashkenazi refers to mostly like Eastern European Jews, a lot of cold climate foods. When you're thinking of a lot of Jewish deli dishes, like a lot of the smoked meat that comes from like Central European Germanic traditions. Sure. And then all of the cabbage and the beets and the parsnips, all that, that just goes to like the only foods you could grow in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania.

Yeah. You took the little river fish that were frozen in ice and you packed them in vinegar. So they just stayed good. Nice. And then you ate them. And that's how you get dishes like gefilte fish, which is like essentially preserved white fish that is just pureed into a delicious fish meatball and flavored very lightly, a little bit of dill, a little bit of carrot thrown in there. And I absolutely love gefilte fish. You like it.

I have a dream. I don't like it. Of opening a gefilte fish taco stand. A gefilte fishery, if you will. Fusing my LA roots with my Ashkenazi Jewish traditions, deep fry a little like beer batter on that gefilte fish, you know, do like a little beet salsa chimol. I think that'd be a delight. Josh, normally I support your ideas, but that

sounds absolutely disgusting. And I never want that to come into fruition ever. Yeah. I don't know if gefilte fish is the easiest thing to sell. Josh, Josh, what is your favorite or top three or favorite Hanukkah food? I want to know what you like. Okay. I mean, we mentioned rugelach, which I started pronouncing rugala rugala my whole life and then i started dating an east coast jew which you know they don't they say a lot of ha yeah and a lot of it it's like italian americans right you get like capicola becomes gabagool yeah rugala becomes rugala yeah and it's a thing uh yiddish thing yeah and i mean uh she comes from a family where you know her mom plays jewish lady mahjong. Oh, yeah, you told me about Jewish Lady Mahjong.

Watch Marvelous Mrs. Maisel if you want any insight into the Jewish Lady Mahjong culture. And so I defer to her on pronunciation. But I mean, like, rugelach is absolutely great. It's the kind of like a little pinwheel pastry cookie. I don't know, do the goys have a word for it? Because they'll sell it at, like, Costco, a thing that is ostensibly rugelach. I hate the word goy. It, like, makes me so sad.

Like, non-Jew is nicer. Gentile. The Gentiles. The Gentiles can also partake in rugelach from the Costco. Of course. Of course they can. I used to get my rugelach from the kosher bakery in the Ralphs. And honey, the raspberry.

I would just eat that up, like, three at a time. Like, yum, yum, yum. Other delicious Jewish pastries. You're talking about sufganiyot. Oh, sufganiyot. Sufganiyot is, well, we have it on Hanukkah because we love to have fried things on Hanukkah. And the oil.

The oil that was supposed to only last for like a day and then ended up extending for eight days. Miracle. It was after a battle. Yeah, I don't remember that part. The Maccabees beat back the Romans to defend. Did you watch the Rugrats episode recently? I sure did.

Okay, that's why you remember. And I watched the Disney Channel original movie about the basketball team that had a whole allegory to Hanukkah. The lights in the gym were going to go out. The generator wasn't working, Nicole, in the championship game. But then the lights, in in Hanukkah miracle fashion lasted

for four quarters or something. And the Jewish kids learned self-esteem. Back to sufganiyot. It's a jelly-filled donut. That's all it is. Yeah, it's a jelly donut. It's a jelly donut. You could go to Dunkin' and have one right now and be like, two sufganiyot, please. I'll be like, what are you talking about? Two donuts,

I guess. I will say, though, most sufganiyot that I've had, it's kind of worse jelly donut. It's like jelly donut from, like, I would rather go to Krispy Kreme and get a jelly donut. Like, roguelite, there's no comparison for me in the can, right? It's this, like, crusty, almost brioche-like risen pastry with just, like, all this melty chocolate in it. Sometimes you'll throw the almonds in there. Rugelite, to me, is something that, like, you can't really compare on any scale. Sometimes you'll throw the almonds in there. Rugula to me is something that like you can't really compare on any scale. But then you get sufganiyot and it's like,

oh, jelly donut, but like a little bit bad. Yeah, what about babka? Babka, babka giant rugula. Oh, yeah, yeah. Right, pretty much similar. So babka. No, let me tell you. Okay, so it's challah, babka, rugula, gilt.

Those are your favorite. No, no, no, no. That's like the line of where. Okay, so it's challah, babka, rugelach, gelt. Those are your favorite. No, no, no, no. That's like the line of where... Oh, that's the evolutionary chart. So gelt is like the homo habilis. Okay. So gelt is just a chocolate coin, to reiterate. And then rugelach is dough wrapped around the chocolate.

You don't have to use... Also, the chocolate in gelt is like so bad. Yeah, can we talk about that for a second? It's the worst quality chocolate. You don't have to use... Also, the chocolate in gelt is so bad. Yeah, can we talk about that for a second? It's the worst quality chocolate. Probably because it's parv. For those that don't know what parv means, parv means it has no dairy in it. I don't think it's parv.

Is it? I don't know, but maybe it is. It could be. All I know is it is the worst quality chocolate. It is nasty. Me and Julia keep a stash of Hanukkah gelt in our... We thought it was a cute thing to do. Like, oh, we want a little nice snack.

You know, something that reminds us of family and all that. And we took one bite, we're like, hmm. Plastic. Better when we were kids. Yeah, for sure. It's a nostalgic thing for me. I think that's what it is.

And then it's rugelach, and then babka is like a big rugelach, and then challah is like what babka is made out of, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, so like that's the chain of like. I feel that. Yeah, does that make sense? I mean, challah is like That's probably my favorite It's not a Hanukkah specific food

Obviously you eat it on Shabbat I think it's Jew food, yeah But challah to me is like the king of all breads I think so too I think it's my favorite bread It's fantastic So it's just a three-braid challah And the three braids are the

What, three things you gotta do on Shabbat? Oh, is that what it is? Is that what it is, Maggie? You confirm? I know what the three things are I don't know If that is what the three things are I thought that

I was always told that growing up That there was like a message to the three-braided challah. That's really lovely. If it is, the three things that you do is, number one, you make challah. Number two, you light Shabbat candles. Number three, I don't remember the third one. Damn it. My Jewish wife classes were a waste of time. But my single favorite thing to do is just to tear in the challah.

Just tear into one of the braids. Yeah. And then you take that. Hopefully it's got some sesame seeds on the outside. That's my favorite. Oh, like the salt challah? I just like salt. It gets too pretzely.

I want the sweet from the challah. And then I take that and I swipe it through chopped chicken liver. I don't. Chopped liver is my single favorite Jew food. Yeah, y'all have. That exists. That funky funk good stuff. Your folks don't do that?

Not really. Why not? I don't know. What do you do with the liver? Is it the chicken? I don't know. Maybe just fry it? Is it like a koresh? No. No, no. We don't. Any organ meats? Very few organ meats in Persian cooking. You know what it was? The weather was hotter, so you were just able to raise animals without

them dying in the frost. Oh. I think that's what I trace all of Ashkenazi Jewish food back to. It was just like, it was cold. We tried our best. You know what we have to talk about? Latkes and their accompanying dips. Yes.

Okay. I mean, you can't talk about Hanukkah without talking about latkes. It's a potato pancake, as Bobby Flay said in his thing where he made latkes. And he goes, Jews call them latkes. You know, they're potato pancakes. No, Bobby, they're latkes. But latke, potato pancake. Also, you can make it with other root vegetables.

The OG latkes were made with cheese several hundred years ago. Yes, true that. Yes, I found that out recently. What a trip that was. And Persian latkes are called kukusibzamini. Right? You don't know how much joy it brings. Yes, you're right. Buckets.

Nothing brings me more joy than hearing you speak Farsi. You know, it just truly makes me happy to hear a white man speak Farsi. It warms my soul. Khoubi? Ba'al ha-mer, si shamo khoubi? Khoubi. Anyways. Okay, what kind of latkes did you grow?

Well, my latkes were kukusi zamini. You would just take, so instead of shredding the potatoes, we would just like mash them and then add egg. Do you cook them and mash them? You cook them and mash them, yeah. I think so. It's been a long, I haven't, I've never made it. My mom makes it. I don't even attempt it.

I think you cook the potatoes. I think my mom would microwave the potatoes. She would mash the potatoes. She would add egg, salt, and pepper, and then she would like just, you know, flatten them out and fry them up. We used to have leftover mashed potatoes with my divorced dad's house. That was

what we'd do. We'd get like the country crock mashed potatoes and little did we know we were making cuckoo siebzamen. Look at you. But I like the shreddy ones more. Yeah. That's what I grew up on. The ones that look very much like a McDonald's hash brown in a way or like Denny's diner style hash browns. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's the egg and the flour and the grated onion that like really makes a latke oh yeah grated onion there's

a lot of grated onions too um what do you dip it in so there's so there's applesauce there's sour cream there is ketchup which is apparently a very very uh it's point of contention for a lot of people hot sauce love hot sauce and uh what's what's another one that we can just throw in there? Oh, Russian dressing. That's my choice. Russian dressing? And I'll tell you exactly why. Wait, first up.

What? We have to talk about the hot sauce thing because when I went to your house for, was it Yom Kippur? I think so. When I went to your house for Yom Kippur. Oh, no. Yom Kippur is where we don't eat. Oh, sorry. Yeah, Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah. When I went to your house for Rosh Hashanah and we had like, you know, 16 people sitting around the table and it was absolutely beautiful feast. The food was all freaking fantastic. I'll tell my mom you saw that. And then like three bottles of hot sauce started being passed around. Yeah.

And like everyone was just hot saucing the hell out of the food. Can I tell you something? That is David and Idy classic. David has introduced my family. Well, not really my family, but like he has to have like four hot sauces available to him at all times, no matter what he's eating. Doesn't matter if it's sushi, Persian food. I don't know. Any food from anywhere.

Multiple hot sauces that all get passed around. That's a David and Idy original. That's called being part of a diaspora culture. Yeah. Because I was sitting there and like, I don't know if you noticed, you noticed i was one i showed up overdressed which is the only time i've ever been overdressed to anything i showed up with a kippah on with a yarmulke affixed to my head with a hair clip oh my god this guy brought it first of all my house has has yarmulkes because like we just have like a stack of them from, like, events and stuff like that. This guy comes in, clipped to his head, a woven Philadelphia Eagles.

Go, birds! Go, birds! Like a dork. With his shirt. And it's just, like, all. With a tucked in, button-down shirt. So sweet. I was, like, what?

I was trying to impress your parents. It worked. But it was such, like, a beautiful, like, ceremonial meal. We're all reading the prayers. And I was, like, wow, this food is sacred. It's beautiful. And then Dave was, like, hot sauce ceremonial meal we're all reading the prayers and i was like wow this food is sacred it's beautiful and then david's like hot sauce ma i need the hot sauce and i just love that okay lock of dips lock of dips uh what's your dip of choice it's ketchup straight up you haven't wavered from that it's always how did that start for you um i don't know like well first of all persians love ketchup persians put ketchup on their rice persians put

ketchup on their pizza persians puts ketchup on your ketchup Persians love ketchup. Persians put ketchup on their rice. Persians put ketchup on their pizza. Persians put ketchup on their ketchup. Like they love ketchup. They put ketchup on everything. I was never that kid that put ketchup on their rice or ketchup on their pizza. But ketchup on like potatoes? I mean, french fry? Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, hash brown?

I mean, latke? That was the exact reason I, when I was a kid, would dip it in ketchup because I had eaten McDonald's hash browns. I had eaten latkes and I was like, same, same. Same, same, but different, but kid, would dip it in ketchup because I had eaten McDonald's hash browns. I had eaten latkes. And I was like, same, same. Same, same, but different. But same, same. Same, same. And so I would just dip it in ketchup.

But then I was introduced to my birthright joy of applesauce and sour cream. Do you like it? Love it. I cannot eat latkes without. If I want to be a little flitty out there, I'll drop a little bit of horseradish in that sour cream. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That with the sweet applesauce and I put applesauce

and sour cream on each bite of the latke. Ooh. Girl. I guess I just don't like, I don't know, maybe sour cream I get. Maybe, okay,

hear me out. Sour cream with the hot sauce, mixy mixy mix. Yeah. Almost like spicy mayo, which is my favorite. A little bit of chipotle crema? Oh my, no, no chipotle crema.

Too much. Too much Bobby Flay. No, no, no. You just, you take the vinegary-est hot sauce you got in your cabinet and then you put it with the sour cream. Like, that makes sense. I don't like applesauce.

Applesauce? Very Ashkenazi thing. Apples grow in the cold. It was very cold. We did what we could. Also, when apples freeze, you just mash them and they turn into applesauce. And so there it is. Thank you for your justification.

We didn't have the bounty. The Russian dressing thing for me, though, where that comes from. What is, some people might not know what Russian it is. Thank you for your justification. We didn't have the bounty. The Russian dressing thing for me, though, where that comes from. What is, some people might not know what Russian dressing is. Russian dressing is, if Thousand Island is ketchup, mayonnaise, and pickles, Russian dressing is that plus maybe a little bit of beet juice. If you go into the OG recipe, Russian dressing is like chopped bell pepper and onion and Heinz chili sauce, which is a condiment that like barely exists anymore and mayonnaise

I've had it like once or twice yeah like beet juice with sashier but it's basically just a little bit sweeter a little bit less acidic Thousand Island

nice and the reason I put that on latkes is because one of my favorite things to do is get real drunk and then go to

the Jewish deli at 2am Izzy's in Santa Monica was my go to just because it was 24 hours. I have been to Izzy's. You know, do they have the best food? No.

Do they have the nicest servers? Absolutely not. No, Jesus. They are so mean. Yeah. What's it called? Weathered? Yo, they are weather-worn and beaten and tired.

And that said, you can go there and you can get a chopped liver plate with latkes and a Reuben sandwich with a side of Russian dressing. For like $45. Kind of black coffee. Yeah, no, it's an expensive meal.

Yeah, really expensive. Yeah, that's the wildest thing. It's not a cheap place. No, no, no. But that said, you're like going out in Santa Monica. You want to be by the beach. You want to feel nice and cool. And then when you just need to sober up real fast, you go to Izzy's Deli and then you're

dipping latkes and Russian dressing. And that's how I express my faith, Nicole. That's my truth. I'm glad you express your faith in whichever way that you see fit. Why don't we talk about brisket? Brisket. Now, the way that my family makes brisket, you're going to love this. Well, why come brisket is popular?

Huh? Why come brisket popular meat for juice? Do you know why? Yeah. Okay, well, I'm just going to guess. Please guess. You like cook it for a long time and you put it away

and then you come back. You can do that with any meat. You can do that with oxtail. You can do that with... Oh, well, I tried. With shank. No, because in kashrut law or whatever.

Is that the right term? Kashrut? I don't know. Back half of the animal is not kosher. Brisket comes from cow titties. It's essentially the breast of the cow if you really want to look at it. Brisket is a popular kosher meat because it's just the largest muscle

cut in the front half of the animal. Yeah, I totally forgot about that. And then I was talking to my grandma and she was like, yeah, we lived on a farm and we would just chop the animal in half and just like go sell the hindquarters and then save the front half for us. Oh, wow. Wow. That makes sense. Yeah. Like maybe that's why that rule came to be.

Like the back side of the animal was like to like financially like, you know. Could have been. Maybe. That's so interesting. Okay, I love brisket. Oh yeah, I love brisket. Good Jewish brisket. Fantastic. Yeah, but you know what? Our brisket, it has prunes in it. Dude, wait, we put prunes and apricots. I put prunes in my brisket. Yeah, oh wow. I don't know

if I follow a very traditional recipe. My family wasn't great at cooking. I love you grandma. You're never gonna you don't know how to access a podcast. You don't know how to turn on the AM radio in your home. But my family wasn't great cooks, and so I didn't grow up with any, like, great Jewish cooking traditions. There are a couple dishes, but brisket was one that I

thought I hated until I started making myself. And when I did, you know I started putting prunes in there. Yeah, it, like, it, like, really helps improve the flavor. I've seen some recipes that, like, make, like, a barbecue sauce to go with it, but they use like cola. Oh, weird. That's, I mean, obviously a very American addition, which I think is really cool that that happens. I love brisket.

It's like, like there's this Vietnamese dish called titco that is like pork belly that people will stew in 7-Up. Like mixing 7-Up with soy sauce. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the sugar from the 7-Up caramelizes. That's like the same thing, but with the Jewish diaspora Coca-Cola brisket. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you know what?

We never talked about it. Well, I'm still talking about brisket. I'm still talking about brisket. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, dare I. Take it away, Josh. Are there like sort of separations in preparation with like a Persian Jewish brisket?

Like how do y'all cook it? What do you put in on it? That's a great question. My mom doesn't make it all the time. she makes it sometimes whenever she feels like it yeah how my mom cooks um so i would say what she does is we don't use broth we don't use like beef broth in our food like she just makes it herself yeah i mean you're just pouring water in the brisket and letting the brisket exactly yeah like we don't add additional broth to our foods. I actually wouldn't do that.

Like, we don't do that with our, yeah. And then just a real simple seasoning, like salt, pepper. She might add garlic powder if she really wants to. And then she adds, like, a crap ton of, like, prunes and apricots and wine, tomato sauce and stuff like that. And then she just lets it go. That's, like, identical to how I do mine, basically. Oh, good. Good.

I love that the fruit soaking up the beef fat with the tomato. Oh, it's phenomenal. A little bit of sweetness and acid from the wine. Yeah. I really wanted to impress. After Julie and I started dating for like two months, Hanukkah rolls around. And she was like, do you want to come meet my mom? That's quick.

Yeah, it was quick. Yeah, we move fast. That's nice. We love each other. I like it. I like it. You know when you know. But I came over

and I spent like three days preparing this brisket. Wow. You know, I mean like brining it. Wow, you went all out. Oh, fully went all out. Braised it, chilled it, skimmed the fat, strained the liquid, added it back, sliced it while it was cold, put it back in to reheat so we get clean slices off it.

And it was so funny. I went over for Hanukkah and Julia's mom was like shredding potatoes for latkes. And she was like, hey, can you help me figure out this recipe? And she holds like a Xerox copy of handwritten notes. And I'm like, what is this? She's like, this is a recipe. Like my friend Doris and Esther forwarded me from Florida where there's snowbirds. That's lovely.

And the recipe made zero sense whatsoever, which is a great metaphor for Jewish food traditions. Oh yeah. Just being passed in like a Xeroxed copy that you can't read. Yeah. And it'll be like eight potatoes

and like the potatoes she had were these giant like 14 ounce you know oven bakers and I was like yo let's just do this by hand and I felt really great to be able to go in

and just kind of like make latkes by feel. It was one of those few moments where I really felt sort of connected to my heritage in a way. That's wonderful. You know being able to save a recipe just kind of like make latkes by feel. It was one of those few moments where I really felt sort of connected to my heritage in a way. That's wonderful. You know, being able to save a recipe.

Ain't got to look at anything. I made latkes so many times. I love them so much that I can just go in and just feel everything out. That's nice. Taste as you go. When's the last time you lit a Hanukkah candle? Oh, it would have been that. It would have been two years ago.

Julia and I maybe tried to do it last year, and then we're like, well, we're watching all the body swap movies that we can on Netflix, so we're pretty busy with that. But next year... Are you telling me to buy... You want me to buy you Hanukkiah? What? You want me to buy you one of the candle holders? Akiah Sentra? A Hanukkiah?

I've never heard the term Hanukkiah. You have you, Meggy? See, Meggy? What's a Hanukkiah? It's the candle holder for the Hanukkiah. I am divorced from my roots. I was never born midsled. We're going to marry them. We're going to marry them. You're divorced.

Get them back together. Reconciliation. I still don't have a mezuzah on my door. You don't? No, and all the bad spirits are getting in. You don't have one yet? I have to get you one. Okay, don't worry.

I'm going to make some calls. I'm going to make some calls. This is such Jewish mom energy. You don't have a mezuzah. I'm going to make some calls. I'm going to make some calls. This is such Jewish mom energy. You don't have a mezuzah, I'm going to get you one. How do you feel about pickled herring? I don't feel a thing for pickled herring. Neither chicken livers, chop that chop stuff. Nope.

What is it? One time I went to a Jewish restaurant and I saw herring in cream. Yeah, creamed herring, creamed herring, creamed herring. The hell is that? Here's the thing. Going back to Lafayette. All the fish, very small, very small, very small, very small, and so what you gotta do is also a lot of dairy, because cows are fat, you know, they can survive, and so you cream the cows, and then you add that to the pickled herring and the vinegar,

and then you get sour fish swimming in cream. Sour, creamy fish? Yeah. I cannot imagine anything more disgusting than that. What? No, hold anything more disgusting what no hold on hold on hold on you benefit from the ashkenazi preserved fish tradition nicole okay smoked salmon that's you love lock you love locks i heart locks why but if you down with the locks you gotta be down with like smoked sprats and kippered herring okay kippered i like i was kippered like cooked in vinegar i think yeahipperd is fine, but like the cream and the vinegar. Yeah, you got to get down with the cream. Creamed herring is where it's at.

I grew up eating, when you went to my family gatherings, Hanukkah included, because with Hanukkah, we were kind of like, let's throw all the Jewish foods we know at the table. And so there would be at least four different just like mashed gray to beige pastes with various garnishes on, and then you'd eat them on matzah or challah. And it's like my favorite thing still. That's nice. At least you have like some sort of connection. You basically blend the pickled herring into a paste,

and then you add sieved egg on top. Oh, wow. It gets worse. Oh, each word makes it worse. Maggie, did you grow up with any of that? No, man. Maybe it's just my family. Nice.

Okay, we didn't talk about kugel. Kugel. I don't eat, again, this is an Ashkenazi food that I do not necessarily dabble in. Yes, yes, yes. But maybe once or twice. Kugel is bread pudding but with noodles. It's like if bread pudding and mac and cheese kind of had a little baby. Yeah, but you put sugar in it?

They had to do it through a hole in the sheets. Or the doc's joke. the sheets. Orthodox joke. Orthodox joke. There it is. No, it's like egg noodles, cream, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, raisins. Yeah. And then you bake it into a brick. You know how people are like, oh, raisins and potato salad?

Yeah. This is that, but with noodle in your mac and cheese. Do you like it at all? I like Kugel. I do pick out the raisins and potato salad. Yeah. This is that, but with noodle and your mac and cheese. Do you like it at all? I like Kugel. I do pick out the raisins though. I'm going to make a, I'm definitely making a Kugel this year.

Try it. This is absolutely happening for me. Do you put schmaltz in your Kugel or is that not allowed? I don't. We just, we rock the butter.

We kind of take the traditions and then schmaltz though is the best flavored cooking fat. I just don't love super savory Kugels. For me, it's like a very sweet thing. I mean,

it's salty. We have like cottage cheese to it. That's a thing. But dude, just schmaltz fried chicken. Yeah. Okay. Schmaltz, for those that don't know, is Yiddish for chicken fat. Yeah.

And it's- With onion, right? I don't know. I think it would be a broad flavor with onion, yeah. Yeah. Really good cooking oil. Like save your chicken fat. Yeah.

And I mean, one of the best Jew foods out there is Gribenez. I call them Jew-terrones. Yeah. Jewish Cheecherrones. You like Gribbenes. I don't like Gribbenes. You don't like it? Oh, you cook the chicken skin in the chicken fat and you literally get these like double chicken flavored Cheecherrones.

Yeah. And they are so fantastic. Yeah. I'm going to garnish my gefilte fish tacos with Gribbenes. That's going to be the top. That's going to be the crunchy topping. I'm just glad that you get to express yourself with your Jew food. That's what I'm happy about.

Are there any very specific Sephardic, Persian, Jewish, like, traditions with Hanukkah? Not really. I mean, honestly, the latkes are one. The kukusi zamini is one. The gelt. We have gondi, which, again, is like a matzo ball. But instead of matzo meal, we use chickpea flour and a lot of cardamom. Interesting.

Yeah. I've never had it. You've never had gondi? I've never had gondi. It's like chicken noodle soup, except no noodles. And then you put chickpeas in and then you have the balls that float in the liquid. And then you have it with rice and tate, which is a crispy rice. That sounds like a delight. I mean, I really good. I love matzo ball soup because it's a

vegetarian meatball. It's a vegan meatball. It's just a bread ball. So good. Bread ball floating in soup and also just a deep, dark roasted stock with the fresh dill on it. Like to me, that's really a delight. Yeah. And I didn't you know, I've gone to delis and like a lot of food to get a deli. It's not great. Right? Like you can be able to say that. Sometimes, I think, again, like the menu is no longer, it's not curated at a Jewish deli. Yeah, they got everything. They got the kreplach. They got the knishes.

What's kreplach? Kreplach? Never had kreplach. Kreplach is Jewish wontons. You never had kreplach? No. Oh, my God. It's great.

Yeah, it's just these overcooked like Jewish wontons. Meg, you had kreplach? Yeah, it's overcooked Jewish wontons sitting in soup. And they kind of just dissolve in your mouth. Oh, nice. Oh, it's a delight. Yeah, yeah. Like a crab rangoon? No, but like the softest thing you ever had.

But you said it was fried. What? It was fried? No, no, it's in soup. Wait, Maggie, search kreplach. I want to eat kreplach. Yeah. Oh, oh.

Never had it, but boy, does that look good. Yeah, but see the pictures you're seeing, it looks like it's going to have some chew to it because it looks like pasta. But when at the deli, they're not like adding the crepe l'or fresh to the soup. They're sitting in a vat. No, it's just sitting there, yeah. And so it just dissolves in your mouth. It's like if you got wonton soup in a can that was canned about 10, 15 years ago at the factory. That's what crepe l'or is, at least my experience.

Josh, I have one question. Now, this has nothing to do with Hanukkah food, but you're getting a sandwich at the deli. Is it pastrami or is it corned beef? Ooh, this is a controversial opinion. Maybe we should make this a podcast idea. Corned beef versus pastrami? Find out next time on A Corned Beef is a Hot Dog. Jewish food.

Jewish food wars. All right, Nicole, we've heard what you and I have to say. Now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling out there in the Twitterverse. It's time for a segment we call... Opinions are like casseroles! Do you know how to say that in Hebrew? No. I did not. I got kicked out of Hebrew school.

Shalom. That's all I got. Shalom. Shalom. Oh, all right. First up, we got at Cleartaloon314. Hershey's chocolate is disgusting and tastes like vomit and isn't worth the sugar. You should try gelt.

You should try gelt that you've left in your house for two years and you find it in a cabinet and you're like oh this looks good and then you open it and then the like it's like bloomed yeah it's got the like it's got the dust on it yeah it's not dust though that's just like no no it's the cocoa that's the cocoa butter separating from the chocolate no it's the holy dust that you add to the guilt to imbue it with the powers of the maccabees that's what it is and and and and gelt makes Hershey's just taste like the finest Swiss chocolatier. Straight up. It is literally like the American cheese of chocolate,

except it doesn't taste good. So much worse. It's still pretty good, though. I love it. In a pinch, it's still. It reminds me of my childhood, and that's why I love it so much. It's so chewy. It's an interactive food.

Yeah. It's an interactive food. I. It's an interactive food. I like that. Ladybird22233 says, Halloween Oreos are my favorite Oreo. I know they don't seem as regular, but they are different somehow. They're not the same if they're different.

If they're different, they're different. They got the orange in it, and it's fun. It's fun for the kids. I wonder if we blindfolded this person and fed them Oreos, one of them being the Halloween variety, one of them being not the Halloween variety, if they would know the difference. You know what my problem with anyone who does blindfolded taste tests on the internet?

What's that, Josh? You don't eat blindfolded. This site matters. It simply matters. You see the orange, that's fun. We did the Flamin' Hot Cheeto recipe online. Everyone was like, why'd you add the food dye? It would taste the same with that. It's because people

only like it for the food dye. It's bright red. It's fun. It's for fun. Josh loves airing out his grievances on this podcast. Have fun. Cheese and rice. Okay. No, my favorite Oreos are the... Double stuffed! No, no, what's the gross one? It was like pecan pie, caramel brittle, some nonsense. Coconut

caramel? Yeah. Ew, nasty. Oh my god, it tastes like just a whole bottle of suntan lotion. Carrot. Coconut. Coconut caramel. Yeah. Ew. Nasty. Oh, my God. It tastes like just a whole bottle of suntan lotion. Carrot cake was terrible. Ugh. That was a really bad Oreo. Oreo just caused. But I love their fun flavors.

They're out there. They're having fun. They're doing it. The best Oreo is the dark chocolate Oreo. Eh, too much chocolate. Oh, golden Oreos. Golden Oreos. Just give me a bunch of Nilla wafers and a thing of Duncan Hines frosting, and that's

the best cream cookie. LTAB's sorry that's yours lta b says kool-aid should come pre-sweetened huh no um the reason it's not is because it would be a lot more expensive for kool-aid there are products out there that i mean kool-aid does also make a pre-sweetened version they do yeah it's just sold in like much bigger tubs and then that becomes very expensive for them to ship and then you are paying more for that. So if you're buying sugar in bulk, like in the Mythical Kitchen, we have just like a hundred pound tub of sugar that sometimes I just eat.

I just go in there and lick it. I know you don't. I put my tongue directly on the hundred pound bulk of sugar. Shut up! That's really upsetting. Sometimes I like to climb in the flower bins and yell, I'm a dirty boy. That's fine.. Sometimes I like to climb in the flower bins. I'm a dirty boy. That's fine. Just don't like the sugar anymore. They make pre-sweetened Kool-Aid.

It's just way more expensive. And so that's why the packs are so freaking cheap because it's just food dye and flavor chemicals. And then you add your own sugar. I think Kool-Aid should just be as it is. And you can be responsible for your own success and just put your own sugar in. I like Crystal Light. I don't. It's like Kool-Aid for someone who success and just put your own sugar in. I like Crystal Light. I don't. It's like Kool-Aid for someone who went to one Pilates class one time.

Did you ever like Mio? Like, you know those like things that are like, oh, like drinking water is boring. Here's a cool way to drink water. Yeah. Mio is literally Crystal Light thinned out with a little bit of water. Oh, no. I was on the Mio train for a while. But Crystal Light is the best powdered drink mixer.

Hmm. I don't do that stuff. I don't like it. Okay. Adriana Shaw says pizza rolls dipped in sour cream is the only acceptable way to eat pizza rolls. No, I don't know. It's like when people talk about dipping fries in mayonnaise. Both mayonnaise and sour cream are merely incomplete ranch.

That's what it is. Sure. Both are components of ranch, and when you add the other ranch ingredients to both of those, it becomes a better product. Yeah. Latkes. Remember how we were talking about latkes? Latkes and ranch? No.

We didn't say latkes. We didn't say that. I've never done it. You know what we should do? Latkes with the ranch powder on it. Dude, bro. Ranch latkes. I mean, why doesn't anyone just sell seasoned up latkes?

You have the popcorn seasonings. Just make a bunch of latkes seasonings. Yeah. Sounds good. No one would buy. Why? No. Dude, there's going to be a deluge of Jewish hipster food items.

Deluge? We've got to jump into this Russian Jewishish like russian jewish ceviche game where we're making like artisanal kippered herrings with like i don't know like listen listen tinned fish is very in vogue right now i'm not talking about tinning i'm not talking about tinning i'm not talking about tinning i'm talking about like a little ceviche stand at the beach and i'm serving people creamed herring but with like one Bobby Flay ass ingredient in there. This guy wants to sell kippers and cream at the beach in Santa Monica? Yeah, no.

You don't know your guy at all. Ancho chili creamed herring at the beach. Josh, again, normally I love your ideas. Cold fish. Right now I need you to just put a lid on it. You're a lot. When Netflix offered to sell the blockbuster and blockbuster said nah we're the future not netflix and this is your

netflix moment nicole thanks a lot ted sarandos and you susan sarandos wife of ted sarandos no what do we got at okay cowgirl 1421 peanut butter mixed with pancake syrup is better is a better way to have a pb and j what the heck i can't read they like to mix peanut butter pancake syrup hell yeah that's great you know what you've done you've made a better product yeah you've just made maple peanut butter that's great you should sell maple peanut butter yeah that's that's awesome you really sell that uh before we do now it's a race between us and you. I'm making it. Okay. It's either OKC Owl Girl or OK Cowgirl.

Like OK Cupid Owl Girl. Well, no, I don't know if they're from Oklahoma City. Oh. I think they're in Oklahoma City Owl Girl. We are on so many. We are in like different like. Different astral planes right now. You and I are just on two different planets, my guy.

Okay. Tasty Curly Fry says the satisfaction. I'm sorry. Yeah. Tasty Curly Fry says, the satisfaction of eating food is based on how much you've been depriving yourself of pain. Wow. Deep stuff here. Deep stuff. Kind of.

But like, what if you never deprive yourself of anything ever? So this is effectively like a rebuttal to hedonism. Yeah. Yeah. Pleasure delay. Yeah. Edging.

I'm a fan. This is food edging. This is food edging is what it is. And I think it's just smart. I mean I go – I was listening to some like bodybuilder dudes at the gym talk and they were like, I have one cheat meal a week. And I was like, I have one cheat meal every meal. And I think that's a good way to go. You have one austerity meal.

You have one like Greek yogurt, protein, fruit, or one like cabbage and chicken. And then the next meal gets to be like a big old burrito. And to me, that's how I find balance. It's,

it's you depriving yourself of one thing makes the other thing taste better. I've gone through stretches of my entire life where I've just eaten delicious things for every single meal. Yeah. No, it loses its luster. You know, you need to edge. Yeah, you, it loses its luster. Yeah. You know, you need to edge.

Yeah. You do. It gets boring after a while. As long as everything's safe, consenting, and ethical. You ever heard of Too Much Good Stuff? Too Much Good Stuff.

What is that again? A.M.P.M.? Yeah, Tumgus. A.M.P.M., official convenience store of edging. At Lazy.Guppie, the only way to eat raw carrots

is with peanut butter. Wrong. Ranch. Nicole, you're up. Wrong. Lemon juice. You ever dip carrots in lemon juice? No.

What were you doing with carrots earlier, though, Nicole? Do you want to tell the class? Oh, yeah. So I went to one Pilates class, like a big dummy, without any sort of preparation, and then I pulled my groin, so I have to ice it every now and then

and then I didn't want to go to the other kitchen and get ice so I found a bag of sliced carrots and I used that as my ice pack so nobody ate the carrots. Yeah, but then where did you put the carrots? On my groin. No, no, no. After that you put them on the counter where we were all preparing lunch and V goes, oh, we got carrots to eat.

And then I said, no, no. No, he said, no you said no no don't eat my crotch carrots is what you said nary 10 minutes ago you said don't eat my crotch carrots and if you didn't say don't that'd be an HR write up but since you were explicitly

saying not to then I think it's fine I hurt my groin what do you want from me it really doesn't it is tender no I need to reuse it stop talking I hurt my groin. What do you want from me? It really doesn't. Just throw them away then. It is tender. No, I need to reuse it. Stop talking about your tender groin.

Go to the other one. You brought it up. You brought it up. You brought this upon yourself, Josh. Okay. Orto Molina says, apple juice is infinitely superior to orange juice. I don't like juice. What?

What the fruit? You don't like juice. What? What the fruit? You don't like juice? You drink juice all the time, you fraud. You absolute liar. You goon. I don't have that much juice. You drink so you got all the, oh, you get your little creation juice with the turmeric.

Oh, well, yeah. That's like a vegetable juice. Oh, okay. Okay. Keep your story straight. Yeah, I prefer apple juice. Oh, you know what I really like more, though? Cider. Okay. And if it's, you know what they say, if it's brown, you're in cider town. If it's yellow, you got juice there, fella.

I think Bill Oakley wrote that joke for The Simpsons. Josh, I have to ask you a question. Are you okay? Never. Jesus Christ, no. You're making me laugh so much. Honestly, I made a really spicy curry for, like, family meal lunch right before this. You got a P-O-O-. Jesus Christ, no. You're making me laugh so much. Honestly, I made a really spicy curry for like family meal lunch right before this. You got a P-O-O-P?

Yeah, yeah. Okay. And it's just, it's bubbling in the guts. Okay. You want this to be the last one? Yeah, yeah. Real quick. Do you know there's the thing where people have a disorder where they eat food and it

ferments in their gut and makes them drunk? Yeah. Do you ever think that maybe I have that all the time and I'm just an awesome drunk? Yes. Okay. I don't think I've ever seen you like drunk. Oh, speaking of which. Holiday party. Let's do it.

Speaking of which, when it comes to juice, I like to have pineapple juice as like a chaser. Oh, that's nice. I think a little rum and pineapple is nice. I don't like rum. Why do we even talk? Why are we best friends? It doesn't make any sense. You don't like rum. You don't like juice. Oh my god. Why are we best friends? It doesn't make any sense. You don't like rum.

You don't like juice. Oh, my God. Why are we best friends? So many reasons. One of them being this podcast. The only reason being proximity. Circumstance. Circumstance.

Employment agreements that we both signed. All right, one more, one more, one more. Okay, go for it. Andrew R. Horn. Doritos crushed In cooked jasmine rice Is delicious That's called

Tadig baby This is horrific Josh I bet you In a year You're gonna make me Put some sort of chip Under rice

And say Oh make Doritos Tadig Don't say make you If you want to make Dorito Tadig On your own volition You may of course I give you a bitch

On that note Thank you for listening to A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. If you want to hear more from us here in the Mythical Kitchen, we got new episodes for you every Wednesday. If you want to be featured on Opinions Are Like Casseroles, you can hit us up on Twitter at MythicalChef or end Hindi's author with the hashtag OpinionCasseroles.

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