chong

After WWII, photographer Joe Rosenthal (photographer of the Iwo Jima Marines Flag raising fame) was invited to a dinner hosted by Premier Jiao En Lai in China; where the main course was roast suckling pig. While seated next to Jiao En Lai, the Premier offered to J. Rosenthal the main dish and Mr. Rosenthal respectfully declined, explaining that as a practicing Jew, he was forbidden to eat pork. The Premier explained that he appreciated that restriction. But he explained further that while in America, the dish before them might be considered as pork, in China, it was considered as fish. Mr. Rosenthal had no choice but to partake in the delicacy, but was however concerned that his ancestors might be rolling in their graves as he was enjoying the new found fare.

I have had “traditional” Jewish couples and/or families enjoy pork dishes in my parties at home or the office. After finding out that some of the dishes we served contained pork, they had inquired if there was another meat that they could substitute for the recipes. I suggested lamb for the dishes that were devoid of tomatoes. And beef or goat meat for dishes with tomatoes. And we have a killer stew that is actually traditionally made with goat meat, but you can substitute beef for it. My wife doesn’t eat goat meat, but she makes a few “to die for” goat meat meals.

For Sandy's recipe, I would suggest lamb instead of beef. If you would rather have beef, I can suggest chuck roast or short ribs, since these cuts have a greater amount of fat than any other.

There are quite a few Philippine entrees and pastries that require lining the pots or "oven" with banana leaves, because "Teflon" was only invented in the mid-60s. Banana leaves were used extensively to line the cooking utensils before Teflon. Also, before the Americans came, we didn't use ovens, so most of our pastries were cooked in above stove pans, or pans that had heat from below, and a charcoal pan above. To this day, cooking in the countryside, banana leaves are still used to line pots and pans for many dishes in the Philippines. Even for just cooking rice in many areas. For a treat, lining the pot with lemon grass is used in lieu of banana leaves. We use banana leaves to cook certain fish dishes, even now (here in the USA). The leaves are used to keep the fish from burning on the side exposed to the pan or pot bottom.