"Yes, it’s all true, and this is what makes yeshivah cooks heroes. But Zev is the leader of them all”

Zev* (as close as I can get to his real name without using his real name) is the cook in one of the major American yeshivos. This isn’t the same cook your father or brothers or husband had way back in the 1900s.

Oh, no. This is a new world. No longer do bochurim endure chicken with feathers and paprika five nights a week, lunches of cheese kugel and brown tuna fish. No, ma’am, 2021’s boys eat in style — at least in Zev’s yeshivah.

Zev’s only mandate from the higher ups is to cook foods that the boys will enjoy eating. His suppers include sesame chicken, pepper steak, hot poppers, teriyaki beef, deli roll, fried baby chicken with waffles (I promise) and yes, the occasional chicken, but with outrageously delicious side dishes.

There was an issue a while back of boys not eating breakfast, and they were hungry during first seder. It got back to Zev, with grumbles and a slight tainah. No worries; Zev to the rescue! Now, every morning there are trays of freshly baked muffins and cookies on a side table during breakfast, so even if a boy isn’t up for toast and eggs or cereal, he can have a muffin (or three) with his coffee.

As for lunch, if the day’s menu isn’t to your son’s liking, there’s fresh bread with spreads, vegetables, and a soup — daily — in addition to the mains and sides.

Zev’s Shabbos food is me’ein Olam Haba. He works to make the food as un-commercial and heimish as possible, no small feat when cooking for hundreds. And here’s an interesting tidbit: When one of the rebbeim makes a simchah over a Shabbos, Zev caters it. To that end, he’ll provide five-star catering and be on call all Shabbos (after making a quick Kiddush/hamotzi for his own wife and kids in a small side room off the kitchen). No need to bend over backward thanking him; he’s just doing his job, right?