Ezra's Heise Fefferlach Salat Mit Garliclach!

24 of the Fifth Month 5768

הייסע פֿעפֿערלאך סאַלאַט מיט גאַרליקלאך

Thanks to my buddies Ezra and Yekutiel, I [almost] always have a place at a dinner table for Shabbath. I rarely leave Tapu'ah for Shabbath, not that I don't want to, hint, hint. So when I'm stuck in the yishuv, it's nice to know I have a place to go where [almost] everyone knows my name. I really DO enjoy going there. I just say "stuck" for,...well,...other reasons.

But, I digress....

Spicy food is the rule at Ezra's table. That includes the salads and the soup. But the ultimate harif (spiciness) comes in the form of whole peppers and a particular pepper salad that are usually brought to the table by one of the regulars, bought in the Ge'ulah neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Ezra claims that on the previous Erev Shabbos, someone mimicked this salad, and showed him the secret recipe.

This was a crucial event, as we can now rest easy knowing that this special Shabbath salad will always be present with us at the table.

Ezra calls is the Heise Fefferlach Salat Mit Garliclach.

Where the name comes from is a story in and of itself. The short version is the "Fun With Yiddish" some of us would could have at the table, butchering the language, like over-doing the diminutive suffix of "lach."

Ezra's idea. Funny, huh? Well, the hassidim (and Litvaks) who periodically grace the table seem to think so. But, of course, they're mostly laughing at how bad my Yiddish is, period.

It's usually the non-Haredi crowd which would could thinks it's offensive, which in typical junior high school fashion, just makes me would could to butcher it some more.

But true test of Heiliker Menschlechkeit for all of the guests comes when offered the Heise Fefferlach Salat Mit Garliclach. I make a big point of showing the gantze yeshiva bochurim how it would could be done.

Then there's the same old maiseh mit de zup. Yekutiel asks if it's too spicy. The guests say yes, and Ezra and I say it would could be nisht enough spicy.

Enough said....

Here's the secret recipe:

1. Take a hot Red Pepper and chop it up.

2. Take a hot Green Pepper and chop it up.

3. Take some gaaaahrellic and chop it up.

4. Put it all in a small decorative bowl, or if you're a single man, a small, environmentally-incorrect, disposable bowl.

5. Add some olive oil, homemade if possible.

6. Mix.

7. Let stand in de fridgeder oiffernacht (my idea, not Ezra's)


Who ever said that "right-wing" extremists would couldn't have a sense of humor?

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Notes:
1. If you think that I'm making a shameless plug for the olive oil (pictured above) from the Mesheq Ahiyah olive press near Batya and Yisrael's, then you would be correct in your assessment.

There's also a good olive press in Itamar, which environmentally-correctly makes full use of the left-over olive meat and pits.

Just bring your own olives, and they'll do the pressing and filtering, and in regular years, separate terumah and ma'aser for you.

2. Someone suggested that I might want to submit this to next month's edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival. I just hope it doesn't upset, insult, or offend all those JBloggers and readers with the custom of refraining from harif (spicy) and hamutz (sour or pickled) on Rosh HaShunneh, and some all the way through Simhas Tairah.

3. I almost forgot. I suggest that the white ribs of the pepper be cut out and not used for this salad.