Was Shavous always "cheesecake & blintzes" ?

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chocolate moose

Tue, Jun 07 2011, 12:57 pm

When I was a kid we ate in shul and it was lasagne, dairy jello, etc. Not cheesecake and certainly not blintzes. Of course I'm from the South and the olden days, yet. We didn't eat cheesecake and blintzes unless we went to a restaurant !

Is "cheesecake & blintzes" strictly "a NY thing" for Shavous?

zaq

Tue, Jun 07 2011, 1:03 pm

oh, I thought you meant did they have cheesecake and blintzes at Har Sinai. Somehow I doubt it. But my Moroccan friend told me they had cheesecake on Shavuot in her hometown. I neglected to ask what kind of cheesecake, as it may not necessarily have been the cream-cheese confection that made Philly famous.

chocolate moose

Thu, Jun 09 2011, 11:48 pm

Ok, thank you.

Anyone else ?

Isramom8

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 12:53 am

30 years ago my shul Rebbetzin would make the most melt-in-your-mouth cheese kugel for Shavous kiddush.

nylon

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 8:06 am

We always had blintzes, and while my family is not religious they are very traditional about food. I've also read anecdotes from people remembering how their mothers or grandmothers would prepare tons of blintzes for Shavuot.

Cheesecake was a more regular thing for us, but making so many blintzes was a production--not something we'd do regularly.

Tamiri

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 8:12 am

We've always had cheese cake and blintzes, but then again, we're "NY Jewish" or were, so that may not be of help. I assume it's Eastern European tradition. I, too, can't see it as a minhag from Har Sinai. The dry air would not have been very good for the cheese, is what I'm thinking. And the cows would have had to eat sand to keep alive - not very good for milk production.

zaq

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 8:48 am

Tamiri, Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim loaded with cattle and they didn't eat sand. For one thing, most authorities agree that the "Midbar" was at the time barren in the sense of being uninhabited and not devoid of plant life. For another, the same KBH who fed Bnei Yisrael for 40 years surely didn't feed them and not their cattle. Where do you think they got the animals for all the korbanot? Don't you recall that the 2-1/2 shavatim took land on the east of Jordan because they had such huge flocks?

Blintzes per se may not have been invented in 1300 BCE but cheese, particularly hard cheese, would davka have been a good food for a hot climate. Fresh milk spoils rapidly, but converting it to cheese or yogurt helps preserve it. Hard cheese lasts very well because of the reduced water content.

I totally don't get the idea of having milk to be "yotze" and then having meat on Shavuot. The whole reason why BY ate dairy was that they had just received the laws of kashrut and had no kosher shechted meat. But they had cattle galore and milk readily available. So they didn't eat dairy and then have a fleishik spread, they ate dairy all of Shavuot, period.

Lady Godiva

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 9:51 am

I've never eaten a cheese blintz on Shavuot (or any other day, as far as I can remember).
Cheesecake and lasagna and various other dairy dishes is what we ate on the holiday.

gp2.0

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 10:38 am

No, I assume at some point it was sheep cheese on bread with a glass of goat milk. Times change. Cuisine generally adapts to the locale.

dee's mommy

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 12:49 pm

I have never made a cheesecake yet in my whole life. Blinzes or cheese knishes have been known to happen. I have also done pizza, quiches, various cheese and pasta options, cheese and noodle kugels, cheese pies, and so forth. I think one time I did some sort of noodle and apple casserole, in which the milk component was butter. For desert, either milchig ice cream, or chocolate pudding.

zaq

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 1:04 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

No, I assume at some point it was sheep cheese on bread with a glass of goat milk. Times change. Cuisine generally adapts to the locale.

You got it. It's also unlikely that Queen Esther ever baked a hamantash and we know the Chashmonaim never made potato latkes. How do we know this? Because potatoes are a New World native and weren't introduced to the other side of the Atlantic till after Columbus discovered America and all the amazing varieties of exotic fruits and vegetables it had to offer.

Raisin

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 1:25 pm

I was taught (perhaps wrongly) that their pots were not kosher so they ate milk and cheese, which you can eat without cooking.

Merrymom

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 1:41 pm

We always had cheesecake and blintzes but as much as I love it I hate it. I feel absolutely fat. No more cheesecake on Shavuos anymore. Nor blintzes as a matter of a fact. I just don't enjoy it anymore. My pareve chocolate mousse trifle was actually a much bigger hit than all those heavy cheesecakes. Fish and salad, that makes me happy.

zaq

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 2:30 pm

Like chocolate mousse trifle is diet food?

Merrymom

Fri, Jun 10 2011, 2:37 pm

zaq wrote:

Like chocolate mousse trifle is diet food?

No, but certainly worth the calories.

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