Food and its presentation / Are fast becoming The next
yetzer hora / Of our generation.
Food, glorious food, / Once upon a time was only just that /
Meant to be eaten, used as a tool / To keep us going, give us
some fuel.
Years of hunger, deprivation, not enough to go around /
Starving and desperate, their faces to the ground / No one
then could ever have thought / Or dreamed or known / What
could become of FOOD, once it is shown.
Designing, entertaining, miniatures and all the best / So
many ways we invent to make sure we never rest!
Food and its presentation / Are fast becoming / The next
yetzer hora / Of our generation.
Dessert, that special treat / Was a once-in-a-week affair /
Kept simple and delicious / After all, it wasn't always
there
An apple or banana, orange, even lime, / A rarity indeed,
with tea, or before bedtime,
Ahh, but a feast for the eyes / Could even then be seen /
When dining or merrymaking / At the tables of king and
queen.
A simcha today / Must be done the right way / With no
expenses spared / For every detail we must care,
Fruits and desserts, delicacies galore / The main meal must
be special, take up the whole floor / A `bar' piled high for
eyes to savor . . . / But to be eaten? Why — NEVER!
Presentation, effect, props, and salad trees / Fruit castles,
platters, it's all just a breeze / Wasting — it's not;
/ It has a `purpose sublime' / The most important one there
is / A true feast — for the eyes.
Food and its presentation / Are fast becoming / The next
yetzer hara / Of our generation.
Tamar Ansh also works as a feature food article writer for
Jewish magazines, and now has a new cookbook, complete with
photos called A Taste of Tradition, Pesach and Beyond,
published by Feldheim. All the recipes in this book are
completely without 'gebrochts' and also all year round gluten
free. Best of all, they are very easy to make!
I asked Tamar if it isn't hypocritical to work in this field
and write this poem. She replies: "My personal point is that
it's beginning to seem to me that it's getting out of hand.
One can do things in a mechubad way without spending
inordinate amounts of money and/or time. A few beautiful
cookies and some cakes is not the same thing as ice castles,
melons made into bar mitzvah invitations etc. which do not
get eaten. As for my book, it is all recipes that the average
person should be able to make, just in a tasty way. It is not
with expensive ingredients or ingredients with names cannot
be pronounced by someone who did not go to cooking school, or
which are not available to the average public. It is very
`user friendly.' The key is simplicity. And the foods really
do come out exactly like the pictures."
