This little piggie

Wow. It certainly seems as if this week's parasha was written with me in mind. Half the parasha is about...food. Which animals can and cannot be eaten, what are the criteria for permitted fowl or forbidden fish, even which insects are "kosher". All that's missing are some recipes.

A little before Pesach I was teaching my seventh graders about Kashrut and we discussed this exact passage. How do you explain to modern, American, mostly secular children why they cannot eat bacon? There is no health reason, or economical reason, or social reason. All these explanations have been examined and eventually rejected as possible 'reasons to keep kosher'.

The truth is, the laws in this parasha do not make any sense. They are totally arbitrary, pointless and random. What difference does it make if an animal we are about to eat chews its cud or has split hooves? Does it affect the flavor of the meat? And what's with the completely random list of birds? Not to mention limiting seafood to a fraction of the richness of dishes the sea can offer. What's with that? Food is food, what difference does any of it make, anyway? Who cares what I eat?

You know something? I just bet Aharon's sons said the exact same thing before they used a forbidden fire at the altar. "Yo, man, fire's fire, what's the big deal? Chill." 

The first part of the parasha teaches us a long term lesson about the second part: We may not always understand the reason behind G-d's rules. That does not mean we can exchange them for our own rules, just because it seems to us that something 'doesn't matter', or 'doesn't make sense.'

So I told my students "The reason behind all these laws is very simple: because G-d said so." It's the only reason that makes sense and the only one that is needed. Since we know that G-d always has our best interests in mind (even if we cannot figure out the fine print at the moment), all laws become simply "what we are to do". It's nice to understand the reason behind them but if we don't, it doesn't matter, we still 'just do it.' Like Nike.

Still, the parasha does suffer from a glaring lack of recipes. So my class and I have prepared the following dish for your enjoyment:

Yummy Drummies

Ingredients:

6 chicken drumsticks

1 Tbs minced garlic (2 or 3 cloves)

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger root

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs honey

Salt and pepper to taste

(note: feel free to alter amounts to your taste)

1. Using a sharp knife, cut 2 or 3 slits into the meaty part of each drumstick.

2. In a large zip-top bag (or a non metallic bowl) mix all ingredients. Using your fingers, rub the sauce unto the meat really well.

3. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours. Re-rub the sauce into the chicken every half hour or so.

4. Transfer drumsticks and sauce to a well oiled (or sprayed) baking pan. Cook at 425F for 35-45 minutes, turning the drumsticks every 10 minutes until they're fully cooked. The meat will be very brown from the sauce and the sauce may be a bit sticky.

Serves 3 moderate eaters, 2 hungry ones or 1 "pig"