Stop the presses: Jenny Slate has a take about Jewish food that is as hot as it is fishy!
Appearing in a recent video for theSkimm’s “Texting With” series to promote her film “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Jewish comedian and actress Jenny Slate revealed that her favorite Jewish foods are smoked salmon and lox.
But that’s not all!
“Call me gross, but I love my gefilte fish,” Jenny added with a knowing grin.
Yes, you read that correctly: Jenny Slate loves gefilte fish, the notoriously controversial Ashkenazi dish which is made of ground, deboned fish.
The interview had other great Jewish moments. Jenny shared that she’s binging “Hacks,” showing support for fellow Jewish comedian Hannah Einbinder. She also talked about which of her past characters she’d like to be friends with now.
“I think it’d be really nice to be friends with Donna from ‘Obvious Child,’” she said, adding, “I don’t think anybody wants to be friends with Mona-Lisa Saperstein.”
ICYMI, both of those characters are Jewish, or, at least, Jewish-coded. In “Obvious Child,” main character Donna Stern is a Jewish stand-up comedian who, while experiencing rock bottom, becomes pregnant by a one-night stand and has an abortion. Perhaps one of the best pieces of Jewish dialogue in film comes when Donna (Slate) and her friend Joey (Gabe Liedman) discuss whether or not Donna wants to try to date the one-night stand, played by Jake Lacy.
Donna: He’s like so Christian, he’s like a Christmas tree.
Joey: So? Be the fucking angel on top. Who gives a shit?
Donna: I’m not the angel on top, I’m the menorah on top of the tree that burns it down.
Truly incredible writing, and we would definitely be friends with Donna too.
Then, of course, there is Mona-Lisa Saperstein from “Parks and Recreation,” who, though perhaps not explicitly Jewish, is certainly Jewish-coded — the character leans into stereotypes as a Jewish American Princess.
In the rest of the segment, Jenny also talks about less Jewish things like her go-to karaoke song, what she’s reading right now and her favorite cocktail. Which leads us to our question: Jenny, do you want to hang out, drink spicy margaritas and eat gefilte fish?!
