By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

When I was visiting a friend this summer, we got to talking about food. It was a funny conversation because she kept saying whatever food I mentioned (for example, sushi) was disgusting. It turned into such a joke that I was thrilled when I was able to say that something she liked (I can’t remember what it was) was disgusting. We were laughing during the conversations and it was interesting to see what we thought was gross.
I had a similar reaction when looking at recipes for the upcoming holiday. (Please note, I have no plans to make any of them, but I enjoy looking at the photos and descriptions.) I love latkes and generally eat them plain. (I believe I’ve written how disgusted a different friend was with me when, rather than being team sour cream or team applesauce, I was team plain.) For the past few years, I have added a touch of sour cream to a few of those latkes, but I eat the majority without any toppings. Why would you need a topping when you have a beautiful, warm fried potato? Yum! They are perfect just as they are. 
However, since there are numerous Jewish food websites and those websites need to create new material each year (or no one is going to read them), I’ve seen some new variations on the traditional latke. One stood out this year. My first reaction to “General Tso’s Latkes” (recipe here) was barf! Now, I really like General Tso’s chicken, but General Tso’s latkes? Give me a break! The inspiration for the dish was the fact that last year, Hanukkah started on Christmas Eve and many Jews go out for Chinese that evening or on Christmas day. Amy Becker, whose website is called “What Jews Wanna Eat,” was inspired to combine the two traditions. Again, I love that spicy sauce, but can’t imagine it on latkes. I would be willing to try a taste if someone made it for me, but I’m still not sure I want to waste a precious latke by adding any kind of sauce.
While we are on foods that make me want to barf, a recent e-mail included a link to more than 20 different kinds of challah. I’m not sure why we need more than two kinds of challah (plain and raisin – yum to the raisin!), but, again, these websites have to feature new recipes. Well, I learned that the one that made me want to barf is actually relatively old. The recipe for “Dill Pickle Challah” (www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/dill-pickle-challah-recipe) originally appeared in 2016. Fortunately, I missed it. Unfortunately, it has appeared again. I thought at first it might have just used dill to create the dill pickle taste, but closer examination shows that it includes pickle juice in its dough. Now, I love pickles, although, because I am supposed to watch my sodium, I don’t eat them as regularly as I used to. (I like them so much I have been known to ask people if they are going to eat the pickle that came with their sandwich and, if not, would they please give it me.) Perhaps I am prejudiced because I once tried dill-pickle potato chips and rather than enjoying them, I found them... can you guess? Yes, they were disgusting!
I know I eat all kinds of food that others think of as disgusting. My friend was also not impressed with my love of pickled herring (hey, I hear those choruses of “barf” out there!), but I grew up with various kinds of herring and see them as a treat. They are also a very easy way to get protein: instead of cooking, I just open the jar. Even if I didn’t already like them, that now adds to their charm.
“Yum or barf” would actually make an interesting game. You could make up food cards and go through them with friends. Hmm, this might also be an interesting topic for a first date. So many of the foods we love say something about our family of origin; knowing something about that food could be a good way to get to know each other.