Tag: Ashkenazic Food
Episode 13 – Kugel: Spirituality in the Jewish Kitchen and Beyond
Kugel is more a class of foods, than a food. Growing out of the medieval Ashkenazi kitchen, it went through a multi-stage development process, and now comes in many forms. It remains, however, one of the most popular Shabbat dishes. But primarily due to its popularity, it also grew into a dish that is particularly revered by Chasidic Jews. Understanding […]
Episode 10 – Pastrami: The Uniqueness of American-Jewish Food
What makes American-Jewish pastrami different from other deli meats? How does it compare with its European precursors? How did the delicatessen embody the American-Jewish experience? And how similar are American-Jewish and European Ashkenazi cuisines? Among other questions, this is what I explore in episode 10, focused on the beloved food of New York City, pastrami. Interview: Ted Merwin Episode Notes
Chopped Liver’s Staying Power
Chopped liver is peculiar. I don’t mean that word using its somewhat negative connotations. I mean to use its denotative meanings of distinctive, special, and particular. In this post, I want to explain what is different about chopped liver within the Jewish Food canon, and also explore potential reasons for that peculiarity. I wrote about this topic once in my […]
The German-Jewish Cookbook: From the Bookshelf
I have written previously about the effects of the Holocaust on Jewish cuisine, most prominently in the breaking of the chain of transmission from generation to generation. This resulted in a tremendous amount of cultural knowledge being lost. We do have a few books that can help us learn about pre-war European Jewish food. For example, there is a unique […]
From the Bookshelf: The Book of Jewish Food
The time has come to write about the last of my all-time top three Jewish Food books. I previously spoke about Gil Marks’ Encyclopedia of Jewish Food and John Cooper’s Eat and Be Satisfied. This third one is probably the best known: The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden. As I mentioned previously, each of these three books is […]
Jewish Food that Isn’t Ashkenazi or Sephardi
When I give my tours in Jerusalem’s open-air Machane Yehuda Market, I say something in my intro that sometimes confuses my guests. In discussing the diversity of foods that we encounter in the market, I explain there are foods from Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, and “Jews who are neither.” Usually, I get quizzical looks from those who can’t envision Jews […]
Q&A: Why Can’t I Find a Good Bagel in Israel?
The question above, or the similar one that replaces “bagel” with “pastrami,” “knish” or something else of the sort, is one of the most frequent I receive, both as an American-Israeli food researcher, and as a tour guide specializining in culinary tours. When I received some form of this question on a recent tour in Machane Yehuda Market, I answered […]
Traditional Jewish Foods for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday for the Jews. Certainly we are quite familiar with the concept of a thanksgiving feast; in Hebrew it is called a seudat hoda’ah, and it is commonly done for personal reasons by Jews around the world. But since, in America, it is one of the most widely observed holidays, yet does not come with accompanying […]
Eat and be Satisfied: The Jewish Food Bookshelf
For this edition of From the Jewish Food Bookshelf, I wanted to talk about the second of my top three resources for Jewish Food History. I previously wrote about Gil Marks’ excellent Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, which I reference repeatedly when looking into a topic. John Cooper’s Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food is a different […]
Ashkenazi Food: Unrecognized Diversity
Anyone who has read my blog regularly knows that I try very hard to explore Jewish Food beyond the Ashkenazi staples that so many people think of when they think of Jewish Food. However, I also do my best to “defend” Ashkenazi food against the attacks I see as unwarranted. People think of it is boring, un-tasty, and monolithic. In […]
