If the Schug Fits . . .

Schug: One of my all-time favorite dishes, though most would call it more of a condiment or sauce than a dish per se. There are a million versions of this typical Mediterranean concoction. Mine, like most, has a combination of fresh green chile peppers, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, and the typical seasonings. Like most of my top-shelf spicy sauces, our soul food kitchen schug is pulled out primarily for family and friends. It’s not that we’re being elitist. Our Israeli clientele doesn’t much go for the hot stuff.

Which is interesting, since this Yemenite-origin dish can be found all over this country. I guess we simply dial it up a bit too much. I dunno.

The strange thing about our schug is really Irit: She goes through periods of time when she doesn’t tolerate anything spicy. And then, all of a fucking sudden, she craves it. I mean, to the point where she makes herself a tchina sandwich (spelt pita, tchina, homemade bread-and-butter pickles) just as a backdrop to each the schug. I suspect she gets up in the middle of the night, tiptoes down the hall to the kitchen, and eats it straight from the jar. I can’t prove it. All I know is that my inventory of schug seems to be depleted when I crank up the kitchen that next morning.

And then, like these cicadas that hibernate for 17 years only to burst onto the scene for a brief moment in time, Irit’s craving comes and goes in the blink of an eye. And of course I’m left with a mountain of this green spicy shit, calling friends and family to see who wants.

For me, the interesting hook of an idea here has to to with the strange whims of taste. Sudden cravings, that come and go with the wind. We see that a lot in our soul food kitchen. Out of the blue, seemingly, we have a run on poultry dishes. Then, just as quickly, nothing. Same for fish. And bbq’d meats. It’s like the murmuration of starlings: a non-communicated group pattern, seemingly random and yet not. I’ve kept statistical data on my food business for several years now. And no order of statistical sophistication seems capable of explaining, much less predicting this non-random pattern. Wish I knew more.