What's the obsession with "dips" for every shab

↑ Cheiny ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:57 pm

amother OP wrote:

In my anecdotal experience, people devour any challah plain if it's good challah. at other houses where dips are served, people seem to take a small amount of the dips in what seems to be politeness to the hostess or take a bunch and leave a bunch on their plate. I don't see a lot of people drenching their challah in dips. seems like the hostesses often spend a lot of time making these dips that are barely touched. that's just my experience, but these aren't scientific facts.

I’ve had the opposite experience. Whenever dips are available I see everyone indulging, even when the challah is delicious…

↑ Cheiny

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:58 pm

DrMom wrote:

I'm with you, OP.

Plain challah is warm and tasty, and doesn't need things smeared on it to be delicious. I can do without.

Also, why do people here call them "dips?" These things are more "spreads" than "dips." Nobody dips their challah into them like you'd dip a tortilla chip into salsa.

That’s not true. Many people pour some on their plate and dip their challah in it.

↑ lamplighter

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:46 pm

I don't personally love them, none of my kids eat them, basically only DH is into it.
So I am not making dips because my family loves dips, I'm making them because we have lots of guests and they enjoy them. People like to come to a meal that has challah and dips, even if they don't like my food there's always challah and dips.
So yes I make dips for others. I don't think that means I'm giving into peer pressure.
My family isn't into cholent either and we make it for guests.

amother

Mulberry ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:48 pm

I'm as Ashkenazi as we come and I think mixing anything with so much mayonnaise is unappetizing and unhealthy. Sefardi salads/dips are actual food. I don't care for challah much and I'm trying to lose weight so I buy 2 dips for shabbos and everyone else eats them. Sautéed eggplant or matbucha. I'll make my own babaganoush with less mayonnaise than the storebought. We don't care for sourdough either. Dips go well on fish anyway. Dill and jalapeño dips are more like salad dressing imo.

amother

Brown ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 4:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

the western palette using common western ingredients.

You mean palate. The roof and rear portion of the mouth cavity, used as a synonym for "taste." (Which makes no sense because the taste buds are on the tongue. Maybe "palate" sounds more elegant.)
A palette is a usually flat board, or pan with wells, on which an artist mixes paints, also used as a synonym for "the range of colors used in a given setting."

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 4:58 pm

amother Brown wrote:

know where I can buy a palate to use as a trendy meat board to accommodate my western palette? Smile

amother

↑ Brunette

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 7:31 pm

amother Mulberry wrote:

I hear you about the mayonnaise but the sefardi dips have a gallon of oil. when we buy from the sefardi appetizing shop in town, the container is half dip, half oil. not much healthier.

both types are delicious. like I said, I love dips. I only eat challah because what to eat the dip with?

amother

↑ Mulberry ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 8:46 pm

amother Brunette wrote:

Yes but you can kind of try to get the oil off a bit. Try separating the olives from the mayonnaise in olive dip or the pickles from the pickle dip.

amother

Lotus ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:15 pm

I completely agree, OP, and with the comment or who said it's making people fat. I think having a "dips" course is so absurd. Perhaps because I didn't grow up frum, I don't think of challah (I.e. bread) as a separate "course," and I think it's really strange frum people have made it that way. In the secular world people don't have bread as an entire separate course. Bread is a side thing. There's a reason why people say "don't fill up on bread" at Italian restaurants. I don't like dips, I don't make dips, and I agree that it's really weird the frum world has decided it's nonnegotiable. Like are you even Jewish if you don't serve dips? Lol.

Tova

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:19 pm

Challah by us isn't a separate course, I bring out fish course right after hamotzei. When it's just us we are not so into it so sometimes I will just make guacamole (we love it on matza actually) and very occasionally buy a small chumus because only 1-2 people will eat it. When we have guests the following is usually put out with the challah/fish course: techina, chumus, guacamole, corn salad, lettuce salad, cherry tomatoes, olives, pickles.

amother

↑ Lotus ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:30 pm

baked ziti wrote:

We love trying different dips because it's fun and they taste good. I have no idea and couldn't care less about what dips my neighbor is buying. It is just not a "status symbol". People are trying to keep up with the Cohen's but it ain't through dips. More like clothing, vacations, fancy simchas.... So there goes that theory.
For those who are concerned about us filling up on challah and it not being so healthy, this is our "shabbos party". Some people buy sticky, food coloring laden nosh. Some people bake up a storm. Some people are "obsessed" with desserts. Some people serve a lot of cold cuts. Some do all of the above. Everyone is entitled to their oneg shabbos, but are dips really that bad?
I really don't get the moral outrage against something as benign as dips. What

Can we also talk about "Shabbos party"? People act like it's in the Torah, like it's an expected requirement of Shabbos. I think it's weird, my kids don't need to learn to have candy and sweets before bed. Overall I don't respect the overstuff yourself with food and junk all day/night Shabbos mentality. It's truly no wonder people complain about being so fat.

amother

Honey

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:33 pm

amother Mulberry wrote:

Yes but you can kind of try to get the oil off a bit. Try separating the olives from the mayonnaise in olive dip or the pickles from the pickle dip.

Not to mention, oil is healthier than mayo.

amother

↑ Mulberry ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:33 pm

amother Lotus wrote:

Why not if it gives kids an extra thing to be excited for shabbos?
I have a special dvar torah book I take out and read a little bit while I dole out the nosh. My 2 yr old knows already that that book means shabbos party, so she takes it out randomly during the week and announces "shabbos party!" Trying her luck.

amother

Cerulean ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:34 pm

amother Lotus wrote:

A few of my boys love dips. I think they got into them in yeshiva... if you call a 5 foot 7 young man who weighs 130 pounds fat... they like challah, they like dips, I buy it for them.

I grew up frum but I didn't either grow up with dips. I grew up with styrofoam bakery challah though Smile

. I think this is a major improvement.

And some of the dips are healthy. I make a tomato dip that is literally tomatoes, garlic and a little bit of olive oil. Chumus is healthy. Matbuchah, olive dip... not great but not terribly unhealthy either. My kids don't go for the mayonnaise-as-a-main-ingredient dip... there ARE healthy dips.

amother

↑ Cerulean

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:36 pm

amother Lotus wrote:

I think Shabbos party is wonderful, this is what Shabbos is about! I don't serve this stuff during the week, only on Shabbos. And my kids are all very thin.

amother

↑ Lotus ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:40 pm

About Shabbos party, I don't know, my children do enjoy Shabbat and I don't do anything extra to make them excited. They go to shul with their father and have playdates and eat lunch, etc. I make one dessert and they can have that until it's gone. But I don't appreciate the tradition of bringing out bags of hard candy, etc. maybe because I'm very thin and prefer to stay that way, and their father needs to lose a lot of weight, I don't bring out tons of challah+dips, all these courses, desserts and then candy.. it seems like too much. Being fat makes my husband completely miserable and he can't control himself around all this food. I don't want to encourage my kids to have this relationship to Shabbat where they sit around and gorge themselves. You get stuck in this cycle of trying to eat well and exercise during the week and then blowing it up on Shabbat.

amother

↑ Lotus

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 9:42 pm

amother Cerulean wrote:

I think Shabbos party is wonderful, this is what Shabbos is about! I don't serve this stuff during the week, only on Shabbos. And my kids are all very thin.

Maybe I'm more paranoid because my husband is fat and I worry the kids will be too. But aside from that, it's one of these things that's expected in frum culture and I don't want my kids expecting it. But it seems impossible to avoid.