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FOR THE "FRESSER"
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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To "fress" means to eat or snack, often in
large quantities; to eat quickly or noisily,
like an animal. A "fresser" is a heavy eater.
Source: "Dictionary of Jewish Words"
by
Joyce Eisenberg & Ellen Scolnic
A "fresser" is one who stuffs himself with
food, especially when he or she comes to
your house."
Source: "You Can't Do Business (Or
Most
Anything Else) Without
Yiddish" by
Leon H. Gildin
I grew up hearing many Yiddish expressions about food:
"Kreplach essen vert oich nimis."
(One gets tired of eating only kreplach.)
"Shtupn doos moyl"
(to stuff one's face)
"Er frest zakh oon a gantsn tug mit khazerei!"
(He [Uncle Max] gorges himself on crap all
day!)
"In shissel ken nit zein mer vi in top."
(You can't have more in the plate than you
have in the pot.)
"Geshmak iz der fish oif yenems tish."
(Tasty is the fish from someone else's table.)
Michael Wex ("Just Say Nu") says that "Yiddish-speakers aren't obsessed with food; they're obsessed with talking about food, especially what's wrong with it; it's the memory of food that attracts them."
And Larry King writes about visiting the grocery store, Langer's, with its pickle barrel, Ebinger's, with its charlotte russes, and his love of egg creams, considered the elixir of life.
David Sax has written a new book titled, "Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen." In an Oct 30, 2009, editorial in the NY Daily News, he shares his six hard-earned rules:
Rule #1 Hit the Road
Check out delis outside of New York.
Rule #2 Have rye wit
One of the biggest shortfalls of New York
deli is its rye; it comes from commercial
bakeries.
Rule #3 Smoke'em if you got 'em
Ben's Kosher Deli slow-cures its own
corned beef and tongue in-store. It's
healthier and costs less.
Rule #4 Remember, less is more N. Y. deli sandwiches are too damn big and too damn expensive.
Rule #5 Think Jewsion, not fusion If a deli must broaden its menus beyond Yiddish staples, deli cooks should look inward for inspiration.
Rule #6 Divided delis are dead delis If Jewish delicatessens cannot help each other survive, no one else will.
Shown below you will find advice and comments about food and eating from famous and not-so-famous people:
"Don't ask for a 'slice' of demitasse."
"Don't fill up on bread."
Jeanette Gottlieb
"Eat with your children. It's the best way
to learn what's going on in their lives."
Anne F. Ridgely
"My mother always told me not to talk
with a full mouth. I have to! I can't help it."
Wolfgang Puck
"Don't go to a restaurant that has a sign in
the window advertising for waiters. It's
hard enough to get waited on in a restaurant that thinks it has plenty of
help."
Andy Rooney, TV commentator
"Food that ants like to eat is food that people should avoid. (Ants in
our kitchen
go for sweets and deep-fried tortilla chips.)"
David Leventer, Psychotherapist
"Never eat in a restaurant where the waitress asks for her tip up front."
B. C.
"The last slice of pie is the tastiest."
Esquire magazine, The Rules
"When overeating calorie-rich foods, do so
in multiples. Your body can count only so
high. Thus, anything eaten above the amount your body can count up to
has no
calories"
Lisa G. Westheimer
"Don't eat the last brownie on the plate."
Source unknown
"Don't order the fish on an airplane."
Esquire, Sept. '97
"Diners are big on funny wall signs:
HELP STAMP OUT HOME COOKING.
Sam Levenson
"A bum told me 'I haven't tasted food all
week.' I told him, 'Don't worry; it still tastes
the same!'"
Henny Youngman
"I grew up with all food well done. Veal
cutlets, well done, dripping with fat. Breaded, greasy, and thin. If
you eat this,
and don't have a heart attack, you'll live a
long life...I would kill for matzobrei. Kasha
varnishkes I could eat forever. With bow
ties...The butcher would give you free liver
if you spent $10 with him."
Larry King
"When You're From Booklyn, Everything
Else is Tokyo"
[at the Pearl Lake Hotel in the Catskills]
"The guests were enough trouble. Very
demanding people, the guests wanted to
get everything, so they would be ordering
doubles and triples of everything...In the
mountains you took a piece of bread and
took a bite and threw it away. Then you
took a piece of meat and took a bite and
then you took a chicken...There is no
describing the sheer volume of the food."
Jackie Mason
[People magazine, interview with
Michael J. Fox, who was asked if he planned
to marry one day]
"Oh, yes, definitely. I'm going to marry a
Jewish girl." [When the reporter asked
why, he replied], "Because I won't have to
make any decisions and I can eat Chinese
food on Sundays."
Michael J. Fox
"Always Looking Up"
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Rule #3 Smoke'em i
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