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After almost a year on his new diet, Garibaldi has lost 9 pounds. Go Baldi!

The Search for Schmaltz

It seems ridiculous to think that it would be hard to find Schmaltz in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (or Alphabet City or the East Village or whatever it’s going by these days). I guess it’s just another sign of how the neighborhood has changed in 30 (50?) years. It being passover and craving my father’s savory fried matzo (also known as matzo brei), I had to procure some. It is, after all, the “secret” ingredient.

Not so secret, as schmaltz has long been a staple in Eastern European Jewish cooking though it is not used much anymore. Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat - chicken fat that has been cooked down (usually along with finely chopped onions). Originally goose and duck fat were used, but when Jews immigrated to America, chicken was much cheaper so that replaced the other birds (Interestingly, I found there seems to be an inverse correlation between the healthiness of the meat and the healthiness of the fat - chicken and turkey fat are quite bad for you while goose and duck fat are better with duck fat being on par with olive oil.) Schmaltz was largely used for cooking meat meals. Due to kosher dietary restrictions, butter couldn’t be used so schmaltz was used for roasting potatoes, making kishka, and even spread on bread. Katz’s Deli used to have it on the table and Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse still does. Once vegetable oil (margarine) came around this largely removed schmaltz from the ingredient list of Jewish homes.

I began my search for schmaltz where I begin most of my searches: on the internet. Google quickly came up with a chowhound post from 2008 that indicated that J. Baczynski meat market had it. I’ve actually always wanted to stop into this store which is also known as East Village Meat Market. It’s probably the last Eastern European-run meat market in the area. It features rows of sausage, cold cuts, prepared food all handled by a staff that mostly speaks Ukranian (though many know Russian and Polish as well). Alas, they had no schmaltz. Lard was readily available, but upon asking a question to a younger employee who relayed it in Ukranian to an older one, I was met with a no.

I then trolled the supermarkets within walking distance of me, not expecting much. The chichi hipster meat and cheese market nearby had no idea where I could find it - the guy at the counter asking me what dishes used chicken fat. As expected, I came up empty though I did make two discoveries: 1) I am never shopping at Associated again. Every other supermarket I went in had cheaper prices (though at one time Associated had yerba mate for cheap so that is one draw). 2) If I ever want to make a dish from Central or South America, I am stopping into Fine Fare (I keep wanting to call it ‘Faire’). They had an entire aisle dedicated to Goya products.

Finally, more internet sleuthing revealed that some Food Emporiums carry the above-pictured Empire brand schmaltz. I was going to be in Union Square anyway and stopping in the Food Emporium there showed that they did indeed have it. Grabbing two packages, I couldn’t wait to get home and try it out.

My dad traditionally made fried matzo on the first Saturday morning of Passover (or Sunday if the first night was a Saturday). I wanted to carry on this tradition, so Saturday I prepared it following instructions given over the phone by my father. Honestly, it didn’t turn out quite as good as his, but I think I know what I did wrong. I now feel confident that I can continue the tradition and make this for my kids. As for the recipe, it’s a family secret, but in the age of google you can probably figure it out.

My bathtub drains - glory be!

Something in the air at the dog park today.