S/O Themed shabbos

↑ ShishKabob

Yesterday at 12:56 pm

Shabbos to me is Shabbos and that equals to the foods associated with it. There are so many seforim that bring down the hidden meaning behind many of the shabbos foods. So for our family it's non negotiable. No one even wants to do it another way. We can serve different dips and desserts, but challah, fish, chicken soup, farfle and kugel stay the same.
For Yom tov we have no issue trying out new menus and foods from various different countries and cuisines.

amother

Nasturtium ↓

Yesterday at 1:07 pm

IDK that it's a "thing," but why shouldn't a talented cook who has the desire and the resources do this? Maybe not every week, but now and then, what a nice change of pace! My neighbor used to do themed dinner parties (but on weeknights, so friends from elsewhere could attend). Every year she chose a different country and immersed herself in the cuisine and culture. In some cases she even studied the language. At year's end she gave a dinner party at which she played that country's music in the background, dressed in that country's traditional costume, decorated the house with typical decorations and served an entire meal in that country's cuisine. If they had special utensils like chopsticks or special cookware like a tagine, she somehow acquired and used them, too. It was like a trip to foreign shores without jet lag or passport, and people waited all year for the next one.

Way too much work for me, but if someone wants to do that sort of thing, more power to her! She's not asking you to follow suit.

I'll never understand the pervasive Imamother herd mentality. G-d gave us a rainbow of interests and talents, so that our human "garden" can be varied and interesting. Even a garden dedicated entirely to roses features roses of different colors, sizes, fragrances and growth patterns. One filled solely with row after row of long-stemmed red American Beauties would be boring, indeed.

amother

Fuchsia

Yesterday at 4:00 pm

I'll make a different palate eg Thai style soup and main, or other taste palates. I don't xall it a theme. That ima wasn't, she was just saying she doesn't do dips. I didn't grow up with dips. They are v time consuming to make and expensive to buy.

We have soup immediately after making motzei, we don't do a whole course of challah and empty calories.

If I do dips it will be part of a salmon based mezze meal with different types of flatbreads.

Anon bec I still want my kids to get into mainstream schools even if I don't do "dips"

Is this the next shidduch question?
Do the family do dips?
Or cvs have different types of foods on shabbos? Banging head

amother

Grape ↓

Yesterday at 11:00 pm

I'm the OP of the other thread. by "theme," I just mean cuisine -- there's no pinatas or marriachi bands for mexican shabbat, no belly dancers for moroccan shabbat, nobody's required to wear togas for greek shabbat, nobody's required to sit on the floor for japanese shabbat, nobody's required to eat with their hands for african shabbat, etc.

I'm honestly not sure why the concept of making the cuisine of a particular country or region is so hard to understand.

I guess some people really do live in very traditional bubbles (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I honestly can't imagine how someone could have never been to a shabbos table with someone serving mexican or asian or italian food. I guess it's like how these people in very traditional bubbles can't imagine someone ever having a shabbos dinner without gefilte fish.

and as someone mentioned, a number of campus chabads do themed meals.

amother

↑ Nasturtium

Today at 6:42 am

About 25 years ago, a very nice entrepreneur, sick and tired of tasteless traditional Ashkenazi kosher airline meals, ran a pilot program (sorry for the pun) with Delta airlines, serving an array of international foods and including with each meal a card for providing reaction to the meals. Most were highly positive. One made me burst out laughing, though. This curmudgeon's sole comment was, "Jews don't eat this kind of food."

Yes, they do.

icedcoffee

Today at 7:17 am

You're clearly not asking these questions in good faith (seriously, you earnestly think there's a real rule about requiring matching cups or only doing one country a year? Rolling Eyes

) and not sure why you needed to anonymously start a thread posing questions in this way. I didn't think there was anything unclear about what the other OP was saying, and sure, I do "themes" in the way she's describing it.

amother

Starflower

Today at 7:23 am

amother Copper wrote:

At some point you cook what your kids will eat.

This is me, sadly.

The first year of our marriage my husband and I used to do themed shabbosim. It was loads of fun. I was new to cooking and enjoyed experimenting. One theme that really stood out was our Russian shabbos.

Now our shabbosim are full of very predictable guy foods (4 teen/tween boys): hot poppers, BBQ wings, beef jerky, pulled beef tacos....

amother

Amber

Today at 7:32 am

I actually live the idea of trying out different flavor combinations and Shabbos seems a perfect time to try them since I wouldn't cook most types fancy meat on weekdays.

Also, where I live, there's a place that does Shabbos takeout and every week is another country. Havent tried them but it looks amazing!

↑ Ruchel

Today at 7:50 am

amother Nasturtium wrote:

So this is why we have this horrible tasteless humus?

amother

Marigold ↓

Today at 8:38 am

amother Grape wrote:

I'm honestly not sure why the concept of making the cuisine of a particular country or region is so hard to understand.

Its not hard to understand but you accused people that make dips of being 'obsessed', naturally people are going to wonder how your menu compares.

amother

DarkMagenta

Today at 8:46 am

amother Grape wrote:

I'm honestly not sure why the concept of making the cuisine of a particular country or region is so hard to understand.

If this is an honest question, I'll answer it honestly.

For us, Shabbos IS the theme. The food revolves around traditional Shabbos food not because we are stodgy and old fashioned but because that is the theme of the day. If I want to try cuisine of a country, that's for chol hamoed or rosh chodesh or just any day of the week. On Shabbos, the only theme is Shabbos.

I have no issue with other people choosing whatever theme they want to choose. The way we do it is not less. It's not because we're unimaginative, it's because Shabbos feels Shabbosdik with traditional Shabbos themed food. The same way if you were doing French food, it would feel French if you have baguettes but challa would feel out of place, on Shabbos it feels Shabbos if you have challa and baguettes feel out of place. (just an example but you get the idea.)

(In case you were wondering, no I don't do dips/salatim or whatever else you call them. I don't actually have mayonnaise in the house. We tend to the healthier side. But if that is what makes Shabbos feel Shabbosdik for someone else, let them enjoy it!)

amother

↑ Grape ↓

Today at 8:55 am

amother Marigold wrote:

Its not hard to understand but you accused people that make dips of being 'obsessed', naturally people are going to wonder how your menu compares.

OP wasn't genuinely asking what I serve. She was cynically and sarcastically mocking the concept.

amother DarkMagenta wrote:

People can disagree with other peoples' desire to serve ethnic cuisine for shabbos (I'm not here to debate that; "to each his own" as they say), but I submit that nobody actually doesn't understand it the mocking way that OP presented it.

amother

↑ Marigold

Today at 9:04 am

amother Grape wrote:

People in glass houses and all that...

amother

Darkblue

Today at 10:27 am

amother Grape wrote:

I guess some people really do live in very traditional bubbles (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I honestly can't imagine how someone could have never been to a shabbos table with someone serving mexican or asian or italian food. I guess it's like how these people in very traditional bubbles can't imagine someone ever having a shabbos dinner without gefilte fish.

and as someone mentioned, a number of campus chabads do themed meals.

"Some people do live in a very traditional bubble" sounds condescending and mocking, and saying "not that there's anything wrong with that" in the next breath, is like tacking on a "no offense" after insulting someone.

I don't live in a bubble, thank you very much. I know exactly what's going on in the world and what kind of food is trending today. But I choose to serve foods on Shabbos that my kids love and that is befitting of a Shabbos meal and not a weekday dinner or party. As a poster mentioned upthread, there is a deep significance to the foods we serve on Shabbos, (not talking about gefilte fish) and I don't think it's something to be taken lightly. I also think it's beneficial for kids to have their Shabbos foods that they look forward to and love instead of being surprised by the menu each week.

amother

↑ Grape ↓

Today at 10:42 am

amother Darkblue wrote:

I genuinely meant nothing condescending and mocking. There's a HUGE range of frum Jews in the US/world and on this site, and I don't see how you'd deny that some frum Jews are very exposed to the outside world and others are in a very traditional and insular bubble and have limited exposure to the outside world -- let alone other frum Jews who aren't like them. There are pros and cons to each. I wish I lived in a bubble such that I didn't know who Taylor Swift was.