Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge St. between Canal & Division Sts.
Tuesday, July 14, $10, 7:00
212-219-0888
www.eldridgestreet.org
knish.me
I grew up on knishes. When I was a kid, my father would regularly bring home a big cardboard box of Gabila’s square delights, as their fleet of trucks was serviced by our family tire and auto repair shop on Utica Ave. in Brooklyn and Larry would always give a dozen to my father whenever they came in. So I’m particularly looking forward to July 14, when native New Yorker and food journalist Laura Silver will give a talk at the Eldridge St. Synagogue about her book Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food (Brandeis, May 2014, $24.95). “More than latkes, matzoh, or the apple-and-walnut charoset that crowned the seder plate, knishes were my family’s religion. For knishes, we went on pilgrimages,” Silver writes in the first chapter, “Au Revoir, Mrs. Stahl’s: Brighton Beach to the Lower East Side.” She continues her exploration of the “pillow of filling tucked into a skin of dough” in such chapters as “In Search of the First Knish: From the Holy Land to the Old Country,” “Mrs. Goldberg to Gangsta Rap: The Knish in Culture,” and, most important, “Where to Get a Good Knish,” Silver details the history of the doughy delicacy, which can be stuffed with potato, cheese, kasha, mushrooms, spinach, fruit, and rather unusual mixtures in this experimental gourmand time. Attendees will also get a sample from one of our favorite knisheries, Yonah Schimmel (or is it Yonah Shimmel?), where we often go for the delectable chocolate and cheese version.