In honor of the Rosh and the Yom, this post is dedicated to the best (imho) cuisine – that of the Jewish persuasion.  Though I could probably throw a rock at Russ & Daughters and hit it from my Lower East Side apartment window, I’d never ventured into the white, appetizer-stocked interior for fear of wallet-busting prices and my visible inexperience in the dealings of smoked fish.  I had heard from a reliable source that Russ & Daughters boasts the best smoked salmon in New York, a pretty weighty assertion for a city whose blocks are lined with old-world Jewish delis.  On my walk back from campus the other day, I finally bit the bullet and decided to splurge on a bagel and lox. 

The shelves are lined with imported boxes of crackers, cans of fish, olives and mushrooms, and dried fruits and nuts.  Two counters – one for bagel fixin’s and another showcasing candies and chocolates – occupy the front half of the store.  It’s your basic Jewish Shangri-La, which unfortunately is also chock-full of whiney old ladies and fast-talking men behind the counters. 

 When questioned what kind of lox I wanted to top my bagel, I was left dumbfounded and overwhelmed by the myriad of pink filleted bodies glaring at me from behind the glass encasement.  I eenie-meenie-mynie-mowed it out and selected the old-fashioned belly lox, which sells for $7.99 for a quarter pound.  This, according to Jose the Lox Purveyor, was a salmon no-no. 

 ”You don’t eat lox you don’t know lox,” he repeated mechanically, asserting that I was unable to handle belly lox’s saltiness. 

“Not only is this not a grammatical sentence,” I thought to myself, “but Jose – I believe my brown, frizzy curls are a pretty clear indication that I’m the one who’s been raised on this delicacy.”

Despite his Latin roots, Jose was quite well-versed in his knowledge of all that is smoked, briny, and holy.  He served me a Gaspe nova instead ($6.99/quarter pound), which was the smoothest, purest piece of fish I’ve ever tasted.  A deep pinkish hue and coated in a thin layer of oil, the fish literally melted in my mouth like buttah.  The home-made cream cheese was a light, pillowy spread which blanketed the lox.  The whole bagel-cream cheese-lox combo ran me $9.75, which costs $1-3 more than your average bagel in the city.  It was worth every penny.