June 17, 2016 โ Gefilte fish, of course. Potato kugel, sure. But sushi?
Yes, sushi, which you wonโt find in most 20th-century Jewish cookbooks, let alone the Torah, has become a runaway hit in the cityโs Hasidic and other Orthodox Jewish precincts.
Orthodox Jews are eating dragon rolls, rainbow rolls, tsunami rolls and California rolls (using imitation crab) in sushi bars like Sushi Meshuga in Brooklyn or in more eclectic kosher restaurants and supermarkets. Weddings and bar mitzvahs arenโt complete without a sushi station, and a sushi platter has become the gift of choice for Hanukkah and Purim, or to congratulate parents who are marrying off a child.
Pincus Yoel Freund, a managing partner of the firm that runs a leading sushi distributor, Sushi Maven, estimates that there are over 50 sushi bars in restaurants and grocery stores just in Borough Park, the cityโs largest Hasidic neighborhood, with at least another 50 in other parts of Brooklyn like Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Midwood. He says most have cropped up in the past five to 10 years.
Rabbi Moshe Elefant, chief operating officer of the kosher division of the Orthodox Union, the worldโs largest kosher certifier, said 80 to 90 percent of the cityโs 100 kosher restaurants now serve sushi.