Andrew J. Lederer

Coca-Cola, the pause that refreshes -- America's gift to the thirsty. The Real Thing.

Is NOT the real thing in its country of origin.

Because the cheap corporate bastards who pretend to give consumers what they want, instead give them weak and even dangerous substitutes, as in the case of Coke.

See, The Coca-Cola Company closely guards its secret recipe -- but they don't follow that recipe.

At least not here.

In Europe, sure. In Arab lands, absolutely.

But here in the United States, represented as much to the world by Coke as by our flag, we are defrauded every time we sip. For Coca-Cola "Classic" has no sugar.

Instead, it contains high fructose corn syrup -- a government-subsidized American farm product which has a flatter, weaker taste than sucrose (or table sugar) and is worse for you as well -- the trans-fat of sugars.

Except for now. Because Passover is upon us.

And high fructose corn syrup is not Kosher for Passover. (Not for Ashekenazim, anyway.)

I always mean to get the special pesadik blend but never get around to doing it during the incredibly brief "real thing" season. Even when I lived in a neighborhood filled with ultra-Orthodox and walked past a kosher grocery store, I thought about getting some of that red-blooded, soda goodness but I didn't go in.

Or did I?

Anyway, I never saw it. And it turns out there's a trick.

My friend figured it out -- you gotta look for the yellow cap.

Not the red one. Yellow.

He brought some in and we drank it. It was like being back in England, where soda recipes are not things to be trifled with.

But there's something wrong with that. People in England should be drinking cider and real ale. In America, we should have Coke.

Thank God for the Jews. For a brief moment this spring, this will really be America, again.

Yet another thing my people have done for this land we love.