Alice Zaslavsky: For the love of veg
Published in The Australian Jewish News
November 9, 2020
While memories of food are inextricably entwined in Alice Zaslavsky’s past, they in every way anchor her present. When she purveys fresh produce, she is taken on a journey back to her birthplace in Georgia, to weekends spent at her grandfather’s dacha. There she foraged the earth of his vegetable garden and was allured by the small orchard.
Alice’s warm face lights up as she remembers how her grandfather taught her to make “semechki” – toasted sunflower seeds – the memory forever impressed upon her calloused finger, she proudly shows.
And then there are the generous bowls of borsch she grew up with – “The colour, the smell, the flavour … Mum’s borsch tastes like no one else’s,” she effuses.