05/18/2023 12:02:23 PM
Another school year is winding down, which means summer is upon us and activity slows up a bit at the shul. Brotherhood will still have a few things going on while we wait for the new “season” to begin.
I want to use this space to tell everyone about Brotherhood’s brand new program we just started the other week, the Txoko (pronounced “Cho-Koh) Cooking Club, led by Brotherhood member Glenn Yancey. Txoko is a unique program Glenn has run at other synagogues throughout the Tampa Bay area. On Tuesday, May 9th, under the kosher supervision of mashgiach Rabbi Marc Blatt, 13 Jewish men worked together to cook a full meal while we bonded, cooked, drank and had a great culinary lesson!
Every Txoko has a different theme and cooks Jewish food from various regions of the world. Previous themes that Glenn supervised have been from Persia, Cuba, and Spain among others. In this most recent one, our main meal was sabich, originally made by Iraqi Jews and eaten often in Israel as a street food. Sabich is eaten in a pita and stuffed with falafel, fried eggplant, and eggs. We had dipping sauces of tahini, hummus, and amba (pickled mango). We also enjoyed appetizers of stuffed piquilio peppers, currywurst (glatt kosher kielbasa on a bed of sauerkraut) and reuben pinchos (seared corned beef on a bed of sauerkraut with a schmear of Thousand Island dressing).
We plan on doing our next Txoko event in August or September. It will be a fish/dairy meal based on foods of the Baltic (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia). Should you be interested in joining Txoko, please reach out to me at brotherhood.kolami@gmail.com. You must be a Brotherhood member and there is a $45 fee for the Txoko Club itself. This helps cover expenses, and you get your own nifty and stylish personalized apron!
Summertime will be a bit quieter with Brotherhood, but we will still have a few events, like another Torah on Tap and a potential Brotherhood Hangout to watch a Rays game. Speaking of a Rays game, Jewish Heritage Day will be Sunday, August 27 vs the New York Yankees, so stay tuned for more details on that annual event. We will also have our Brotherhood kickoff event on Sunday, August 13 with guest speaker Ira Kaufman. Ira has spoken at Kol Ami in the past. He’s a former sports columnist for the Tampa Tribune and now writes for the popular Buccaneers website JoeBucsFan.com. Football season will be upon us by then, and Ira can offer great insights.
Have a great summer, and looking forward to seeing you at shul!
Jon Zimmer
