2020 Issue 6 Nov/Dec - Focus Mid-South Magazine

More documents

Recommendations

Info

food+drinkFROM SUSHI TO DELI, & KOSHER-CERTIFIEDCHEF MARISA BAGGETTby Gila Golder | photos by Sarah Rushakoff“I am exhausted,” says chefMarisa Baggett, a few daysafter the end of the monthlongmarathon of Jewish fallholidays (Rosh Hashana, YomKippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah)which brought her anavalanche of catering orders.But that’s nothing compared tohow she felt about ten yearsago, when she realized it wastime to slow down.“I went through a period ofseveral years where I justwasn’t able to stand on my feetdue to this weird, out of theblue illness that happened tome and took me away from thekitchen. I started looking foropportunities to do thingswhere I could sit, so that’swhen I wrote my cookbooks,”she recalls.A graduate of the CaliforniaSushi Academy, Marisa is theauthor of two cookbooks,Sushi Secrets and VegetarianSushi Secrets. But these days,she’s back in the kitchen,feeling better, and describesherself as a “professionallytrained sushi chef turned delilady.” In July 2019, shelaunched Zayde’s NYC Deli, akosher-certified cateringcompany offering delivered,heat and eat meals forShabbat, the Jewish Sabbath.Customers can order fullmeals or a la carte items from aseasonal menu – no orderminimum required, so thosewho live alone or with apartner or spouse can orderjust the amount they need.That concept underlies anupcoming Thanksgivingoffering, the SatisPie.“Say it’s me and Stan. A lotof our ideas come from whatStan and I would want,” shesays of her husband. “We likedifferent kinds of pie, but wedon’t both need to eat anentire pie. So I thought, what ifyou could buy a pie that had afew slices of this and a fewslices of that?”What Zayde’s doesn’t do isprovide a full Thanksgivingmeal option, because Shabbatmeals must be ready to go onFriday. “My thought is, we canhelp you with your desserts,but you focus on Thanksgivingand we’ll take care ofShabbat.”Because Zayde’s food iskosher-certified, certainingredients are off-limits. Mostmenus are prepared with meat,which may not be combinedwith dairy products undertraditional Jewish law. Ratherthan rely on artificialsubstitutions, as many homecooks do, Marisa curatesrecipes to focus on wholefoods and fresh ingredients,such as coconut milk and oliveoil. She can also accommodateallergy restrictions or otherspecial diets – Zayde’s has adedicated gluten-freecustomer base and alwaysfeatures a monthly gluten-freedessert. “It’s always the mostpopular dessert, whetherpeople need it to be glutenfreeor not.”What’s next for Zayde’s?Marisa is coy about futureplans, but hints at a possibletransition to “shmick andshmortar” (currently, Zayde’srents space from the kosherkitchen at Baron HirschSynagogue.)“Knowing that I serve thecommunity is what I’m mostproud of,” she says. She oftenreceives orders from elderlycustomers who can’t gogrocery shopping, or fromfamilies observing shiva, theseven-day ritual mourningperiod following the passing ofa loved one.“There’s nothing that meansmore to me personally thanwhen someone reaches out tosay the food that you broughtfor us was so amazing in ourtime of need. Food is such aconnection point, and it’s veryhumbling that people trust meto do these things for them.”Stay tuned on Zayde’s socialmedia pages (@zaydesnycdeli)for new monthly menus,holiday offerings (Chinese foodfor Christmas!) and more.Page 36 / focusmidsouth.com / NOV+DEC 2020 / GO!
WORLD AIDS DAYShow your support#RockTheRibbonworldaidsday.orgTUESDAY 1 DECEMBER 2020Rock the RibbonEnd HIV stigmaCreated by
Page 1 and 2: Serving the Mid-South LGBT+ Communi
Page 3 and 4: We’ve goteverything youneed for y
Page 5 and 6: FAST & FRIENDLYTAKE OUT & DELIVERYS
Page 7 and 8: themeGO! / NOV+DEC 2020 / focusmids
Page 9 and 10: VOICES OF VISION ONLINE CHRISTMAS C
Page 11 and 12: pavosalon.comWE’RE OPENforDINE-IN
Page 13 and 14: AND THE WINNERS ARE:D.R.U.S. BAR |
Page 15 and 16: Pride is a feeling.You cannot cance
Page 17 and 18: Focus on healing,we’ve got everyt
Page 19 and 20: for community education aroundmidwi
Page 21 and 22: Located on the third ChickasawBluff
Page 23 and 24: JEWELRY • ART • INCENSE • OIL
Page 25 and 26: Faith and the holidays areinextrica
Page 27 and 28: It’s ourdifferencesthat makeus gr
Page 29 and 30: is the impact of poverty. “Thelac
Page 31 and 32: I want to see a moreprogressive, in
Page 33 and 34: described as femaleimpersonation.
Page 35: BePrEPared.Learn more aboutHIV prev
Page 39 and 40: SNEAK PEAKby Ray RicoSTREAMINGMa Ra

2020 Issue 6 Nov/Dec - Focus Mid-South Magazine

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?