gribness

has anyone ever heard of gribness? i grew up in skokie illinois and poochies menu always said gribness in season only, never seen that anywhere in a vienna place

You must not be Jewish. Schmaltz is rendered chicken or goose fat used for frying or spreading on bread. When you add the skin of the chicken or goose it becomes gribness. I must stop by Poochies on my next visit to Chicago.

quote:

Originally posted by acer2x

You must not be Jewish. Schmaltz is rendered chicken or goose fat used for frying or spreading on bread. When you add the skin of the chicken or goose it becomes gribness. I must stop by Poochies on my next visit to Chicago.

The correct term is gribbenes. Acer got the gyst of it. Gribbenes is essentially "cracklins"- or fried skin. Gribbenes is usually the skin that you rendered to become schmaltz gets fried (usually in that very schmaltz) with onions.

Mix that with chopped liver and you got one of the great treats of all time.

That does it ... I'm hitty Sammy's Romanian Chop House next time I'm in NYC.

You've got to love the way Sammy's raises Chopped Liver to high art by preparing it tableside with the same flourishes accorded a Caesar Salad at fancy restaurants. And where else are all the accoutrements necessary to make your own egg cream provided at the table? Definitely a contender for the most interesting restaurant of all time.

Just looked in "The Art of Jewish Cooking" by Jennie Grossinger(of the Catskills resort) and there is a recipe for Rendered Fat and Grebenes(her spelling) as follows:

Remove fat and fatty skin from chicken or goose.For each cup of fat to be rendered,you'll need 1/4 cup of sliced onions and 1 sliced apple.Wash and drain the fat and cut in small pieces. Cook over low heat until the fat is almost melted.Add the onions and apple and cook until the onions brown. Cool and strain.The onions and pieces of skin(grebenes=cracklings)can be stored in refrigerator for use in a number of dishes-Kasha Varnishkes,Flaishig Noodle Pudding,Chopped Liver,etc.

The above recipe with apples is unusual. Most omit the apple. Grebenes is the correct spelling for a google search. Someone said that grebenes is the Jewish equivalent to pork rinds. I remember keeping the grebenes in with the schmaltz schmeared on fresh rye bread.

i had a 90 year old aunt who was extremly kosher all her life. she was hospitilized at st.peters hospital and remarked how kind the nuns were to her. she said they must have known she was jewish and every morning they served her gribenes and eggs. she never knew it was bacon and to her dying day she loved that hospital. TRUE STORY

ok acer i grew up in a kosher home in skokie and my mom never made it but yes my grandma always used schmaltz and the only time i ever heard the term(gribness(was at skokie's Poochies on dempster street.

Marky,
That's a good story.
The Bear