food

Learning of, and eating, exotic Torah animals

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It has always been important for Jews to write recipes and serve our grandmothers’ precious treats to our own children. Jewish foods are part of our mesorah, our historic oral tradition.

But how do we know what breeds are considered kosher, and how do we know the steps to slaughtering them? It’s not all written down in our holy books, as the laws of shechita, like the Talmud, are passed down by people. There must be an unbroken line from one shochet (ritual slaughterer) to the next, one generation to another. Otherwise, the mesorah is lost.

Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, an Israel-based rabbi/zoologist and author, popularly known as “the Zoo Rabbi,” is the creator of the four-year-old Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh that celebrates and displays animals mentioned in the Bible. (Slifkin is also well-known as a blogger focusing on rationalism and creation. Some of his books have been banned by haredi communities.) The museum is now a part of Israel’s cultural landscape, part zoo, part natural history museum and part educational center. Slifkin is committed to showing that Judaism is a living religion, as vibrant today as it was in the days of Abraham and Sarah.

While it may not be one of his primary motivations, Slifkin’s high-priced “exotic animal dinners,” with three rotating menus (biblical, non-biblical and legends from the sea), have generated quite a bit of interest in his museum.

Curiosity abounds. Many people are interested, for a wide array of reasons, in keeping alive the mesorah for more exotic kosher animals. Some of these were eaten at the “Biblical Feast of Birds and Beasts” in Teaneck, on Oct. 21, by 70 enthusiastic diners who paid as much as $500 a plate. “Biblical food is a totally new aspect of Jewish identity,” said Slifkin.

Rabbi Daniel Senter, the rabbinic administrator for the Kof-K kosher supervisory agency, personally supervised the meal, which was prepared by W Kosher Catering, based in the Five Towns. He said that his role had involved sourcing exotic animals and noted that everything served at the meal, however unusual, had an unbroken history.

Those who came expecting to eat giraffe or locusts, however, would leave disappointed. But isn’t there an issue about where on the neck to shecht the giraffe? “That’s a myth,” Slifkin told the group. “Giraffe is kosher. We don’t eat them because they’re an endangered species.”

The foods served were not so much endangered as out of fashion, or economically unviable. So rarely, Slifkin explained, was venison suitable for kosher shechita (they have to be captured, not shot), that there was only one such supplier available. At one point, the supplier decided not to sell his deer, though he relented after he was offered an extra $100 per animal. Some of the goats Slifkin was going to serve ended up coughing, and on inspection, were discovered to have unclean lungs, so he had to find others.

He also said that he wanted to serve locusts, as he had at a prior dinner in Beit Shemesh, but they’re not certified kosher according to the Kof-K. Instead, he replaced them with molded “chocolate locusts” on the dessert plates.

After an appetizer of matzah with za’atar (biblical hyssop) and focaccia studded with olives, Slifkin explained that matzah in the Bible was not the hard cracker American Jews are used to, but soft and similar to pita. The hors d’oeuvres included a roasted slice of goose with a citrus glaze and a whole grilled quail, paired with a subtle pomegranate sauce. Slifkin introduced the group to a live, beautifully feathered quail, as he introduced the course.

Max Schachter, 11, who came with his father and older brother, picked up a tiny bird in his hands, like many of the diners, and left just a pile of featherweight bones on his plate. Another diner confided that he had eaten the bones and found them delicious.

“These quails have lived better lives than any chicken you’ve ever eaten,” Slifkin told me. “Chickens are basically bred to be so large they can’t even support their own weight.”

Next up was the savory and delicate “dove” soup.

“Rabbi Slifkin said he would tell us a little more about the soup after we ate it,” said Elan Kornblum, a longtime kosher-restaurant magazine editor and creator of Great Kosher Restaurant Foodies, a Facebook page with more than 48,000 followers. “He then let us on to a secret that what we ate wasn’t exactly dove but pigeon, which he said was essentially the same bird and easier to get. It had the consistency of liver, but tasted a little like duck. It was interesting.”

The main course included goat ragout with a fresh tagliatelle-style pasta with red sauce. This was the gamiest meat of the night. Some at the table said they understood why it was served most often with strongly-flavored jerk seasoning in Jamaican and other ethnic dishes. The tomato sauce was somewhat effective, but did allow the distinctive flavor to come through.

The goat was served alongside a delicate venison, prepared and served like medium-rare steak. For many, it was the best bite of the night. “It was a very classy dinner, where everyone enjoyed learning about the animals, the biblical history and more about the museum, which is trying to raise funds to open in a new, bigger location,” said Kornblum.

To continue raising funds for the museum — and to continue his mission of Biblical food education — Slifkin will host another dinner in March, in Los Angeles.

“The building has many limitations, especially with regard to capacity,” said Slifkin of the museum, noting that during school holidays, it often turns away customers due to space constraints. “In 2019, we are moving to a new, beautiful and vastly larger home. … We will display more and superior exhibits, and there will also be classrooms and opportunities for a variety of additional programs.”