Monday, February 25, 2008
When I'm feelin' kinda low and nothing seems to be going my way, either at home or in the world, I know it's time to climb into my Prius and head toward City Market. Something about the place relaxes me the moment I walk under the huge, rounded metallic canopy over the entrance. The signage which is artistically hand-lettered in a now "City" distinctive style always says things in a courteous, welcoming way. The checkers seem like real people displaying a little more individuality than what you'd find in other stores whether in their fashion styles or the jewelry they wear. And most of them remember my name and enter it into the checkout register so I can receive my five percent senior discount. But, most of all, I know I'm going to find a fresh display of my most important food item: bread. These are the finest artisan breads produced anywhere and they are all made with natural starters (wild yeasts) and are allowed to rise more slowly to develop flavor. You can feel the loaves: their crusty outer shells and imagine the chewy, elastic insides. There are many different varieties but my favorite is the sesame wheat loaf from O'Bread. It has sesame seeds embedded in the crust and the bread stays moist and delicious for a full three days. When you cut into the loaf you see irregular holes where the bread has fermented, as opposed to the uniform blandness of a commercial loaf texture. Driving home with my bread I think of how my first slice will be one of two kreichiks (Yiddish for the heel of the bread) and how good it will taste with some cold butter. And maybe an espresso. In a way City is like a haven for me. I feel as though I'm in a safe zone when I'm there away from the travails of the world and my own shortcomings. Some people only shop for the best price, but I like the best experience even if it means paying a little extra.
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5 comments:
Speaking of hand-lettering, we've been working on our ketubah (I know, I know, 3+ years overdue, which is more evidence that I'm more Jewish, heheheh) and we both thought about how you did Bailee's as well as addressed her invitations. It took a lot of concentration to do the lettering. I did the English and our very own Josh did the Hebrew. I think it came out pretty good, although there are a lot of errors (mine) and smudges (both of us). Oh well, we tried our best. Josh even bought a very special brown ink for us.
I thought "kreichek" was an interesting word that would be worth using in my regular vocabulary, so I looked it up for a more authoritative definition. Instead of your spelling, I found this word: "okraytshik" - slightly different with the "O" in front, but it means "bread end". So I think you're using either an abreviation, or you had misheard the word growing up ... or your memory has lapsed some.
I was trying to spell it phonetically. Thanks for the accurate spelling. Maybe "some people" omitted the beginning "o".
I like how you're responding to comments on your blog. Hurray!
Found this string when looking for my mother's term: kreichik for the heal. Saw someone corrected by saying it starts with an "o". Maybe so, but my mother was fluent, she only spoke Yiddish in her home growing up, so perhaps her family's dialect or whatever was different, but I confirm the original writer's version/memory as my family used the term without the "o".
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