New York Times Claims ‘Suckling Pig’ Restaurant Celebrates Jewish, Muslim Influence
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by Ira Stoll
Suckling pig. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Just days after touting Senator Charles Schumer’s “compelling” recipe for a pork-based meatloaf, the New York Times is at it again, pushing pig meat on its readers by blessing it, improbably, with a vaguely Brooklyn Jewish aura.
This time around, the hard sell comes in the Times travel section, which features a long article with a recommended itinerary for “36 Hours” in Brooklyn, New York.
Leave aside the peculiarity of a newspaper called the New York Times treating New York City itself as a topic for its “travel” section, rather than, say, its local news section, which has been reduced to nearly the point of elimination. The fourth stop on the Times travel section tour of Brooklyn says, “Go for a Spanish-style late dinner at La Vara. In New York City, it’s wise to seek out meals so exceptional you’re unlikely to find anything like them anywhere else.” That imperative mood — the Times ordering its readers around — occurs rarely in the newspaper. When it does, pay close attention. When reading the New York Times, it’s wise to seek out paragraphs so exceptional you’re unlikely to find anything like them anywhere else.
The Times reports:
On an unassuming residential block in brownstone Cobble Hill, a husband-wife team, Eder Montero and Alex Raij, serve regional cuisine that celebrates two cultural and historical influences in Spain: the Jewish and Muslim North African influences of the Moors. Dishes include such offerings as pincho de ceuta (grilled chicken hearts with a salad of fresh herbs and lime-date vinaigrette, $13) and crispy suckling pig, slow-cooked with a rose petal-quince sauce and chimichurri ($30).
How does it celebrate “Jewish and Muslim” influences to eat a “crispy suckling pig,” a food that violates the religious dietary laws of both Judaism and Islam? That is a question left unasked and unanswered by the Times. It’s as if the newspaper’s editors are unaware that Judaism and Islam forbid the consumption of pork, or as if they can’t imagine that any of their readers might take the prohibition seriously.
More of Ira Stoll’s media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.
