Deli Man

What makes a Jew?  In the oft-quoted rabbinic source “Ethics of the Fathers,” the three pillars of Judaism are earmarked as prayer, study, and gemilut hasidim, or acts of loving kindness.  But there’s a fourth pillar – Food. 

A tender cut of corned beef steeped in its juices.  A full-bodied garlic pickle.  Spicy brown mustard with grain.  A blintz that melts in your mouth like a creamsicle on a summer’s day.   Recipes and culinary garnishes from Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Romania that flowed in to late 19^th and early 20^th century America and soon became part of an American culinary and cultural vernacular – Deli…

The center and principal guide of Deli Man, the third in a trilogy of documentaries by Erik Greenberg Anjou, will be the effusive and charming Ziggy Gruber, a third-generation delicatessen man, owner and maven, as well as Yiddish-speaking French-trained chef, who currently operates one of the country’s most popular, and delicious delis, Kenney and Ziggy’s in Houston.  ‘Texas?’ you ask.  Shalom, y’all.