Author Q&A

What began as a family project has grown into a phenomenon: Judy Bart Kancigor set out in 1996 to preserve her many relatives' recipes for her (then unborn) grandchildren. Her first grandson, Jason, was about to enter the world, and her elderly aunts were each struggling with the various troubles of aging. It was clear that if she wanted future generations of her family to know who their ancestors were, they'd need someone to tell them, so Judy took it upon herself to act as a conduit for that self-knowledge. What better place to study family history than in the kitchen? Judy sent letters to her family soliciting their recipes and received them in droves. The first incarnation of her family cookbook, the self-published Melting Pot Memories, took on a life of its own. An initial printing of 500 copies sold out in six weeks, so Judy printed another thousand. Today, over 11,000 copies of Melting Pot Memories have found their ways into the homes, lives, and hearts of family cooks.

Judy's most recent collection, Cooking Jewish, continues along the same deliciously intimate path. Fattened up with over 600 pages of family (and extended family, and even some family friend) recipes, the book encompasses an enormous range of Jewish dishes, as well as some adopted flavors: Chicken Kiev is featured within pages of Chicken Biryani. Much more than a cookbook, Cooking Jewish is a beautifully written testimony to the importance of family, the universality of the immigrant experience, and the delight that comes from sharing food made with love and preserved for generations. The anecdotes and photographs that accompany each recipe will have you laughing out loud, and before you know it, you'll feel like an honorary member of the "Rabinowitz Family."

Always ready to dish, Judy recently answered some of our questions about her cookbooks, recipes, and family. Enjoy!

You were inspired to compile this extraordinary collection of recipes at a crucial family milestone: The older generation--represented by your four aunts--was, as you put it, "leaving," while your first grandchild was on his way. Why was it so important to you that your family recipes be preserved and passed on? What does our food tell us about who we are?
I grew up surrounded by the love, warmth and delicious food of my large family. We lived in a two-story house with my grandparents right upstairs. Their place was the hub of the family, and I grew up listening to the stories. I wanted my grandchildren to know their history, hear the stories and taste the incredible food. We had left New York for California in 1971. My children have only rarely seen my large extended family. My grandchildren don’t even know most of them. I wanted to preserve the recipes and stories for them before they were lost forever. By giving them my grandmother’s challah and Aunt Sally’s jam cookies I keep their memories alive.

Though it's filled with a whopping 532 recipes, "Cooking Jewish" is much more than a cookbook. It's a very personal, intimate family history, told through food, anecdotes, and photographs. Why do you think people who have no relation to you are interested in "joining" the mishpuchah? In other words, why do you think "Melting Pot Memories" and "Cooking Jewish" have been so sought after outside of your own family circle?
The immigrant story is universal. Everyone can relate to families – the celebrations, the struggles, the characters, the tumult, the laughter, and the great food. And where do families always congregate – in the kitchen, of course! People tell me they see their own family’s story in these vignettes. And who wouldn’t relate to the humor. Our family saga seems to have tapped into people’s curiosity about their own family’s history, and I’m thrilled when they tell me they can identify.

One of the good things about life in the Jewish diaspora is the outside culinary influences we've picked up and integrated along the way. Gil Marks, whom you acknowledge as a friend and influence, has scoured the globe collecting international Jewish recipes. Though primarily a Jewish cookbook, the recipes in your collection reflect the influence of other cultures, with flavors ranging from China to Italy. What are your favorite "foreign" flavors and cuisines?
Let me tell you first why there is such a wide range. Over 300 family members – in-laws of in-laws - contributed recipes and stories, so the book is a reflection of their varied backgrounds and preferences. I asked people for their signature recipes; they gave me not only the recipes they grew up on, wherever that was and from whichever ‘tribe,” but also recipes they gathered from all sorts of sources, from an Italian neighbor to a gourmet cooking class. The Rabinowitzes are Ashkenazim, and “Cooking Jewish” reflects Eastern European cuisine. I grew up on brisket and kasha and knishes and knaidlach, so although I’ve never lost my taste for them, these are very familiar. But Sephardic flavors are exotic to me. I love the spices – cumin is my favorite! I could bathe in cilantro. I adore the Moroccan Spicy Apricot Lamb Shanks, which my daughter-in-law Tracey has adopted for holiday dinners. I never even tasted borekas until I learned to make them for this cookbook from a Syrian cookbook author.

You set out on a quest to preserve your family's history and traditions, and ended up stumbling into a whole new career. How has your initial impulse to compile family recipes changed your life, and what have you learned along the way?
I was a court reporter for 24 years, not really loving what I was doing. My job was to sit in a corner quietly tapping on a machine and give people back their own words…with no input from me. My parents were entertainers, and we were always in the limelight. My brother and I grew up playing with the microphones and entertaining guests. Both books have enabled me to draw on that background as I speak before various groups, talking about our family saga and the importance of preserving memories. It is unbelievable to me how the “impulse” you mention to memorialize my family history and cuisine has led to a whole new career at this stage of my life. And just about every step in this journey was unplanned. My self-published cookbook took on a life of its own, and I just followed where it led me. I learned if you put your heart and soul into something you truly love and are committed to and then put it out there, people will be touched, and who knows what can happen next. It’s exciting!

How do you think Jewish cuisine has changed since your mom and aunts first started cooking?
When my aunts and my mother would entertain, they always made the same dishes, even for each other. When we entertain today, we like to surprise our guests with something new. There was none of that. There was comfort and familiarity in always expecting Aunt Estelle to bring the gefilte fish and Aunt Irene the sweetbreads and Aunt Sally the kreplach in marinara sauce. When women of that era exchanged recipes, they always appended the work “enjoy.” No one apologized for the fat and sugar content. We never heard the term “guilty pleasure.” Food was freely given with love. Today’s Jewish cooks do what cooks everywhere are doing: streamlining the recipes, cutting the fat, making them healthy. No complaints from me about that! Yet, as a nation we’re fatter than we ever were, so what does that tell you? Maybe Aunt Sally was right. She always said it’s better to have even just a taste of the real thing.

If you had to choose just one dish to introduce someone to Jewish cuisine, what would it be and why?
Boy, that’s like asking me to choose my favorite grandchild. Funny thing is, there really is no such thing as “Jewish cuisine,” because very few “Jewish” dishes were originally created by Jews. I guess I would have to pick my mother’s unbelievably flavorful chicken soup. She packs the whole produce department into that brew! And I’d serve it with my Shiitake Mushroom Matzoh Balls, as if I were saying, “Here is a dish of a dispersed, adaptable people who have survived by absorbing the cuisine of whatever country they happen to live in and making it their own, who are committed to passing on their traditions to their children, who continually seek creative new ways to keep these traditions alive, and who give it with love.”

What are you working on these days? Can we expect more cookbooks from you in the future?
After four and a half years of recipe testing and writing the book, I’m having a blast touring the country and spreading the word about “Cooking Jewish.” I’ve even reacquainted myself with my friends! I continue to work on my newspaper stories and columns and do have a few ideas for a future work, but as I said in a prior answer, I’m just following where this whole adventure is leading me. It seems to be working so far!

David Sax is a man on a mission. His goal? To save the Jewish delicatessen from extinction. His tools? A website called Save the Deli, and a forthcoming book due out in the fall of 2008. He's road-tripped across America, visiting and writing about the last of the traditional delis, and ingesting several hundred pounds of meat along the way. Tonight he leaves for Poland to explore the land from which deli sprang. Before departing, he found a few moments to tell us why he's fighting for the future of deli.

Why is the institution of the Jewish delicatessen endangered, and what is causing its slow extinction?
There are a lot of different factors eating away at the delicatessen: Rents have risen as have the costs of doing business and finding products. Tongue is so expensive now, that many delis refuse to carry it. They’re being squeezed out by their own menus.

Sprawl and suburbanization have reduced the number of delis in an area. Where once city neighborhoods had a few dozen in a square mile, you now have one per dozen square miles...in a shopping plaza, next to a Cheesecake factory.

Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe is a thing of the past. The people who made this food, and ate it habitually are a dying generation. Not so with other cultures. As long as China exists, there will be Chinese restaurants.

Obsession over fat and health has given the deli a bad rap, even though there’s more fat in a tuna sandwich than a corned beef one. And god help you if you order it lean. I will personally track you down and kick your ass.

Finally, the families who run these places move on, or sell the business, which usually spells disaster for the food.

How and when did you become passionate about the preservation of the traditional, Jewish deli?
I've always loved deli, especially the most traditional ones. When I was a kid, my father would take my brother and I to the old places in Montreal and I'd just soak it up. But over the years, I noticed more and more of those places closing, here in Toronto, or in Montreal, or elsewhere. ON my second ever trip to New York, two friends and I walked fifty blocks to eat at Wolff's, on 57th st. When we finally got there, we beheld an empty store and our hearts just dropped to the pavement. By the time I reached university it was a pet obsession of mine, which a friend and I turned into a term paper for a Jewish sociology class. That gave birth to the idea for the book, which led to the creation of the website, which led to several hundred pounds of meat that I've ingested in the past year. Oddly enough, I've actually lost weight.

I wrote the book proposal in 2006, and got the book deal shortly after. I started the site in February 2007, the day I left for a cross country deli road trip.

You've traveled the world in search of remaining delis, which you've documented on your blog and in your forthcoming book. What were your top three favorites?
I don’t play favorites...it’ll get me in trouble. But for purists, you can’t get any better than a hand cut sandwich. For hand cut, the three everyone must visit are Katz’s in New York (the quintessential New York delicatessen), Langer’s in Los Angeles (home to the finest pastrami in any land), and Schwartz’s in Montreal (a temple of Montreal smoked meat...pastrami’s badass cousin).

Why do you view the Jewish delicatessen as such an important cultural institution? What are we losing as their numbers decline? What do you think it tells us about ourselves as a people?
The Jewish delicatessen is the last culinary linkage to the Ashkenazi past. Think of it as an edible archive or library for the kitchens of a world that was decimated and burned to the ground (quite literally). When we eat in a deli, we reconnect to our roots, and honor those who came before us. Some people say it is a great immersion in nostalgia, but I think it’s more than that. These are family owned restaurants, for the large part, in a society where the corporate menu is everywhere. The food there is real...home made...and very fresh. It’s a style of eating that’s always informal and fun. Have you ever had a bad time in a deli? Does anyone ever cry in a deli? Not that I’ve seen. Eating in delis, whether in New York or LA or in London, is a unique experience. No other restaurant replicates that feeling, and believe me, many have tried. As delis close, we are not only losing the chance to eat this disappearing food (a perfectly steamed corned beef sandwich is an otherworldly pleasure), but also an environment of Jewish/American humor and atmosphere that has contributed so much to this society.

So what does this say about us as a people? I think it speaks both to our desire to fit in, built by millennia of oppression, but also of a slight disregard for the past. When I go to a Jewish wedding and it’s sushi and Thai spring rolls and more of that wretched Chilean sea bass with the limp vegetables, I always wonder how we can be so Jewish in the mind and in the soul, but in the stomach we’re completely assimilated. It saddens me.

How and where did Jewish deli culture actually originate?
The foods came from the Ashkenazi world; Poland, Russia, Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine, having evolved over centuries by constantly exiled communities ping-ponging around Central and Eastern Europe. They took dishes with them, adopted local flavors and foods, made them kosher, and then got expelled into the next territory. So when they came to America in the late 19th century, there was this fusion-like mish mosh of foods from all over the continent. It collided in the Lower East Side, and quickly evolved from home cooked meals, to pushcart treats, to take away shops, and finally to the sit down delis that we know today.

If you could only have one traditional, Jewish deli menu item for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Matzo ball soup. I love sandwiches, but can only eat so much of them. Matzo ball soup however is limitless in its capacity to satisfy me. I could eat a bathtub full.

Why are you headed to Poland tonight?
To see what remains, if anything, of the land where deli sprang from. Interestingly, there’s been a tremendous revival of Jewish culture in Krakow (where I’m headed), including klezmer music, literature, and Jewish foods. Even though very few Jews live there, young gentile Poles are eagerly eating Jewish foods. It’s weird, and rather unsettling in a way. Some of these restaurants just serve pork and say it’s traditional Jewish food. Some supposedly have big nosed Jew statues out front. Part of it will be Borat, but I also hope to discover some genuine traces of Jewish culinary culture. If Jewish food can be reborn in the land where it was purged, there’s hope for us all.

Previous Pickled Q&As
Katie of Don't Eat off the Sidewalk
Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet
Vegan Cookbook Guru Sarah Kramer

Meet Katie, the creator of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk, a vegan zine and counterpart website that has taken the cooking world by storm. Full of "simple recipes for complicated vegans," DEOTS is a testament to the creativity, community, and cuisine that exists both online and off in the world of DIY vegan cooking. The first issue--which was championed by Isa of the PPK, and of which over 400 copies were printed--quickly sold out, and now Katie is putting the finishing touches on her second, holiday-themed installment, as well as making plans for a very special third issue.

What inspired you to create your zine, "Don't Eat off the Sidewalk"? Did you have any previous zine or chapbook publishing experience? Why did you choose that format, rather than shopping your recipes around to potential book publishers? And of course, how'd you come up with the name?
My New Years resolution for 2007 had been to make a DIY cookbook for my friends and family as Christmas gifts. Eventually it occurred to me that other people might be interested in it, so I decided to do a zine. I had never done one before, so I ordered a copy of Stolen Sharpie and did some homework.

I honestly feel that my recipes and cooking style are more fitting for a DIY format. I can be loose in my recipe instructions, I can cuss, and I can do themes! Themes are fun.

I was trying to think up a name, and the song "Don't Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk" by The Cramps came up on my playlist.

How long have you been vegan, and why did you choose this lifestyle?
I have been vegan since July of 2006, but i've been a vegetarian since 1993. My transition was very gradual. I started drinking soy milk and limiting my dairy intake in general. Then I stopped buying eggs because I never ate them all, and I dabbled in vegan baking. I started considering veganism because I didn't feel right anymore, I was feeling guilty about consuming animal products at all. I hopped online to do some research, and discovered The Post Punk Kitchen. I bought Vegan With A Vengeance, joined the message boards, and was vegan within a week. Everyone there is so nice and they made it seem so easy, and it was! I've never doubted my decision.

From what I've been able to glean, your husband isn't vegan. Does that create any conflicts, and do you have any culinary-inspired advice for other couples?
No, he's not vegan. Sometimes it creates problems, but most of the time he is very respectful. We have a compromise, our household is vegetarian (no meat), but he keeps cheese and pudding around. I do most of the shopping, but sometimes he'll come home and say something like, "I got barbecue sauce, and I checked the ingredients to make sure that you could eat it." The fact that he likes a lot of vegan foods really helps. He loves seitan, I have a picture of him stuffing a whole chunk in his mouth straight out of the pot. Unfortunately, he hates vegetables. So a lot of the time I'll make something simple, like tofu with rice and sauce, and then I'll cook the vegetables on the side for me. Or we'll make vegetarian tacos and he'll add cheese to his at the end. Then there are times that I tell him that I'm going to make something he won't like, like lasagna, and he'll eat a tofurkey sandwich for dinner.

My advice would be to find a middle ground. If you try to force your non-vegan partner to be vegan, it's just going to cause tension, and relationships have enough of that. That doesn't mean that you have to cook them steak for dinner, either. It's all about respect. And keeping around lots of vegan cookies to stuff in their mouths if they start complaining.

What kind of food did you grow up eating?
Ha, my parents were terrible cooks. I grew up eating things like frozen salisbury steak and Hamburger Helper. One time, I got grounded because I wouldn't eat a mustard sandwich. Everything was overcooked, the meat and the vegetables. When I hit junior high, my mother stopped cooking dinner and I ate microwave meals most of the time. The upside is that I really appreciate fresh foods now. The downside is that when I started learning how to cook, I had no foundation to start with.

What cuisines, geographical regions, or flavors most inspire your cooking?
I'm from the Midwest, "the breadbasket of the country", and that has greatly influenced my preferred cooking style. I like things that are warm, creamy, and filling. Basically, comfort food. I grew up in the city that hosts the Illinois state fair, so I believe that you can deep fry pretty much everything (but I don't). I'm on a mission to make a really good vegan horseshoe.

You're based in Clarksville, Tennessee, which I would imagine is a meat-heavy place to be. How do the locals regard your veganism?
The problem is not being in Tennessee, but the fact that my husband is in the army. Almost all of the social activities that I'm expected to attend are either barbecues or potlucks. Since I don't like going to food related activities where I can't eat anything, I just avoid them. I'm a very private person, and years of having people shove hamburgers in my face have made me cautious about telling people that I'm vegan. I'm a hermit in general, so it's usually not an issue.

There's no health food store here, but there is a natural food section at the local Kroger. Also, the army commissary is surprisingly vegan friendly, with tempeh, tofu, soy yogurt, and even a small organic section.

When will the second issue of DEOTS be available? What kinds of recipes will be included? How many more issues do you aim to publish?
It's mostly written right now, and depending on when you publish this, it might be ready by the time people are reading this. I had a setback with the cover art. I can't draw, so I have an artist friend do it for me and I forgot to ask her about it until a few weeks ago.

Most of the recipes are holiday-themed, but not all of them. A lot of them are veganized versions of recipes i've been using for years. There are a few original recipes that I'm pretty proud of, like the Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake. In addition to recipes, I have a few articles about vegan gifts, other recipes I really like, etc.

I honestly can't say how many issues I will make. There is definitely going to be a third issue, because I have been sitting on the theme for that for over a year. It's going to be a tribute to my favorite TV show and all of the food references in it.

Which show?
It's a secret!

How do you find your testers, and what is that process like?
Very simple, I post a thread on the PPK message boards asking for testers. People reply, I send them a link to my testing forums. They point out errors in the recipes, suggest changes, etc. and when I write the final draft I take all of the comments into consideration and make little changes as necessary. I could probably get away with not having testers since i'm just doing a zine, but I like the feedback.

There's a fringe group of vegans being dubbed "vegan-sexuals," who abstain from physical intimacy with non-vegans. What are your thoughts on this?
It's infuriating, because this is the kind of stuff that gets a lot of media attention. The general public doesn't want to hear that vegans are happy and healthy, they want to hear about how we're elitist snobs who are picky about who we sleep with and that we starve our children. It confirms their belief that vegans are an insane little cult. I'd like to see some mainstream news stories that shatter that stereotype.

It makes sense that a person who is vegan might not want to be in a long term relationship with an omnivore, but to say that you won't even have sex with one? Where do you draw the line? Can you not be friends with people who eat meat?

I believe in the saying that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. If you tell someone you won't sleep with them because they're not vegan, they're not going to think about their diet. They're just going to think that you're a whackjob.

The second issue of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk will be available Nov. 1

Previous Pickled Q&As
Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet
Vegan Cookbook Guru Sarah Kramer

Adam Roberts: amateur gourmetAdam Roberts was an unhappy law school student when he discovered that cooking could save him from "spiritual starvation." While legal work left him deeply unfulfilled, he blossomed on the side as a lover of food. Quickly realizing what his real passion was, he abandoned law and started The Amateur Gourmet food blog in 2004. It was immediately successful, due in no small part to his famous Janet Jackson breast cupcake post after the Super Bowl, but due in larger part to Adam's enthusiasm and winning writing style.

Adam's recently released book is just like his blog—honest, inspiring, and often hilarious, he invites us into his life of culinary conquests (and misadventures) with open arms. Beginning with his numerous failures in the kitchen, Adam takes us along on his journey of self-discovery through food, from making perfect basic tomato sauce, to cooking for his family, to dining alone at one of Paris's most exclusive restaurants. Pickled tracked him down to ask him a few questions about what he's up to next and how his Jewish roots have influenced his cooking.

Has your Jewish heritage affected/influenced your cooking in any way? Does anyone in your family keep kosher?

Not an issue for me—I eat everything. My parents are weirder about it, especially my dad. He, for example, might eat bacon, but he won't eat ham. I think Jerry Seinfeld's routine about Jews eating pork at Chinese restaurants but not eating it at home is right on the nose: my parents sort of operate by those rules.

Do you ever cook for the Jewish holidays?

I've cooked a Passover meal in the past and I've made latkes on Hanukkah, but mostly, I'm afraid, the answer is no. That's not to say I won't ever cook holiday meals in the future, just haven't really done it yet.

What were the holidays like for you growing up, with your family?

I have different memories from different periods of my childhood. As a young chap, we lived on Long Island and on Passover we'd go visit my Aunt Rhoda, who had 20 cats and made a delicious home-cooked Passover dinner. I remember singing "Dayenu" and finding the afikomen. When we moved to Florida, we had less family there so I remember going to the homes of family friends or out to dinner. My mom gets mad whenever I talk about how she never cooked for us, but I do seem to recall a brisket that she made on some holiday. Or was that my grandmother?

Do you have recipes for Jewish foods you'd like to share? A favorite rugelach recipe, maybe?

Hmmm... I don't have any memorized, but if you search the archives of my site you can find my attempt at the Barefoot Contessa's rugelach (it came out really well) and a perfect chicken soup from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America. I really recommend her book if you don't have it; and apparently Claudia Roden's book on Jewish food is pretty excellent, too.

What's your all-time favorite restaurant in New York?

That's hard to say because I love different restaurants for different reasons. I've definitely fallen for Blue Hill and Blue Hill Stone Barns: they're unpretentious but ambitious and the food is always outstanding. I also love Al Di La in Park Slope; Babbo, of course; Prune is fantastic. Hearth. August. Spotted Pig. Annisa.

What's the best meal you ever made?

Wow, another tough question! Actually, though, there's a pretty clear answer: the roast chicken I make from the Chez Panisse cookbook. Everyone loves it and it couldn't be easier. You take a chicken, wash it, dry it really well, sprinkle salt and pepper in the cavity, stuff it with fresh thyme, tie the legs together, and then sprinkle the whole thing with 1 Tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, lots of salt and pepper. Place it in a roasting pan and then take red potatoes, cut them in half and put them cut-side down around the chicken. Drizzle the potatoes with some olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper too, and toss around to coat. Roast at 400 degrees for one hour and you'll write me gushy thank-you notes telling me it was the best thing you ever tasted.

In your book, you talk a lot about how you grew up on processed foods. Do you eat processed foods now? Are there any in particular that you have a weakness for?

Sure, doesn't everyone? I just bought a big pack of Reese's peanut butter candies that I put in a jar on a table by the door. I like candy; I also like Ben and Jerry's ice cream, though I teased my boyfriend for buying a particularly nasty one the other day. It had raw cinnamon buns in it and they were nasty. But yes, I still eat processed food. Don't tell anyone.

So now you're writing a novel...what's it about??

It's about Boca Raton, where my parents live. That's all I'm saying!

Any other upcoming ventures besides the novel?

Lots! But I can't talk about them. They're top secret. I'd have to kill you. Sorry!

Previous Pickled Q&As 
Vegan Cookbook Guru Sarah Kramer 

Sarah Kramer's career as a lauded vegan cookbook author began by accident when, in 1996, she and her friend Tanya Barnard designed and printed a small 50-page cookbook to give out as holiday gifts. The feedback they received from family and friends was so positive that the two decided to print another thousand copies, which they sold at punk shows and over the internet. Before they knew it, they had a book deal with Arsenal Pulp Press. In 1999, How it All Vegan! was published, followed by The Garden of Vegan in 2003, and La Dolce Vegan! in 2005. A true renaissance woman, Sarah Kramer has her "thumbs in many pies." Despite a busy schedule that includes writing a column for Herbivore Magazine as well as running both a tattoo shop and her own professional photography business, Sarah found the time to chat with Pickled about veganism, Jewish food, and more.

How has the culinary world (or at least, North America) changed since you went vegan in the early 1990's?
Well there’s now an actual “vegan/vegetarian” section at the cookbook store and the shelves are brimming with excellent vegan books, back in the day it was slim-pickins for vegan cookbooks.

Most restaurants in my neck of the woods now have at least one or more vegan/vegetarian choices on the menu. I remember a time when all I could order was a dry baked potato and a wilted iceburg salad.

There’s also the internet ... now you can live in butt-fuck nowhere and have access to any vegan ingredient your credit card can buy.

Once generally misunderstood, veg*anism is starting to take on a "cool" all it's own in urban centers and beyond. Trendy--and even some gourmet--vegan (and vegan-friendly) restaurants are popping up in Los Angeles, New York, and even Akron, Ohio, where Chrissie Hynde recently opened her new eatery, VegiTerranean. Could "vegan" be the new "it" cuisine? Where do you see this going?
Trends are for suckers. Lifestyle change is the new trend. *laugh*
I don’t really care what the hipsters are up to. I’m just doing my thang and if people dig it... I’m stoked.

I often encounter questions from people who aren't familiar with what it means to be vegan. They want to know why I've chosen this lifestyle, as well as what I eat. How do you explain veganism to the ultimate layman?
My quick and dirty answer is: “A vegan is someone who doesn’t use or consume any animal products”.

Where do you get your protein? Tee hee.
Where don’t I get my protein?? *laugh* Protein is the last of our worries for vegans, we need to pay more attention to our b-12.

What are your favorite childhood food memories? Are there any traditionally Jewish foods that you miss, or that you've veganized?
I don’t have one specific childhood memory but I have great memories of just spending time in the kitchen with my family making food and just hanging out. We Kramers really like food.

As for traditional Jewish foods, my Dad loves Gefilte fish but as a kid I could never eat fish... especially fish that smelled that terrible. *laugh*

I really miss dessert knishes with cottage cheese. I have yet to find a good vegan substitute for cottage cheese.

What do you feel are the worst misconceptions about vegans/veganism, and do you think they're changing?
That we’re righteous or judgmental. I mean... there’s lots of vegans who are that way but same goes for carnivores. I also find that people are surprised by how full of delicious food my life is. A lot of people have a misconception that we’re denying ourselves so much... but if you look at the big picture it’s really only a few ingredients that we’ve opted out of.

In reading the ingredients list on a package of "soy cheeze" recently, I noticed that it surprisingly contained casein, a milk product. What other non-vegan products masquerading as "vegan-friendly" should we be on the lookout for?
There are some GREAT vegan cheezes on the market right now. Just look for the vegan symbol “V in a heart” on the package. Vegan-rella, Follow Your Heart, and my new favorite: Sheese. It’s the kind of “cheese” you can serve with a cracker and a nice glass of wine. It’s expensive, but it’s worth every penny.

There's also a lot of fake meat products on the market right now... but you have to check for eggs and whey powder.

Recently, I was invited to a dinner party. Although I alerted my hosts to my dietary restrictions long beforehand, and even offered to bring my own meal, they promised to prepare something suitable for me. When I arrived, I found there was nothing for me to eat. I sat hungry and embarrassed while the others ate a meal of fillet mignon and cheesy mashed potatoes. What's the worst social vegan experience you've had, and what related advice do you have for others?
First off. NEVER attend a dinner party with non-vegans without bringing your own food.

Second. Never feel embarrassed for your convictions, it is your host who should feel embarrassed. If that ever happens again ... get up and start going through their cupboards and make yourself a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. *laugh* There’s a fantastic book called Vegan Freak that talks about all the trials and tribulations of navigating your vegan self through a non-vegan world. It’s a great read.

While backpacking through Europe a few years ago, I was thrilled to find an awesome vegetarian restaurant in Helsinki, Finland, of all places. Where have you found the most surprising veg*an dining options?
I was shocked when I went back to my home town in Regina, Saskatchewan (beef country) and found a fantastic japanese restaurant that had actually put a little “carrot” symbol beside all their dishes that were veggie friendly. It was great!!

What are your favorite restaurants around the globe?
I love Cha-Ya in Berkeley. Red Bamboo and Hangawi in New York. Fresh and Live in Toronto.... I could go on forever.

What books, food-related and otherwise, have changed your life?
Food wise: Early on, Laurel’s Kitchen inspired me to start documenting what I was doing in the kitchen.

Life-wise: Other books that have changed my life ... how long do you have? *laugh* Anything written by Douglas Coupland. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and anything written by Paul Fieg.

Who inspires you?
My dog.

Your cookbooks have been a phenomenon, and you write a column for Herbivore Magazine, which has labeled you "The World's Coolest Vegan." What other creative projects are you working on, and what's on the horizon?
Well I’m being very domestic right now. My husband and I just purchased our first home so I’ve been up to my armpits peeling really bad 1970’s wallpaper off the walls. Renovating our place has been all consuming ... but I’m enjoying myself immensely.

I also own/run Tattoo Zoo with my husband and that keeps me very busy, as well. I’ve also been doing a lot of photography and I’m also working on a novel. I’m always doing something creative and have my thumbs in many pies.

And no. I’m not working on any cookbooks right now. *laugh* The trilogy of HIAV, GOV and LDV will have to tide you over for now.