Oy. Good Jewish food is hard to get on the East End. “Goldberg’s or a Polish deli in Riverhead is kind of it,” said Amy Kirwin. “Or us!” chimes in her Purim partner Rebecca Edana.  

This is the Jewish motherly wisdom of “Two Jews Making Food.” Yes, that’s a thing. On Facebook and Instagram. “We don’t ‘Twitter’ and we haven’t Tik-Tok’d…yet,” said Kirwin. The two started “Two Jews” almost two years ago while going over the menu for a special occasion. Hilarity ensued and the “recipe” for a fun show was born. What began on their cell phones is now shot in a professional television kitchen at LTV in East Hampton. The two talked to us recently about their beginnings, the pandemic, fans, and getting a big break. 

Without too much ‘kvelling’ tell us how you began and how the pandemic impacted you.

Amy:  With Covid we had a bit of a break. 

Rebecca: We were doing the show in my kitchen for about eight months and then the pandemic hit.

Amy: We tried to do FaceTime.

Rebecca: Those were hilarious. 

Amy: One of us was on a phone using FaceTime and the other was on FaceBook live. 

Rebecca: The jokes you couldn’t hear. The banter was non-existent. It was crazy.

So did you learn anything during Covid?

Amy: I did some cooking but I kept thinking how much I missed getting together with Rebecca because we have such a good time together. We did do one show outside together once things got a little better. And then things got a little crazy again. We were wearing the plastic see through shields.

Rebecca: We were shvitzing behind those shields so we went outside. 

Amy: I shvitz anyway but it was awful. 

Rebecca: Before LTV we were making the show on our cellphones so we could go outside. We cooked out on my deck and then ran into the kitchen to cook other things and then brought them back out. All while carrying the phones and I said ‘Amy we really have to find a way to film this slightly more efficiently.’ We want to get these recipes out there and people were having a hard time following it. 

What makes Jewish food so comforting? Especially around the holidays?

Rebecca: The beauty of any good cultural food is it comes with a story, a memory of a person or history. How they came upon the recipe, how it’s changed. It’s a family history told through food, which is wonderful.

Amy: It’s also just really good homey food. It’s not fussy. It’s just delicious and straight-forward. 

Rebecca: As soon as you bring up food, everyone has their own stories. We just think it’s a hoot. We like doing it. 

What’s the recipe that Jewish mothers fight over the most? 

Rebecca: Mandel bread.

Amy: We fight over mandel bread. Mine is the best. Matzoh ball soup is another one. 

Rebecca: Some people have noodles, some have big matzoh balls. 

Amy: Some people have cabbage. 

Rebecca: You can make matzoh balls with oil or butter, they taste slightly different. Some people make them harder and others like them soft and fluffy.

Amy: I like mine a little tough on the inside. I don’t like fluffy. 

Anything you won’t make on TV?

Rebecca: Amy is scared of challah. 

Amy: I AM! I don’t know why. 

Rebecca: Simpler things scare me because you can get those wrong fast. We make great bagels. I tell everyone to make our bagels. 

Amy: Someone said ours aren’t really ‘Jewish’ bagels because they’re not boiled. But the reality is most Jews don’t make their own bagels they go to bagel shop and they buy them so who care how you make them? (Laughs)

Rebecca: We always say ‘we’re not experts.’

Amy: On anything! I went to Hebrew school forever and I should know more than I do to be honest. But we’re just a couple of Jewish gals who like the tradition, love the food and love to cook it. We like to ‘yenta it up.’ We like our schtick. 

Rebecca: And we like each other. 

So would you like to take this concept to the Food Network?

Amy: Ah, from your mouth! Look we’re just a couple of Jewish ‘Wayne’s World’ women doing our thing on public access. Except we’re not in a basement.

Rebecca: We ARE ‘Jewish Wayne’s World.’ Oh my God, that’s our new tagline. 

Amy: It’s funny and it’s entertaining and I think there are more non-Jews that like it over the Jews. 

Rebecca: I think there’s a mysticism to Judaism that I think people get nervous about. Even the Shabbat Dinner, people are out searching for kosher wine and I tell them you don’t have bring kosher wine. They’re like ‘Should I bring gefilte fish?’ And I’m like ‘No, that’s the WRONG holiday.’ So I think people get confused by ‘What IS Jewish food?’

Amy: As long as it tastes good in the end, that’s really all that matters. 

Catch these two in action on LTV or at www.ltveh.org/twojewsmakingfood. Or you can follow them on Instagram @twojewsmakingfood, which would make their mothers very happy. 

 

Chocolate Gelt Martini

Ingredients 

• 1.5 oz potato vodka

• 1.5 oz chocolate liquor

• .75 oz Goldschlager or Frangelico

• U-bet chocolate sauce for rim and gelt to garnish

Shake and put syrup inside glass. Add gelt on the rim and enjoy!

Note: Amy does not like Goldschlager — too many 20-something memories! 

I Love You a Latke

Ingredients For Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

• 2 lbs Russet potatoes, grated (and juice squeezed out)

• 1 onion, grated

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 2 tablespoons matzo meal or flour

• Salt

• High heat oil like Canola or Safflower (lots of it)

Place a spoonful in your hand and shape into a small pancake, place in hot oil (about 1/4 inch deep) and fry on each side until golden brown. Place on a plate with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Serve with sour cream and applesauce, or Amy’s mini latke hors d’oeuvre had smoked salmon, creme fraiche, caviar, and chives. Yes!