An American Jewish Memoir of Food and Travel

From Hell to Challah: Rising from Fragile to Fearless, One Grain at a Time by Shari Wallack; © 2021;Radius Guide Group; ISBN 9781635-769128; 208 pages, $24.99.

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – In her zany account of her travels out west from her dwelling in Plantation, Florida, Shari Wallack by no means obtained to San Diego, so I didn’t get the possibility to see how her impressions of my hometown may match up with my very own experiences.  If the 2 jibed, then I’d most likely put utmost religion into her accounts of different locations.  Because it was, I merely needed to take pleasure in her impressions of numerous locales between New York and Utah. Additionally, I used to be astonished by her reliance on serendipity and good Jewish cooking to show even prosaic locales into adventures.

Wallach’s firm focuses on promoting incentive excursions to massive firms.  It’s commonplace for her shoppers to e-book all of the cabins on a cruise ship as rewards for his or her extra productive staff.  It was an exquisite enterprise till the coronavirus pandemic shut the cruise ship business down, alongside together with her Purchase the Sea company.

Ever a worrier, Wallach fell right into a melancholy, asserting in her gloom that she may kill herself.  These near her took her critically and she or he was taken to a psychological ward the place she was placed on a 72-hour watch.  It turned out that she wasn’t actually a hazard to herself, however the enforced day without work prompted her to rethink a few of her priorities.  She determined if life is a journey, moderately than a vacation spot, it was time for her to hit the highway.

Typically she flew; different instances, she rented a automotive.  Typically she would stick with pals or enterprise acquaintances and make herself welcome by baking them challah, educating them how you can say conventional Jewish blessings just like the ha motzi over bread. She additionally cooked of their kitchens such Jewish favorites as matzo ball soup, brisket, blintzes, and no less than two dishes you’d by no means discover at an Orthodox luncheon: mussels confirmedçal and linguini with white clam sauce.  Many times, Wallach commented that she’s Jewish however not observant.  She consists of her recipes within the fast-paced memoir.

Adventurous, Wallach appeared prepared to offer something a attempt, although tenting within the woods – sans plumbing – proved disastrous on two totally different events.  She greater than made up for the privation with occasional mani-pedi cures and scented massages.  After which there was consuming, not solely the meals she so lovingly ready when she stayed at different folks’s houses, but additionally that which she sampled at eating places all throughout her route.

What I discovered most charming about her memoir had been among the factoids she dropped into the e-book.  For instance, she commented that she loves the Chicago River, “particularly after they dye it inexperienced for St. Patrick’s Day.”  Additionally, Minnesota’s Largest Sweet Retailer sells each sweet you may need loved in your youth together with “sweet button on steroids, sweet necklaces, Valentine coronary heart candies, licorice tacos, Disney-themed Pez dispensers with each taste pellet, jellybeans, gummies, cookies, chocolate!”

In Idaho, she stayed with a Mormon household, prompting her to watch: “The one factor I do know is that this faith celebrates household time.  They take pleasure in being collectively.  They’re upbeat and heat … I used to be welcome, and I used to be not judged although my beliefs differed from theirs.  It felt great, and I gained a lot respect.  I cannot be changing, however I’ll ceaselessly recognize their lifestyle.”

She was not almost so approving of Jackson Gap, Wyoming: “There was no variety to be discovered.  Not a single particular person of shade, nor a same-sex couple holding palms.  Simply numerous straight white folks with cash to burn.  And MAGA hats in every single place.”

In Sedona, Arizona, she noticed a McDonald’s with a inexperienced, moderately than yellow, M.  ‘The one approach the town would allow it was if the corporate complied with the native guidelines stating that every one buildings have to be carried out with a shade that displays nature.  I suppose inexperienced is extra pure than yellow?  However isn’t the solar yellow?”

In all, her 95-day journey gave her a lot to put in writing about.  Vicariously touring alongside together with her is pleasing.

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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He could also be contacted through donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com