By Danny Bloom
CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Taiwan is full of vegetarian restaurants
catering to those who follow Buddhist beliefs as well as for those who
just enjoy eating healthy foods. Not a complete vegan myself, I
nevertheless stop by the vegetarian shops here once a week or so for a
good hearty non-meat meal.
Now from California comes a Jewish cookbook that weaves some good stories and recipes
for readers worldwide. Justice in the Kitchen is a community
cookbook written by a group of writers and edited by Dan Brook. There’s
a foreword by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, too.
But it’s much more than a mere cookbook. Not only is it chock full of
delicious vegetarian recipes, it’s also got some fascinating stories
and useful resources inside as well. Thinking of becoming a
vegetarian? This book’s for you or someone you love.
While I am not yet a fulltime vegan, I do like the idea of eating less
meat, and I am getting better and better at it. I remember reading
once that the great novelist Isaac Bashevis Singer was a lifelong
vegan, and in one of his many interviews he explained that it all
began back in Poland when he witnessed as a 10-year-old boy the cruel
way that chickens were slaughtered near his home.
I reached out across the Internet to chat with Brook about the book he
edited, and he was gracious enough to agree to a brief interview for
the San Diego Jewish World.
Brook has himself been a vegetarian (”’vegan leaning,” that is)
since he volunteered on Kibbutz Sa’ar in Israel in 1983, he said,
noting that while there he worked in the kibbutz chicken coop for one
day. That was enough.
“I never went back — either to the chicken coop or eating meat again,” he said.
When I asked what kind of stories are in the book, Brook told me:
“Among the many writers contributing to the volume, Ruth Maginnis
tells a story about her mother Fera Esfir (Esther) Levin May, who was
born in a Russian town in Chinese Manchuria long ago and later came to
California.”
“And in another part of the book, Charlie Varon tells of getting a
special borscht recipe from a friend in Tel Aviv,” Brook said. “It’s a
vegetarain cookbook and story book all in one.”
When I asked Brook what his favorite recipe in the book is, he
replied: “The Vegan Chocolate Truffles are surprisingly simple and
easy to make, and also healthy, yet are so delicious that people have
been known to beg for more. It’s almost embarrassing.”
Justice in the Kitchen was created with the San Francisco Reconstructionist Or Shalom Jewish
Community in mind, editor Brook told me, adding: “It’s really
appropriate for anyone, and Jews and vegetarians will especially
appreciate it. And all the proceeds go to Or Shalom Jewish Community
and its programs.”
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Bloom is Taiwan bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World as well as an inveterate web surfer. He may be contacted via dan.bloom@sdjewishworld.com