Comments on: Why I Eat the Other White Meat

By: yaakov

yaakov — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:23:46 +0000

Good piece, and agree it is hard to enjoy all the epicurian delights of Italy without eating pork…my real temptation is more state-side: BLT’s.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:33:50 +0000

I noticed the prevalence of pork in Italy too while studying in Rome…didn’t make much difference to me as I’ve never really avoided it. But Italy does have quite a few Jews and there are vibrant communities in several cities, and if you did want to keep kosher, it wouldn’t be so hard. I was lucky enough to live next to the old Jewish ghetto in Rome, which is still home to many Jews and has several kosher restaurants, butchers, bakeries, even a kosher “fast food” joint. The Italian Jews have a unique and very delicious style of cuisine as well, definitely worth a try even if you don’t keep kosher (although you’ll probably want to avoid the kosher wine if you don’t have to drink it).

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:05:13 +0000

When I was growing up my dad would frequently make pork-chops. I didn’t like pork chops… so I would use the excuse that pork was a no-no so I could avoid eating the chops.

But then, I discovered ribs, and bacon… and the jig was, as they say, up.

PS. I also like cheeseburgers.

By: Ruvym

Ruvym — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:27:20 +0000

Teddy, didn’t you partake of the “special burger” at Father’s Office? Or is that just my imagination? And that’s the nonsense about them not having ketchup. Still not over that.

By: Teddy

Teddy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:59:21 +0000

Food is one of those things that people have irrational habits about. My sister LOVES bowls of cereal, but she cannot drink a glass of milk by itself. My mom has an insatiable sweet-tooth and loves pancakes, but she HATES syrup. (Who hates syrup???) I feel like pork has become the poster-child for non-kosher food. Pork is just as not kosher as shellfish, as meat and cheese lasagne, or as ostrich for that matter. But Jews–even not so observant ones–have this weird thing about pork. PORK IS EVIL. “I eat shrimp, sure, but pork??? No way.” I’m guilty of it too, I’ll admit. Something about the name even–PORK. I dunno, I like to think of kashrut (keeping kosher) as reality check in this world of 24-hour drive-through supermarkets and whatnot. I like to think about what I put into my body, and having clearly defined borders of what I can and cannot eat helps me keep that in check. Without it, I would just eat like a pig…

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:00:29 +0000

It’s very hard to keep kosher while abroad! I was in China in 2006, and in a lot of the villages I went to, they put pork in everything! I spent weeks eating only soy sauce, rice, and bok choy. But a lot of these Chinese people had never met someone who kept kosher before, so it was really cool to explain what it means and what it’s like!

By: Ruvym

Ruvym — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:10:12 +0000

I have been known to dabble in the occasional bacon slice, but only when someone else orders it. And once, at a New Year party, I partook of well-roasted ham. I should also mention that in summer camp after 10th grade, a close friend of mine didn’t know that ham, pork, and bacon all came from the same animal. Now that’s sad.