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Bitching...
Why is everything lately with tons of coriander on it? Or in it! Whether they are Israeli chefs or from "outside", that is the herb used by one and all! I can not stand the stuff... It used to be parsley, then tarragon (which is another no-no!) and now - the new girl on the block - coriander! And everything, without "by-your-leave", is made with the stuff and that is all you taste in whatever you order! Herbs and spices are supposed to enhance the dish, not overpower it! But that is what is happening. In this establishment it is an absolute no-no; the L&M will not have any "green-stuff" on his food. He ordered a shakshuka the other day in a restaurant, forgot to tell them to "hold" the green stuff and he spend most of the time trying to fish out as much of the parsley as was possible! Not much of the shakshuka remained.

And while we are on this complaining binge, why is everything lately with lemon zest? Wherever you look, somebody is grating lemon zest over something! And if not lemon, then lime... Why this sudden desire for zest? Are people becoming so "logy" all of a sudden that they need "zesting-up"?... Lately food is either green or yellow! Or raw!

Remember my complaint about the sauces which are made for hours and hours, made from dozens of ingredients and then blended this way and sieved that way... And then you get two drops on your plate - three drops if you are lucky! We went for lunch to a sort-of popular restaurant the other day and they had a Chestnut Salad on the menu. I ordered it of course, how can one not?... Got a great looking plate, huge salad and all around it, perfect round chestnuts with drops of dressing between them. The chestnuts were hot! I thought: hey! Interesting. It was not! The salad was made of mostly veggies which should have been cooked and not served raw... I mean there is nothing wrong with a grated carrot or some finely sliced cabbage added to your salad greens. Actually enhances the salad! But in this case, it was not good; the chestnuts were lovely, but did not go with the salad, which was just too "raw" and too "undressed"! I asked for more dressing got a tiny dish of it... It did not help!...

So, we needed some "soul-food" that night and I made just the right thing! Huge finely sliced onion (Yes! Still buying the red ones!) went into hot olive oil. When they sort of browned, sliced mushrooms - just the caps - were added. Mix-mix. I had a large boiled potato, that was diced and added as well. Salt-pepper and some thyme. Mix that very well and let it "stew" for a few minutes. Then I smashed a few eggs, poured them on top, some more salt and pepper, or not, grated yellow cheese all over, covered the dish and left it on a small flame for about ten minutes. When I uncovered it and placed it on the table (it is a large, oblong shaped pan) we did not wait for plates! We attacked it from both ends! Perfect!

OH! And why on earth does every dish have to be covered by drops of olive oil?... We all got it by now and we finally accept that olive oil is good for us! We all use it. Fine. I do not remember if I ever told you that years ago, before olive oil became such a must by every doctor and nutritionist, my mother, who lived in London, was told to go and see a geriatric specialist. It took six months to get an appointment with the great man. It took hours by train to get to him, because he lived way out of London! But she did it and what did she come away with?... "Make sure", said the great man, "that you swallow a tablespoonful of olive oil every day".... That was the great secret of healthy longevity! So, OK: we all know that it is very good for us! But, why, oh why every chef will present his or her finished dish with great pride and then grab a bottle and proudly announce: "and do not forget to add a few drops of olive oil" as they drizzle the stuff all over the dish, making a mess! Why?...

I have two new "suggestions"; I have not tried them because I still do not have an oven, but maybe you-ALL would like to. One is for carrot-cake; we did it early on I think in Column No:65. We called it "The Flying Carrot-Cake" because I used to air mail it to London from here! Somebody decided to add to the cake batter 3 ripe smashed bananas and 50gr. of chopped dates. Sounds different and great, no? The other one, I think came from the beautiful Nigella, who by the way absolutely loves coriander! Swoons all over the blooming stuff when she chops it! She suggested to add peanut butter to brownies. I love peanut butter, so can not wait to bake brownies with it and will forgive her the coriander!

And let me tell you how I made three things in the processor without washing it in between: I made mayonnaise, left a hefty spoonful of it in the processor and as the night before we had chicken livers over red cabbage (Column 435) and had some livers left over, into the processor they went with a small onion and a small garlic, salt-pepper... Perfect for lunch over toasted pita the next day!... After the liver "pate" was removed from the processor, I put in mushroom stems, the rest of the onion and two cloves of garlic; that went into minced meat, plus an egg, mixed well and baked into a "flat-meat-loaf" for dinner that night! Finally, the processor got a wash...

Send your questions to The Wacky Cook: email: POOP_1@netvision.net.il      

Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.