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Jewish Cuisine Book Reviews

 
The Book of Jewish Food:
An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York

by Claudia Roden

This cookbook is a superb contribution to ethnic cookery containing more than 800 Ashkenazi and Sephardic recipes this cookbook. The introduction includes the sociology of the Jewish emigrants, Jewish dietary laws and it helps explain that the Jewish cooks were extremely capable of adapting to other food cultures whether it was a community in Bombay, Blobna or Brooklyn.


 

Everyday Cooking for the Jewish Home
by Ethel G. Hofman

Ethel G. Hofman makes over 350 recipes accessible and easy for the contemporary Jewish home and any other home that wants healthful appetizing international fare with flair. By combining the wealth of new kosher products available with modern cooking techniques and equipment, Hofman shows how the most inexperienced or time-challenged cook can produce up-to-date dishes like Maple-Drenched Almond Latkes with little time or effort. Trained as a home economist, she illustrates how lower to fat and calories in new versions of old favorites, such as Matzah Brie, and Stuffed Cabbage. With parve, meat and dairy sections within each chapter, substitutions for the Kosher kitchen and plenty of non-meat dishes, there is something here for everyone.


 

In Memory's Kitchen
by Jason Aronson

A testament to the strength of the connection between food and family.


 

Jewish Cooking in America
by Joan Nathan

Here is a Julia Child Cookbook Award winning book which brings to life more than three centures of Jewish cooking in America. The author has collected more than 300 recipes, both old and new, which cover a wide range of regional flavors. Learn the history of potato latkes and kugels, and why Lindy's cheesecake has become a household word (or two). Everything from the very traditional to the dishes of today's nouvelle Jewish chefs is covered.


 

Jewish Holiday Feasts
by Louise Fiszer and Jeannette Ferrary

Beautifully illustrated and brimming with flavorful recipes from around the world, Jewish Holiday Feasts serves up thirty nine delectable, easy to prepare dishes for memorable holiday feasts featuring both traditional favorites and contemporary delicacies.


 

Let My People Eat!
by Zell Schulman

Okay, so it's been a few years since you went "all out" on this holiday. Well, that's okay because Zell Schulman makes it super-easy to get back into the swing of things by offering an overwhelming amount of easy tips to help you out. Let My People Eat! offers "lists, explanations, and sources for everything from ceremonial objects to stocking your Passover pantry. [Schulman] explains the many ways you can prepare the Seder plate and set your Seder table." Have guests coming over who have dietary restrictions or are vegetarians? No problem -- flip to Chapter Four. Want a list of Kosher wines? Check Chapter Five. You'll come out a winner if you consult this book before your guests arrive!


 

Low-Fat Jewish Cookbook
by Faye Levy

Renowned food writer and cookbook author Faye Levy brings Koher cooking into the 1990 s with easy, delicious, low-fat recipes. From a simple weeknight dinner to an elaborate holiday menu, Levy offers mouthwatering, low-fat versions of classic favorites and contemporary dishes for everyday cooking and entertaining. This is a cookbook for those who want to keep a Kosher home, or those who want to expand their holiday repertoires. These recipes adhere to religious dietary guidelines, and end up proving that, Kosher eating lends itself easily to a low-fat diet. After a clear introduction entitled Today's Kosher Kitchen, defining the laws of kashrut and offering thoughts on maintaining a kosher home, the first nine chapters are creatively presented as a series of menus for Jewish holidays throughout the year. For each, Levy first describes the holiday and the customs and foods associated with it, then offers a low-fat meal to accompany it, while losing none of the authenticity or appeal off traditional dishes. The remaining ten chapters are for everyday meals, and include such things as soups, dairy dishes and breads. Levy also offers Kosher versions of popular ethnic dishes, such as Tandoori Chicken with Basmati Rice. Filled with encouraging attitude and extensive food knowledge, this cookbook is sure to inspire both Kosher and non-Kosher cooks to enjoy Faye Levy's traditional and innovative Jewish meals.


 

Mama Cooks California Style:
New Twists on Jewish Classics

by Thelma Rikfind

A new generation of health-conscious diners are discovering updated versions of traditional Jewish dishes with a lighter touch, using the freshest ingredients and updated preparation techniques. Mama Cooks California Style shows that eating healthy doesn't mean compromising on taste. The recipes in this 265 page cookbook include a wide range of Old World favorites many of which are classic dishes synonymous with traditional Jewish cooking. Some recipes are old, some original, some gourmet, some "California-ized," but all have a splendid comfort food taste that will make your mouth water.


 

Matza 101
by Jenny Kdoshim and Debbie Bevans

This is an innovative 150 page cookbook containing 101 creative recipes simply made with Matza. This will give you Kosher recipes appropriate for all year long. Take advantage of Matza 101's easy-to-follow instructions and referenced diagrams whether preparing for Passover or a simple dinner for two.


 

The Passover Table
by Susan R. Friedland

It takes a real martyr to cook for the week of Passover. After the four cups of wine have been drunk, the whining begins. "Matzah again?" It was practically a mantra in my childhood home.

If only we had The Passover Table by Susan R. Friedland on hand when I was growing up. The whole question of what to eat would have been put to rest. Amid lavish full-color photographs are more than 40 recipes -- both traditional and modern -- for seders and meals throughout Passover week. There's everything you need, including the Exodus story and dietary rules, all in one slim volume.

The recipes are simply and precisely written, and many require less than an hour to prepare. You'll be pleased by Friedland's inclusion of more involved recipes, too, because, even if you haven't the time to try them, you'll appreciate their value as food for thought. This is where I first came across rossl, fermented beets. Friedland's borscht recipes, though virtually effortless with the listed ingredients on hand, call for rossl, which takes about one month to prepare.

 


 

The Sephardic Kitchen, The Healthful Food and Rich Culture of the Mediterranean Jew
by Rabbi Robert Sternbeg

A rabbi doing a cookbook? If he's Sternberg, author of Yiddish Cuisine, we say, why not a rabbi? Who else could intersperse recipes for buleymas (savory pastries) and Macedonian bulgur soup with Sephardic folktakes? This book is history, folklore, haute cuisine and peasant pleasures. This is a book to read and re-read, and yes, the recipes are easy to use, informatively written and the directions are user-friendly. Sephardic food is that based on those created by the Jews of Spain and Mediterranean countries, and in fact, Sephardic comes from the Hebrew word meaning Spain. (The "other" Jewish cuisine is based on Russian/European culture of the Ashkenazi Jews.) When not cooking or writing, Sternberg is the executive director of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in St. Louis, Missouri.




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