Jewish Food Fair

I attended the Temple Emanu-El Food Fair on March 7. This is a Jewish Synagogue, a culture and belief system I have always had an interest in. I went into this event with several pre-conceived notions regarding the Jewish faith and food. The easiest notion to explain is that I have always thought of Jewish food as abundant and rich, both proved correct. We decided to try the Noodle Kugel and Quajado. Each is considered a side dish, however, between both of these, we could not have eaten another bite. Full plates were offered with meats, side dishes, and breads. We witnessed such a plate, you know the “go boxes” from restaurants? The big ones? The top could not fully close, and food was dripping out of the sides! The meats consisted of Corned Beef, Chicken, and Roasted Brisket. Ok back to the food we did eat. The Noodle Kugel is a type of pasta pudding. It looked like lasagna, layered noodles with a sweet sauce and crumb topping. The Quajado is a spinach, pasta, three cheese quiche type casserole, without the pie crust. Both were very good and very filling. Two people could have easily shared one full plate. Another thought I have always had about the Jewish population is that they were very reserved, almost to the point of unfriendly. This was disproven, however, I do realize they were selling their product but after all, they did open their facility to tours, something that was not necessary to have the fair. The tour was given by their Rabbi, who explained some of the Jewish beliefs and answered as many questions as time permitted. We were allowed to see the Torah, their chapel and their sanctuary. The Rabbi invited each one to “Jewish classes” he will hold in the Fall and made everyone feel comfortable. The foods servers were extremely friendly and hostesses were about checking to make sure nothing was needed. I was pleased to see several ethnic groups in attendance, including Middle Eastern. I hope to attend the classes in the Fall and continue to dispel the negative stereotypes I have held regarding the Jews.