I wasn’t aware of the popularity of forshpayzn, Yiddish for appetizing stores or its singular form forshpayz, cold appetizers. Of course, I was generally aware of appetizers, but had no idea it held such a special space in the hearts of Eastern European Jews. I asked a Sephardic friend if there was a Sephardic equivalent, but there didn’t seem to be. Someone correct me if we’re wrong.
Forshpayz occupied my mind so completely, I had a dream about my own forshpayzn. In the dream, I was trying out a new restaurant that had such things on their menu as halved pickled carrots stuffed with thinly sliced and neat layers of cauliflower, parsnip, salmon lox, and cucumbers. There was another choice of halved pickled carrots stuffed with thinly sliced and neat layers of broccoli, cucumber, jalapeno, and a white fish. There were also a variety of large sheets of sliced mangos to choose from.
This dream reminded me of a dish my Jamaican grandmother would make called escovitch, onions, bell peppers, carrots, marinated in white vinegar with a little sugar, to be later used as a topping for fried fish.
