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Eating Our Way Through the Michigan Jewish Food Festival

By Vivian Henoch, Editor myJewishDetroit

September 1, 2016

“We were like two matzah balls in a soup,” says Lauren. “But after graduation, Michigan got custody of Judy and New York City got me. So I came to visit! I couldn’t wait to see all of the wonderful things Detroit has to offer. When Judy told me that there was going to be a Jewish Food Festival, I jumped at the opportunity and bought a plane ticket immediately! Jewish? Food? Festival? Those are three of my favorite things! Here in NYC we take our Jewish food pretty seriously, so I was excited to see how Detroit stacked up–and let me tell you, I was very impressed. Below is a list of our top 5 favorite things at the festival. Bon appetite!”

Pop Daddy Popcorn

Judy’s pick: Pop Daddy let us sample as many different flavors as we wanted and they were all scrumptious. My favorite was hot sauce! They also had delicious pretzel samples.

Afro Jam

Lauren’s pick: My favorite sample at the festival: Afro Jam! This was my jam (groan-inducing pun intended.) Simply wonderful! I’ve never been so excited by a jelly spread, but somehow they’ve achieved the perfect sweetness. I could have happily sampled it on just a spoon, but with that adorable dollop atop a piece of English muffin–YUM! It immediately tasted like how a picnic feels. Light, sweet, back to the basics, and classically amazing–Afro Jam nailed it.

Eli Tea

Judy’s pick: I love tea. I became a big tea fan when I worked at Michigan Hillel and began going on coffee dates regularly. Since I do not like coffee, tea became my go-to drink. As much as I love sugar, it ruins tea for me. Eli Tea was sampling two teas (both without added sugar) at the Food Fest, Traverse City Cherry Festival Tea and Japanese Imperial Matcha. Yum.

Topor’s Pickles

Lauren’s pick: Peanut butter and jelly. Simon and Garfunkel. Jews and pickles. Some things are just meant to go together. As soon as I spotted this table, I rushed over to Topor’s Pickles, spring in my step, giddy and excited as if it were Christmas morning (I assume that’s what that’s like, right?) A tray of round pickles slices smiled at me. I plucked one sample up and (less than gracefully) scarfed it down. Call me a stereotype, but this table just felt right. Delicious, crisp, and well worth slyly coming back for seconds and pretending that it was my very first time.

Kaleamazoo Chips

Judy’s pick: One time I bought a bag of kale and watched it go bad over about a month before throwing it away. Kale is intimidating to me and although I wanted to be healthy and like it, it scared me. Kaleamazoo Chips convinced me to try again…seriously. They are so good, and I could eat them all day. My favorite flavor is Lime Coconut, but I also got to sample three other flavors: lemon zest, garlic, and chocolate! Kaleamazoo sells spice packs of their most popular flavors so you can make your own and I bought it! That’s right, I made my own kale chips. Basically Kaleamazoo Chips converted me to a kale chip maker in my own right!