August 31, 2006--Pigs in Blankets

And here I thought that after making my escape two decades ago to Manhattan from Brooklyn I was at last off the Bar Mitzvah circuit. But then just the other night I was at a black-tie event at Ciprianis and what were they serving? Pigs in Blankets!

For the uninitiated they are those tiny hot dogs wrapped in baked dough. They are served hot and up to now have typically been circulated on silver-plated trays by waiters during the cocktail hour at Bar Mitzvahs and weddings at places such as Leonard’s of Great Neck.

They were then and clearly now one of the ultimate guilty pleasures. Even the NY Times has caught up with the trend. They report that these delicacies were served recently at goyisher institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and, in Southampton of all places, at a party at the Parrish Art Museum. (Article below.) Just to think, it was a scant few years ago that anything Jewish, much less Jews themselves, was welcome anywhere within ten miles of the Parrish.

The Times, as Paper of Record, can be counted on to track down the history and genesis of these delights. Though there are similar confections in France (saucisson en croute) and England (Toad in the Hole—perfect!), the American version apparently has its roots in Dixie where the pigs were wrapped in biscuit-dough blankets.

But what about this “pig” business? Since the frank part is or can be kosher, why not call them “Franks in Blankets”?

I think I know the answer—when at one of these bar mitzvahs, with he band blasting Hava Nagila for the third time, many Jews of the transgressive sort (Philip Roth and me for example) want to at least believe we’re eating a little traif. And they are so delicious!

Thus no more moulard duck breast hors d”oeuvres, no more caviar and sushi at cocktail time. Even Daniel Boulud and David Bouley are making pigs in blankets.

I’m wondering if they were served at the latter’s recent five-day-long wedding in France. Sorry I declined to my invitation to attend. If I had only known.