Book Description
Every year, poet and novelist Marge Piercy creates her own Passover seder with a group of family and friends. Babies have been born and grown up, friends have moved or divorced, but the principals continue to gather in her rustic Cape Cod home to participate in a seder that Piercy takes joy in tweaking each spring to make it more meaningful. In this journey through the ritual, Piercy coaxes us toward “a significant contemporary interpretation, rather than an emphasis on what is strictly ‘correct’ or traditional.” She reminisces about her grandmother, who thought herself unworthy to lead a seder because of her limited Hebrew but presided “morally” at the table; she urges adding an orange to the seder plate; she even describes her heroic efforts to make her own gefilte fish (an experiment not to be repeated).
Piercy offers her distinct slant on each element of the feast and provides dozens of her own wonderful recipes, which she delivers in the same warm, commanding voice as is heard in her poems and prose: “When I told Ira that I was going to explain how to cook matzoh brei, he thought I was crazy. Everybody knows how to make matzoh brei, he said. But I am of the opinion that there is no longer anything that everybody knows how to cook.”
It is in that spirit–no question too simple–that Piercy welcomes readers to her kind of seder: a homemade and personal affair, the kind we all wish we could attend. This charming and instructive book of Passover wisdom, brimming with favorite dishes and Marge Piercy’s own moving Passover poems and blessings, invites us to look at an important Jewish ritual in a whole new way.
Customer Reviews:
Offbeat pesach musings.......2007-05-06
As a fan of Marge Piercy's writings, I was curious about this new endeavor. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was and the memories it evoked for me. Our Passover seders always include new poetry (many of them from her previous poetry books)and readings, and my attitude about Pesach mirrors hers, "whatever works, do it". I was so impressed that I sent a copy to my niece. Her recipes were an added feature and the macaroons came out great.
very personal, very interesting, and useful.......2007-04-09
Jewish tradition and feminism collide in this book. I found the tension fascinating. There are a lot of personal stories, a lot of recipes done the way I cook ("add a little of this, or, if you don't like it, add a little of that.") There were a few new poems, but the ones I liked best are already in The Art of Blessing the Day. I didn't always agree with her, but she always provided food for thought. At my seder, I found myself citing this book several times. Plus I cooked a tsimmes from one of her recipes, and it was quite good.
This is far from being a haggadah; just commentary on the various sections of the seder and a lot of interesting stories and recipes.
Make Passover even more meaningful this year.......2007-04-02
I really appreciate this book. It is respectful of tradition but it also helps to infuse the holiday with personal relevance, which is what it's all about anyway. I love the poems, the prayers, the recipes and wonderful stories that add such richness. Pick and choose what's meaningful to you and "pass over" the rest!
I THOUGHT IT WAS A PARODY.......2007-04-02
In the Thirties in the USSR Ms. Piercy would have been a Stalinist hack. This is the most slavish and trite abasement of Jewish tradition to PC platitudes that I have ever seen. For a so-called 'poet' there isn't the slightst trace of history, collective memory and awe that has always infused the Passover, even for the barely observant Jew. It is deeply offensive and truly revolting. It is like reading bumper stickers. If this is the 'only seder some marginal Jews can tolerate' I wish they'd stay away from the table.
Thought-provoking!.......2007-03-26
A must-read before Pesach for the traditionalist or modern Jew alike. A very easy book to read packed with information and advice. The recipes look great too!
Amazon.com
Finally, you can put aside those yellowed newspaper clippings this holiday! The New York Times Passover Cookbook collects almost 50 years' worth of delicious Seder recipes from the Times and its contributors, from Florence Fabricant's Classic Gefilte Fish to Barry Wine's Tsimmes Terrine. With more than 200 recipes, the book travels around the world of Jewish cuisine, from Artichokes, Sephardic Style--a spicy, fried, Egyptian dish--to Mississippi Praline Macaroons, a recipe that traveled with its originator from Vienna, Austria, to Natchez, Mississippi. Because the book includes recipes from both Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions, editor Linda Amster notes that the ingredients in some recipes may not be acceptable to other communities (for example, the allspice in Claudia Roden's Matzoh-Meat Pie perfectly reflects its Arab-Jewish influences, but probably would be out of place on an Ashkenazic Passover menu).
Through the years at the Times, many Passover recipes have come from accomplished home cooks in the New York area (such as Florence Aaron's Salmon and Egg Salad). More recently, however, the paper has given some star chefs a turn at the traditional Seder dishes, so you'll also find such gourmet delights as Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Beet Tartare, Paul Prudhomme's Veal Roast with Mango Sauce, Charlie Trotter's Carrot Consommé, and Maida Heatter's Chocolate Walnut Torte. In addition to the wealth of recipes, The New York Times Passover Cookbook features a thoughtful introduction on the meanings of the Passover ritual by Joan Nathan, author of the award-winning Jewish Cooking in America. Threaded through the book are four essays by Times critics and columnists Ruth Reichl, Mimi Sheraton, Molly O'Neill, and Howard G. Goldberg. Goldberg's informative piece on Kosher wines may cause you to put the sweet Manischewitz aside for a dryer Israeli Cabernet or a Californian Semillon. Whether you're looking for a classic apple-nut Haroseth or a fusion-cuisine Southwestern Tsimmes Stuffed in Anaheim Chiles, The New York Times Passover Cookbook is an excellent, comprehensive sourcebook for the Passover meal. --Rebecca A. Staffel
Book Description
More Than 200 Holiday Recipes from Top Chefs and Writers
At last, from the paper of culinary record, comes a treasure trove of more than 200 recipes that celebrate the delicious festivity of the Passover table. Compiled from Times articles spanning almost fifty years, The New York Times Passover Cookbook represents Jewish cuisine from all over the world.
It contains family recipes that have been passed down for generations as well as innovative kosher cuisine from such celebrated chefs as Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters. Acclaimed Times writers Molly O'Neill, Ruth Reichl, and Mimi Sheraton have all contributed essays on the different ways that the Passover experience has enriched their lives.
Recipes from Craig Claiborne, Mimi Sheraton, Molly O'Neill, Marian Burros, and Florence Fabricant are also included, allowing the reader to see -- and taste! -- how the experts at The New York Times cook for Passover.
With dozens of fantastic main-course dishes for both meat and dairy meals, you'll have a tough time deciding between the Shad with Pineapple-Rhubarb Salsa and the Braised Moroccan-Style Lamb with Almonds, Prunes and Dried Apricots. Maybe this year your guests will savor a traditional dish like Chicken with Fresh Herbs and 40 Cloves of Garlic -- or perhaps something different, like Southwestern Blackened and Braised Brisket of Beef or Paul Prudhomme's Veal Roast with Mango Sauce. The chapter on Vegetables and Salads contains an ample selection of memorable side dishes: Carrot and Apple Tsimmes, Butternut Squash Ratatouille, the Union Square Cafis Matzoh Meal Polenta, and Beet Crisps are just a few of the flavorful recipes you'll want to enjoy all year round.
Customer Reviews:
Great for traditional Ashkenazie recipes.......2007-05-16
This cookebook has many variations of the Ashkenazic Jewish classics - chicken soup, tzimmes, brisket, gefilte fish and charoset. Many of them are excellent, but the cookbook is thin on recipes for other varieties of food. All in all, this is a good niche category cookbook.
In response to the comment below titled "totally not for orthodox cooks".......2006-01-30
I am ultra-Orthodox (Chareidi) and I DO use matzo meal on Pesach. You are right that some will not, but the rest will. And as for vegetables that cannot be pealed, of course we use them! Even if we want to be extra makbid (strict), we can always use the Bodek kind (already checked for bugs).
Anyway, I really didn't buy or ever use this book (yet), so I do not know if it really deserves 5 stars.
An absolute necessity if you ever prepare a seder meal!.......2003-11-12
This cookbook is so wonderful, so essential, I can't recommend it heartily enough. Perhaps my greatest endorsement is this: I really use these recipes THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, not just at Passover!
I'm the type of cook who rarely makes the same dish more than once. Here, there are several recipes I make again and again. The cover recipe, Pot Roast with Red Wine and Onions, is reason enough to order this book. The matzoh balls I make every year from these pages and they are always easy, fluffy, and to die for.
Another fantastic feature is the abundance of recipes for those "other" days of Passover--the in-between days when you're not going all out for a Seder meal but you still want something delicious.
The contributors to this book are remarkable in their expertise and their diversity. Every Jewish cook should have this book!
great book.......2003-04-18
This cookbook is fantastic. Try the carrot souffle on page 110. It is delicious and has a unique texture. It is somewhat like carrot cake. However, the recipe doesn't tell you to turn it out of the pan, which you should do. Some of the recipes are difficult to make if you live in a community, as I do, that doesn't have a kosher butcher. Also, I wish that there were more simple recipes. I am struggling to satisfy my children during Passover, and this cookbook doesn't help much with that. Still, it is a great resource to have on hand.
Favorite Passover Cookbook.......2003-03-10
I am a definite "foodie", and an Orthodox Jew. I'm always looking for new recipes to try out. I frequently take out cookbooks from local libraries to try them out, and purchase the most useful ones. There is a definite dearth of good Kosher for Passover cookbooks, so I was thrilled to find this one last year.
I am buying this one today. This is not a cookbook for beginners, but all the recipes I tried were worth the effort, and were delicious. I can't wait to try some more recipes this year. It's so nice to find some recipes for Passover that are not the usual chicken/potatoes combo. There are also many recipes to use year round.
I would also like to answer the person who said the this cookbook is not for any Orthodox Jews. He/she forgot that there are many type of Orthodox Jews. If you do not eat gebrokts (a mixture of matza meal & liquid) during all but the last day of Pesach, then there are some recipes that you will not be able to use. If your tradition (minhag) is to peel all fruits and vegetables, go ahead. You think the NY Times writers are chasidish??? Please! You can get many kosher for Passover for cookbooks with recipes from your community.
Please remember that your type of Yiddishkeit is not the only one. There are many Orthodox Jews who will not have problems with any recipes in this cookbook. And again, there are still many good recipes in this cookbook, even if you don't eat gebrokts.
Book Description
"A land of wheat and barley, of grape vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey . . . you shall eat and be satisfied." âDeut. 8:8-10
A Celebration of Classic Jewish Vegetarian Cooking from Around the World
Traditions of Jewish vegetarian cooking span three millennia and the extraordinary geographical breadth of the Jewish diasporaâfrom Persia to Ethiopia, Romania to France. Acclaimed Judaic cooking expert, chef, and rabbi Gil Marks uncovers this vibrant culinary heritage for home cooks. Olive Trees and Honey is a magnificent treasury shedding light on the truly international palette of Jewish vegetarian cooking, with 300 recipes for soups, salads, grains, pastas, legumes, vegetable stews, egg dishes, savory pastries, and more.
From Sephardic Bean Stew (Hamin) to Ashkenazic Mushroom Knishes, Italian Fried Artichokes to Hungarian Asparagus Soup, these dishes are suitable for any occasion on the Jewish calendarâfestival and everyday meal alike. Marks's insights into the origins and evolution of the recipes, suggestions for holiday menus from Yom Kippur to Passover, and culture-rich discussion of key ingredients enhance this enchanting portrait of the Jewish diaspora's global legacy of vegetarian cooking.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome recipes!.......2007-10-05
I love this book. The recipes are so good, and are quite unique and easy to make. Instructions are well explained, and some are simply amazing.
My friends recommended the book and it is great (Written by Brett's wife!).
One of my favorite cookbooks.......2007-09-12
This is essentially an international cookbook focusing on cuisines of places which have historically had significant Jewish populations (although not much on Ashkenazi cuisine). Much of the cookbook is divided by vegetable. For many recipes, variations are presented, some of which transfer the recipe from one cuisine to another. The food is delicious and this is one of the only mainstream cookbooks with Ethiopian recipes. Highly recommended. My only warning is that Marks expects you will be feeding a large group, so singles beware... my huge batch of lovely Persian rice just didn't get finished.
A beautiful cookbook that deserves to be in every kitchen.......2007-06-15
"A land of wheat and barley, of grape vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey . . . you shall eat and be satisfied." Deut. 8:8-10
Tracing vegetarian Jewish Diaspora recipes is no easy task: Rabbi and chef Gil Marks has created a painstakingly researched cookbook that at times reads more like a history book. With recipes from Azerbaijan to Yemen, Olive Trees and Honey is a catalogue of the vast variety of Jewish vegetarian cuisines, including chapters on cheese and dairy spreads, pickles and relishes, soups, salads, savory pastries, cooked vegetable dishes, vegetable stews, beans and legumes, grains, dumplings and pasta, eggs, and sauces and seasonings.
Each section features fascinating information about the origins and spread of each type of cuisine, often with illustrative maps. Some examples include a map of which type of cheeses are popular in which Diaspora community, or the spread of stuffed cabbage from Persia. Each recipe contains a myriad of further variations to try. Every recipe is labeled Dairy or Pareve for those keeping kosher, and many recipes offer Pareve alternatives (which generally are vegan).
Some of the more interesting recipes that caught my eye were Moroccan Pumpkin Soup, Hungarian Wine Soup, a sangria-like cold soup (red wine and fresh/frozen fruit mixed with orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves), Middle Eastern Bulgur-Stuffed Cabbage, Sephardic Cauliflower Patties (perfect for Passover if made with matza meal), Indian Coconut Rice, Middle Eastern Wheat Berry Stew, and the classic Ashkenazic Sweet Noodle Pudding (Kugel).
Also included are suggested vegetarian menus for special occasions and holidays. This is a monumental work and one of the most beautiful vegetarian cookbooks out there, refreshing for the soul as well as body. I only have two small complaints: Rabbi Gil Marks wrote the excellent (and out-of-print) World of Jewish Desserts, with over 400 Diaspora recipes. I would have liked to see the incorporation of more of his well-researched desserts as a final sweet note (there are recipes for several pastry-based desserts included). Also, the large number of variations in addition to the core recipes (example: ten recipes for red lentil soup, many of which are minor variations of the basic Sephardic Red Lentil Soup) made this a bit overwhelming; although I enjoyed browsing through the 300+ recipes, I honestly don't see myself ever making more than a handful on a regular basis.
An excellent guide to Vegetarian Jewish Cooking.......2007-04-14
'Olive Trees and Honey' is an amazing book. Not only will you get wonderful vegetarian recipes, but just the history and traditions that are explained in this book is worth the price of the book. Don't think that it's full of "talk" though!! It contains lots of wonderful recipes. Pages 1-34 contains a brief explanation of the various countries that Jewish people come from, the traditional Jewish foods eaten in those countries, the spices used, etc. Did you know that there are Jewish people in India? Ethiopia? Yemen? The rest of the book (about 400 pages of it) contain some very interesting recipes. The beginning of each chapter includes a little section on the history of that type of food, along with recipes from various countries, and some possible variations. This book is for everyone - vegetarians, vegans, meat eaters, Jewish or non-Jewish. I promise you will learn something from this book (and not just new recipes!) It's obvious that the author took a lot of trouble to research th background of the various types of Jewish communities before he wrote this book, and I wish I could give it 10 stars!
A Great Cookboook!.......2007-01-17
What a wonderful book! As a vegetarian, I cook primarily ethnic meals involving legumes. I truly thought I'd seen just about every legume-recipe variation... until this book. The recipes are varied and delicious! Along with Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian", this is my favorite.
Book Description
Jewish holidays are defined by food. Yet Jewish cooking is always changing, encompassing the flavors of the world, embracing local culinary traditions of every place in which Jews have lived and adapting them to Jewish observance. This collection, the culmination of Joan Nathan’s decades of gathering Jewish recipes from around the world, is a tour through the Jewish holidays as told in food. For each holiday, Nathan presents menus from different cuisines—Moroccan, Russian, German, and contemporary American are just a few—that show how the traditions of Jewish food have taken on new forms around the world. There are dishes that you will remember from your mother’s table and dishes that go back to the Second Temple, family recipes that you thought were lost and other families’ recipes that you have yet to discover. Explaining their origins and the holidays that have shaped them, Nathan spices these delicious recipes with delightful stories about the people who have kept these traditions alive.
Try something exotic—Algerian Chicken Tagine with Quinces or Seven-Fruit Haroset from Surinam—or rediscover an American favorite like Pineapple Noodle Kugel or Charlestonian Broth with “Soup Bunch” and Matzah Balls. No matter what you select, this essential book, which combines and updates Nathan’s classic cookbooks The Jewish Holiday Baker and The Jewish Holiday Kitchen with a new generation of recipes, will bring the rich variety and heritage of Jewish cooking to your table on the holidays and throughout the year.
Customer Reviews:
Best book for newbies, experts, historians, and foodies.......2007-03-29
Jewish Holiday Kitchen is/was my favorite Jewish cookbook to use and to give, and this is the revised version. I don't know if it has all of her recipes from the first, plus some from her baking book, or if some from Kitchen have been left out. Unless you are looking for specific recipes from the first book (see below) this new one is a safe bet.
Great Gift: the descriptions of holidays include both the basic (for those without much Jewish education), and the deep, fascinating details of traditions unique to regions, history, etc.
Great recipes for the basics: yes, Holiday Kitchen had the best cookie dough hamentaschen of dozens tried, challah, and more. The hamentasch recipe is different from the one in her Holiday Baking, and in her Kids Jewish cooking. I don't know which made it into this revised version.
Great recipes for foodies: I've eaten my way across Morocco and tried dozens upon dozens of recipes for bastilla, the fillo pie from Morocco often filled with pigeon and dusted with powdered sugar. Her version, with chicken, is absolutely positively the best. Her potato kugelettes are another favorite; they are an elegant, simple, delicious addition to Passover, Hanukah, or any meal you want to look special.
Delicious recipes.......2006-01-09
I absolutely love using this cookbook. I use one of the recipes weekly, for Shabbos Challah and, I have also made Rosh Hashana sweet Challah from this cookbook. I have also made other side dishes from this book and everything comes out delicious, with good reviews from my guests! I highly recommend it for any Kosher home.
Excellently Deep Survey of Jewish Culinary Holidays........2006-01-08
`Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook' by the `Paula Wolfert' of Jewish cooking, Joan Nathan, is an updated composite of two of her earlier books, `The Jewish Holiday Baker' and `The Jewish Holiday Kitchen' on the 25th anniversary of the publication of the latter volume.
I have reviewed only one other book of Jewish cooking, the big `New York Times' book of Jewish recipes and I can unequivocally say that as a first book on Jewish cooking, Nathan's book is a far, far superior starting point. The only reason you may want to buy the `New York Times' volume is if you are already so thoroughly knowledgeable about Jewish cuisine that all you want is a big book of good recipes.
I get the sense from this book that the fact that it deals only with `holiday' cooking does very little to limit the scope of the recipes, as it not only deals with the yearly holidays but also that cooking which is particular to the restrictions on observing the Sabbath.
I think it is no accident that in my survey of cookbooks so far, there are far more Jewish holiday cookbooks than there are for any other ethnic cuisine, as long as you don't count Christmas cookie cookbooks. In my somewhat limited experience with only English language cookbooks, I know of seven for Jewish holidays and only two for that great culinary dynamo, Italian cooking. And, Joan Nathan has written four of those titles!
Not only on holidays but also throughout their whole life, food and religion are more tightly intertwined for the Jews than with any other culture I know. The Christian use of unleavened bread and wine in their most important sacrament pales in comparison to the strictures of orthodox kashrut, the laws governing kosher, parve, and unclean foods and food combinations. I know the Muslims, being fellow Semites from the Middle Eastern deserts have similar strictures against pork, but I believe their rules are not nearly as pervasive.
The book provides seven (7) chapters on the major holidays, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot plus a chapter on `The Minor Holidays' including Israeli Independence Day. The first and longest chapter covers the Sabbath which, in orthodox tradition, requires prohibits any cooking between sundown on Friday evening and sundown on Saturday evening. It's a bit more involved than that, in that what is really prohibited is lighting a flame during that time. That means stoves or ovens can be turned on before sundown to start slow cooking dishes, but no flame can be started in that 24-hour period.
For people who are simply interested in culinary folkways, the book is an excellent study in the intersection of culinary laws and the seasons. Not only were Jewish folk constrained by extreme poverty and the barrenness of winter, they were prohibited from access to the single most tasty and most easily preserved source of fat and protein, the pig. This was an even bigger hardship for the Jews of central Europe who lived outside the range of cheap olive oil, since it forbade them from using the very best animal fat for cooking. Even butter was proscribed in that one could not use butter together with any meat product, due to the kashrut prohibition against mixing meat and dairy. This more than explains the central role of chicken fat in the culinary traditions of Jewish cooks.
Ms. Nathan does not spend much time exploring the anthropological sources of kashrut, but she does an excellent job of showing us how it affected Jewish cuisine.
Not only does she give us dishes appropriate to the various holidays, we are also treated to menus which reflect differences in the Sephardic (Iberian) and Askanazy (Central European) traditions.
I find it eminently satisfying that the very first recipe is for challah bread, the braided egg bread typically made for Sabbath. I also find it very interesting that much more attention is paid to recipes for the American bialys than to the European bagel. I am also interested in the fact that Hanukkah is much more of a culinary and political holiday than it is a religious feast, since, according to an Orthodox Jewish friend, there are not even any standard rituals for the Synagogue for Hanukkah. This is hearsay, but Nathan does confirm that until the late Middle Ages, Hanukkah was a relatively unimportant date on the Jewish calendar.
I have yet to review some other Jewish holiday cookbooks, but for a good understanding of the traditions behind the culinary facts, this book is excellent.
Highly recommended.
Amazon.com
Claudia Roden, author of The Book of Jewish Food, has done more than simply compile a cookbook of Jewish recipes--she has produced a history of the Jewish diaspora, told through its cuisine. The book's 800 recipes reflect many cultures and regions of the world, from the Jewish quarter of Cairo where Roden spent her childhood to the kitchens of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Both Ashkenazi and Sepharidic cooking are well represented here: hallah bread, bagels, blintzes, and kugels give way to tabbouleh, falafel, and succulent lamb with prunes, which are, in turn, succeeded by such fare as Ftut (Yemeni wedding soup) and Kahk (savory bracelets).
Interwoven throughout the text are Roden's charming asides--the history of certain foods, definitions (Kaimak, for instance, is the cream that rises to the top when buffalo milk is simmered), and ways of preparing everything from an eggplant to a quince. In addition, Roden tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about Jewish dietary laws, what the ancient Hebrews ate, and the various holidays and festivals on the Jewish calendar. Detailed sections on Jewish history are beautifully illustrated with archival photographs of families, towns, and, of course, food. The Book of Jewish Food is one that any serious cook--Jewish and non-Jewish alike--would gladly have (and use often) in the kitchen.
Book Description
A monumental work--the story of the Jewish people told through the story of Jewish cooking--The Book of Jewish Food traces the development of both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish communities and their cuisine over the centuries. The 800 magnificent recipes, many never before documented, represent treasures garnered bu Roden through nearly 15 years of traveling around the world. 50 photos & illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
A bittersweet classic.......2007-09-15
It's evident from some of the reviews below (some of which betray a bizarre provincialism among the writers) that this book engenders some controversy in some sectors of the Jewish community. Well, I am not Jewish, so to me, such debates are a tempest in a teapot, especially as this is one of my most favorite cookbooks in my entire collection.
A good ethnic cookbook tells its culture's story alongside the food, as food is and always has been a critical part of any culture. What makes this book's perspective unique is how much of its story is told in the past tense -- the horrors of the Holocaust resulted in a vast resettling of much of the Jewish population of the world, and a consolidation in places such as the United States, Israel, the UK, and Canada. Roden's book, therefore, becomes something of a record of a wide variety of Jewish cuisines, a sort of time capsule containing many pasts to be sent to a single future. Yes, the Sephardic/Mizrachi section is quite a lot larger than the Ashkenazic section, but the shtetl culture was only the largest microcosm of a vast diversity of Jewish cultures that mostly reflected the countries they developed in (the titles of the recipes, in a multitude of languages including English, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic and French, bear as much witness to this as any other aspect of the book). One suspects that 800 recipes isn't nearly enough to do a decent job of covering the ground Roden set out to cover, but what's there is such a huge wealth of data as it is that it seems pointless at best to fault her for it.
Claudia Roden has always been one of my favorite cookbook authors, primarily on the strength of this book. She writes excellent historical sidebars, and also seems to be very fond of the idea (Leo Rosten was another practitioner) of including jokes in a reference work. Her closeness to the background (she is of Egyptian Jewish extraction) gives it a personal touch as well. Her James Beard Award was well deserved, and this surely stands out as her best work (it certainly is my favorite out of the three of hers that I have). It isn't the last word in Jewish food by a long shot, but it's an unbeatable opening gambit.
Great reading, but turn to another book for actual cooking, especially if you keep kosher.......2007-07-20
The depth of Claudia Roden's book is impressive, and she covers many important Sephardic recipes. I enjoy reading the historical sections, and if I want to know how to cook a specific food, I can often (but not always) find it in this book. When I actually want to cook, I turn to Gil Marks and Pamela Grau Tweena.
The recipes in this book are presented with indifference to the reader's ability to procure the ingredients and to make the recipes in a kosher way. For instance, Fesenjan, a Persian pomegranate-poultry dish, uses duck breasts, which are too expensive for an everyday kosher meal in a middle class home, and often impossible to buy without getting an entire frozen duck. I've never seen fesenjan made kosher with anything but chicken. While Roden does have a tiny note at the bottom that you can substitute chicken, she doesn't say that chicken thighs should be substituted in order to get the same kind of depth of flavor that (I imagine) duck breasts give --- chicken breasts would dry out and not carmelize and add flavor to the sauce properly.
In a couple of recipes, she uses seemingly raw liver (which is not kosher until it is grilled in a particular way). In other recipes, her directions for making liver kosher, she instructs to put the livers on aluminum foil which makes all the blood emitted from the liver go right back into the liver, so anyone following her recipe would end up with a non-kosher liver, and a non-kosher oven, frying pan, knife, and food processor (yes, she has people put liver into the food processor, although almost no one who keeps kosher would have a meat food processor). I'm relatively casual about kashrut, but liver is serious business.
She is also inconsistently specific: while she quantifies some ingredients in both volume and weight, other ingredients are left vague, such as the Tabeet recipe which calls for 1 large stewing hen, without specified weight.
As comprehensive as the book is, I've noticed that some common recipes are missing. She only has one Yemenite soup which seems to be pretty skimpy on the seasonings, and many vegetable stews aren't there, a glaring omission given that the book seems to be attempting to be so comprehensive.
Good History Book.......2007-05-13
Not really the traditional cooking book although you can make a promenade through history and traditions of Jewish cookery. The Sepharadim topic is less privileged but you can have a go in the kitchen with this book. I won't comment about other branches of Jewish gastronomy. The fact is, its a book to be read and be on the kitchen's bookshelves. Not only for the ones interested in Jewish gastronomy; very interesting to the ones that have at least one foot in the Iberian Peninsula some generations ago, you maybe will recall some smells of Granny's food served at the table. Very pretty presentation.
A pleasure to read for an eater of Jewish food .......2006-12-12
I do not cook. I cannot judge the quality of recipes. But reading through this book was a great pleasure.It was a historical tour of the Jewish world featuring the special foods related to each distinct place and culture.
The Book of Jewish Food - an odyssay from Samarkand to New York.......2006-08-18
Even if the recipes weren't superb (which they are!) reading the history of a people through its food is totally enjoyable. I've read and reread it learning something new each time.
Customer Reviews:
Not really one for us goyim.......2007-09-15
Reading Kosher By Design brings home a subtle distinction between Jewish food and Kosher food. The latter is the traditional food of Jews as was prepared in their ancestral homelands; the former is food prepared according to Jewish law. This is important, because Kosher By Design is about the latter. As a foodie who was raised Catholic and now identifies as atheist, this is going to color my perceptions of the book substantially.
Most of the recipes in this book are the sorts of things that can be easily found (and, if necessary, trivially modified) in mainstream cookbooks. To call them homey would be a bit of an understatement -- many of these recipes are the sorts of things that would be passed along on scraps of paper between friends. Many of them have a whiff of Sandra Lee about them, using some premade convenience foods here and there (as other reviews have pointed out, this occasionally compromises kosher observance). There is of course a decent amount of Jewish food in there -- there couldn't not be -- though most of it is American Ashkenazic, with a bit of a lack of diversity; even a few token Sephardic or Mizrachi dishes would be a good idea, especially given the author's emphasis on dish presentation. The layout of the book... well, it's not that it's unattractive, it just looks a bit dated, like it was published in 1983 and not 2003.
So, fundamentally, this cookbook has little to recommend it to anyone who doesn't keep a kosher kitchen -- with one big exception. It has very good coverage of all the important Jewish holidays, so for someone who wants to know more about Jewish observances, this is actually pretty good for that purpose. But to a more general audience... well, let's put it this way. If you happen not to have a diabetic in your family or circle of friends, you'll have little use for a diabetic cookbook, as virtually everything in there is a modification of something you can find elsewhere in an unmodified form. This book is much the same thing, which is not to say you might not find a few recipes you'd like despite not having a kosher kitchen, but it's definitely a look-before-buy proposition for a goyish buyer. It's not a bad book; it's just rather specialized.
Pretty Pictures, No Substance.......2007-01-04
I purchased this book because everyone in the community was gaga over it. What I found when I actually looked at it was that all it is is a bunch of pretty pictures and that's the big wow. Sure, the recipies are good, but they're not "Oh my G-d!" like everyone is about this book. It's got menues and organization tips. All in all, I'd say that this is a good book for someone who is young and just getting married who has never had to cook meals before. If you are an advanced cook who likes to make your own menues, is familiar with other recipies that are similar, and enjoys challenging recpies, this is not the book for you. It was sort of a disapointment. It's mostly hype.
I Like It.......2006-03-20
I think this is a great book for the kosher cook, and the price is fantastic - the lowest I've seen. The recipes are great, and the book is really beautiful. Would make a great gift for anyone who keeps kosher.
Excellent cookbook - the best there is.......2006-02-23
Great tasting easy to make and beautiful recipes! Total delight!
Mediocre recipes with intensive preparation.......2005-12-11
The recipes in this book are not in the least unique: there is nothing in these books not found in the standard modern cookbooks such as the New Joy of Cooking or Silver Palette. What differentiates these recipes is the superfluous use of packaged foods, such as boxed Italian dressing powder (which is basically salt and common spices), which actually makes them less friendly to the kosher cook since they may not be available supervised. Fishbein puts all her energy into the Design of the food, for instance suggesting that you buy individual pumpkins for each of your 16 sukkot guests in which to serve soup, or that you serve your Shavuot meal entirely out of flowerpots, or that you have different set of dishes for each of the holidays. These little tips do make amusing reading, but for that you can check the book out from the library.
Amazon.com
Joan Nathan, an American, author of The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen, lived in Jerusalem for three years. Her review of Jewish-American cuisine contains more than 300 kosher recipes, with added information on Jewish dietary laws and Jewish culture, drawing from both Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions. She gives Old World cooking extensive coverage, including foods from Bukhara, Salonika, Israel and Georgia, and writes knowledgeably of New World adaptations. The recipes cover Jewish standards, like homemade bagels and pickled herring and more American-influenced dishes like Cajun matzoh balls with green onions, or American haroset. The book won the 1995 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the American Category.
Book Description
This rich tapestry of more than three centuries of Jewish cooking in America gathers together some 335 kosher recipes, old and new. They come from both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews who settled all over America, bringing with them a wide variety of regional flavors, changing and adapting their traditional dishes according to what was available in the new country.
What makes Jewish cooking unique is the ancient dietary laws that govern the selection, preparation, and consumption of observant Jews. Food plays a major part in rituals past and present, binding family and community. It is this theme that informs every part of Joan Nathan’s warm and lively text.
Every dish has a story–from the cholents (the long-cooked rich meat stews) and kugels (vegetable and noodle puddings) prepared in advance for the Sabbath, to the potato latkes (served with maple syrup in Vermont and goat cheese in California) and gefilte fish (made with white fish in the Midwest, salmon in the Northwest, haddock in New England, and shad in Maryland). Joan Nathan tells us how lox and bagels and Lindy’s cheesecake became household words, and how American products like Crisco, cream cheese, and Jell-O changed forever Jewish home cooking.
The recipes and stories come from every part of the U.S.A. They are seasoned with Syrian, Moroccan, Greek, German, Polish, Georgian, and Alsatian flavors, and they represent traditional foods tailored for today’s tastes as well as some of the nouvelle creations of Jewish chefs from New York to Tuscon.
When Jewish Cooking in America was first published in 1994, it won both the IACP / Julia Child Cookbook Award for Best Cookbook of the Year and the James Beard Award for Best Food of the Americas Cookbook. Now, more than ever, it stands firmly established as an American culinary classic.
Customer Reviews:
The New Good Housekeeping.......2006-02-23
Fabulous cookbook! Great recipes with detailed instructions. You don't have to be Jewish to love the food presented in the book. So many variations on the same theme, you'll be amazed. Every recipe I have made has been tried and true, a must for every kitchen. I aggree with other reviewers that the book makes for wonderful reading as well, history, stories, background, a real keeper!!
Ess, ess, mein kindt!.......2005-12-08
News flash! Not everybody's chicken soup is the way your bubbe used to make! This is a great cookbook, filled with recipes from all over America, of Sephardic and Ashkenazic origin, influenced by where people settled. Gefilte fish is made with whitefish, salmon, haddock or shad, depending on what fish swims in the ocean, lake or river near by. There are latkes with zucchini and chili in Arizona and curried sweet potatoes in Flatbush.
Along with the recipes, you get history, culture and religion. What could be bad? Certainly not the Chocolate-filled Rugelach! Gosh, I'm getting hungry just typing this.
A Taste for Mind and Tongue.......2003-07-08
The receipes are functional, even if you are not a gourmet chef. But the stories behind them are just fun to read! A taste--for the mind and tongue--of what life was like for some of our ancestors. I recommend the story of the orange, and the recipe for cranberry applesauce!
An excellent cookbook to read and to cook from.......2000-09-30
What I love most about this cookbook is how international it is. I've never seen another cookbook with so many great recipes from so many different countries. It makes sense really, if you consider that Jews have come to the U.S. not only from Eastern Europe, but also from Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Cuba, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, etc. Consequently, many of the recipes, such as ceviche and chicken adobo, were a welcome surprise in addition to Jewish favorites such as knishes, hamantashen, and matzoh ball soup. Introducing most of the recipes are fascinating personal stories of the people who've brought their wonderful culinary traditions to America. Any food lover/cook will appreciate the heartfelt style of this excellent cookbook.
An engaging blend of food, culture, and history.......2000-03-27
This book contains user-friendly recipes, and most of the ingredients called for are easily obtainable. The majority of the recipes appear to be for dishes that are actually eaten by Jews rather than for ones that are definitely not part of Jewish cuisine although they have been passed off as such by some authors. Ms. Nathan is passionate about the food she describes and provides a generous amount of information on the history, lore, and cultural and religious traditions of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews who settled in America. She also includes menus, a helpful glossary of Jewish terms, and many interesting illustrations.
I would also like to recommend "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan," by Sonia Uvezian. This definitive volume offers superb recipes and fascinating text, including information on the region's minorities (particularly Jews and Armenians) that is not found in previous cookbooks.
Book Description
This cookbook, by the proprietor of the celebrated Levana Restaurant and Bakery in Manhattan, offers150 recipes and 20 menus that are simple, nutritious, beautifully presented, and 100 percent kosher. Traditional kosher fare, including food for the holidays and entertaining is featured, along with recipes that reflect the author's Moroccan, French, Asian, and vegetarian influences. 150 recipes, 30 color photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful, from photo to finish.......2007-01-20
This book of enticing recipes and gorgeous photos is a perfect gift for your favorite hostess. Levana is a master chef who is passionate about her work, and it shows. Her elegance and attention to detail are illustrated throughout Levana's Table. In addition to a collection of great recipes, Levana takes you inside her world of presentation and entertaining. She offers thoughtful tips and advice throughout.
The target audience for Levana's Table is Kosher, yet Levana herself follows a mostly dairy-free diet, as evidenced in this book. Only a handful of the 150+ recipes contain any milk products, while several inviting dairy-free options, including a Tiramisu, are offered.
One thing I truly enjoyed about this cookbook was the adventurousness. Levana's recipes touch every portion of the globe. Chili Sans Carne highlights a famous Latin dish, Lamb and Eggplant Curry demonstrates an excellent use of Indian spices, and a jazzed up Miso Soup (with Shiitakes and Swiss Chard) offers some new flavors to one of my old favorites.
Several of the recipes call for more extravagant ingredients, so this may not be my daily go-to cookbook. Nonetheless, the instructions are uncomplicated and easy to follow. When guests are coming, or I need some inspiration to trial new foods, Levana's Table will certainly be the first place I look.
Excellent kosher cookbook........2006-08-23
I have to say that this book has to be one of the top kosher cookbooks. So far I only tried one recipe, which happened to be marinated steak for the grill, which was unbelievable. My guests could not stop raving about it. I imagine that most of the other recipes should follow suit. I noticed a trend with her recipes, to include green peppercorns and/or saffron. Green peppercorns, could be found at most gourmet shops, but when she calls for green peppercorns in brine, I have yet to see where that exists. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but she doesn't elaborate on it. Levana is a fan of tofu, as she explains in the book, book I can't comment if those recipes are good (even though I speculate that they are). I bought all of the ingredients for her non-dairy Tiramisu, but I didn't have time to make it. Her book is fun to read, and you can't help be excited to try her next recipe.
Healthy, Easy and Simply Delicious.......2006-01-19
During a summer picnic someone advised me to buy Levana's cookbook. Since I bought this cookbook I don't look anymore at others. I also follow her cooking classes at Lincoln Square Synagogue and they are too good to be true. She makes healthy dishes which are very easy to make and simply delicious as well. I was always a bit insecure about cooking since often recipes didn't turn out like they should. Not with levana's recipes; they work. It really makes me happy to see that my dishes turn out so well. Levana uses all kinds of healthy grains, I never heard of before, gives alternatives to white cane sugar, gives easy recipes to make fish and chicken exotic in no time, turns heavy dairy dishes into light soy creations and uses vegetables, spices and herbs in such a magical way that even the greatest carnivore would consider to become a vegetarian.
I am waiting for her new cookbook.
Kosher Cooking fun in NYC.......2004-03-30
I bought Levana's book after attending her cooking classes in New York City (http://www.levanakirschenbaum.com). This book is a great companion for her classes -- I recommend them both highly! Her Brisket makes a great seder main course.
At Long Last! Levana's Recipes in a Beautiful Book.......2003-01-27
What a pleasure to have Levana's recipes bound in such a beautiful book! My husband and I have taken many of Levana's cooking classes in New York City - me for the recipes and techniques, my husband because he knew he would get a good dinner - and my recipe collection was all a hodgepodge. Plus, the book has the added bonus of Levana's practiced advice on entertaining - some of which she gave in class, but not all - I only wish I could have read it before I started entertaining - it would have saved me from a lot of mistakes. Plus, there are charming stories about Levana's mother, her husband Maurice and her children - including her daughter who, Levana says, usually prefers to eat cold cereal! I just de-accessioned most of my large library of cookbooks, but this one is a keeper. Note - You will need a food processor. I never bought one until Levana demonstrated how easy it is to use - now I have 2 (one for Passover). I asked Levana if she keeps her food processor parve like I do. "I have 3 food processors!" she said. This book is a perfect gift for all brides. I just gave mine away to my best friend for her birthday and have to buy two more today - one for a bride. Another hint while I have your attention - those Le Creuset spatulas and spoons in blue, red, and green that can take heat up to 650 degrees (I think that's the number) are perfect for the Kosher kitchen. Levana uses them, and now I do too! I love the big color photos that show how the dish is supposed to look - why don't all cookbooks have them? My only quibble is you have to squint to see Levana - her photo is about 1 inch square square! - it does not show her vivacious warmth as big as it is. I think it is inspiring to see her up to her elbows in bread dough while smiling and talking a mile a minute, so why not show her doing some of the more difficult stuff?
Book Description
In this second edition of her popular classic, celebrated food editor Gloria Kaufer Greene masterfully combines the delicious foods, the rich traditions, and the interesting histories that are essential components of every Jewish holiday in one cookbook. Readers will learn not only how to make a delicious Passover Seder, but why each dish is prepared for this annual celebration, and where these recipes originated. The 260-plus recipes vary from classic Jewish favorites to brand new discoveries with international flair.
The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook is a wonderful resource for chefs, whether they are preparing their very first Hanukkah feast or putting the finishing touches on the weekly Sabbath dinner.
Customer Reviews:
Best of a very spiritual breed of cookbook. Buy It........2006-01-10
`The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook' by Gloria Kauler Greene and `The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking' by Phyllis Glazer and Miryam Glazer are two leading representatives of a great cookbook subgenre which may be unique among all cookbook flavors in that they represent that extraordinary relation between Judaism and food. Like the exceptional `Jewish Holiday Cookbook' by Joan Nathan and unlike the encyclopedic `New York Times Cookbook of Jewish Recipes', both books spend much space and words on the practice of kashrut or keeping kosher. But this is not the whole story. There are numerous Jewish culinary traditions which are not directly related to kashrut, such as the traditions surrounding the number of challah loaves baked for the Shabbat or the number of bumps on the challah loaves (The magic number here is 12, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, so the tradition is to have 12 loaves. More practical is the tradition to have two loaves each with 6 bumps created by the braiding of the bread before baking.)
There is one major difference among these three books which is evident in their titles. Ms. Glazer's book deals with `festival' cooking while Nathan and Greene deal with `Holiday' cooking. The subtle difference here is that the festival book does not cover Shabbat and the two `holiday' books do.
To a non-Jew, my guess is that since there are 52 shabbats in a year, while there are at most seven or eight major `festivals', it is much more important to have a book covering Shabbat as well as the yearly holidays. Between Greene and the Glazers, I find at least one other big difference in that Ms. Greene gives far more coverage to the creation of challah, which may be the single most important Jewish holiday recipe in any of these books, as it seems to be the one food which tradition calls for at every Shabbat. In fact, even though Joan Nathan's book combines two books, one of which is on Jewish holiday baking, Ms. Greene's treatment of challah, at least in the details she give for braiding several different numbers of dough strands is the most extensive. Among the recipes from the three books, the amateur bread baker in me prefers Ms. Nathan's recipe, as it uses the least (1 packet) yeast and calls for the longest raising time. She (and Ms. Greene) also use my preferred `active dry yeast' rather than the `rapid rise' yeast.
All three books deal in depth with Jewish holiday traditions, although Ms. Glazer and Ms. Greene seem to have better rabbinical sources and seem to be more dedicated to the details of the traditions. Of the three, Ms. Greene seems to touch me more effectively in her discussion of these traditions than the other two.
All three writers are primarily from the Ashkenazy tradition, although all three also give fair treatment to Sephardic dishes and menus. If you are really interested in Sephardic menus primarily, Ms. Nathan spends much of her space on Sephardic menus.
If you are willing to take a recommendation from a goyem, I recommend Ms. Greene's book most highly, followed by Ms. Nathan's book for her many baking recipes; however, all three are quality books.
THE DEFINITIVE JEWISH COOKBOOK!.......2004-01-21
Onc couldn't rave too much about this holiday cookbook. The recipes are delicious, not difficult to make, and a wonderful plus is the inclusion of the history and practices of Jewish customs. These are authenic Jewish recipes from around the world.
One thing I might point out: This book is preceded by the author's "The Jewish Holiday Cookbook," published in 1985. Many of the recipes in this book are included in "The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook," published in 1999. And there are changes. The latter book contains some new recipes, as well as some recipes from the first one. Some of the cooking procedures of recipes included in both books are changed. But one reason I'm glad to have copies of both books on hand is that one of my favorite recipes included in the first and second versions is called "My Mother's Chicken Soup"; I doubt if you will find a better chicken soup recipe if you simmer it as recommended for the full 8 hours. However, in the second version, I find that the exclusion of the only two spices in the initial soup recipe makes the soup less interesting. Those spices are one bay leaf ("optional") removed at the end of cooking, and a small amount of dried dill to taste ("optional") added at the end of cooking. To my taste, they enhance the soup and I can't imagine enjoying the soup as much without them. So to anyone wanting to delve into Jewish cooking seriously and in-depth, I would recommend considering purchasing both versions for a total scope of the selected dish.
Great for Jews and Non-Jews alike.......2000-01-20
I know from my name you wouldn't know that I was Jewish, but that is because my husband is not. I had to tell, that my mother-in-law picked up your book and started skimming while we were Kitchen Kibbutzin' and decided it helped her understand the holidays and customs better than anything else. She HAD to have a copy, so we got her one as (of all things)a Christmas gift! She absolutely loves it. She says that it is so easy to read and the recipees are easy to follow! She can't wait to treat me and the gang to some of the goodies she discovered from your book. She said that it isn't just a cookbook. It is her special reference book that helps us celebrate and rejoice in the Jewish customs/traditions together.
As for me.... well let's just say that I never put it away! It is a staple in my kitchen as important to me as salt and pepper! That is why it happenned to be out on the table for my MIL to discover! LOVE IT!
This is the only Jewish cookbook you'll ever need!.......1999-12-22
Gloria Kaufer Greene has really outdone herself with her New Jewish Holiday Cookbook. Not only do I love the kosher recipes, but I love the way Ms. Greene explains the significance of the particular food to each holiday. Not being a gourmet cook myself, I have found the recipes to be easy to follow and wonderful to eat! This book has allowed me the joy of creating epicurian holiday traditions with my family and friends. It is the only Jewish cookbook that I need (and want) in my kitchen!
Amazon.com
Faye Levy is passionate about Jewish cooking. Encouraged by her mother, who came from Warsaw to the U.S. and is now living in Israel; by her mother-in-law, born in Yemen and also living in Israel; and by their extended families, who cover the globe, Levy has an enthusiasm for her subject that is inspirational. Her rich culinary heritage ensures that no one is forgotten. Although most Jewish dishes can be roughly described as belonging to one of the two major branches of Jewish culture and cuisine--the mostly European Ashkenazim and the Spanish and Mediterranean Sephardim--the recipes she has included go far beyond these two traditions. No Jewish cookbook would be complete without recipes for gefilte fish, potato latkes, and honey challah, but with 1,000 opportunities to make your mouth water, Levy gets creative with recipes like a Moroccan Cucumber and Pepper Salad with Fresh Mint, an Italian Eggplant Caponata, and the quintessential Alsatian coffeecake, Kugelhopf.
Levy explains in her remarkably informative introduction that the customs of the Jewish festivals strongly influence Jewish cooking, so she uses the festivals as one way to divide up this mammoth collection. The volume begins with a comprehensive chapter on each of the major festivals, with recipes for starters, main courses, vegetarian dishes, side dishes, and desserts appropriate for or inspired by each holiday. While Creamy Raspberry Blintzes and Apple Cinnamon Noodle Kugel with Sour Cream may come as no surprise in the Shavuot section, Barley Tabbouleh, Striped Vegetable Terrine, and a Creamy Onion Soufflé are welcome additions to ancient traditions. Levy has collected these recipes from Jewish cooks all over the world and the results are clear and concise, the way your mother (and The Joy of Cooking) would share a favorite dish. Dvora's Bright and Easy Pepper Salad, for instance, begins with a charming nod to Dvora, a Moroccan-born relative of Levy's husband, we learn, who serves this during Succoth; the recipe goes on to list just a handful of ingredients and no-nonsense instructions.
While 1,000 Jewish Recipes may be the perfect reference cookbook for anyone interested in Jewish cooking, it is also, quite simply, a fabulous collection of recipes. Oven-Braised Short Ribs in Hot and Sweet Tomato Sauce, Hungarian White Bean Soup, French-Style Couscous with Wild Mushrooms, and Chocolate-Pecan Rugelach are all sure to be crowd pleasers. For those cooks particularly interested in the mores of Jewish cooking, there is a short section on keeping kosher, and every recipe is categorized as dairy, meat, or neither (pareve). --Leora Y. Bloom
Book Description
A celebration of Jewish kosher cooking and tradition, this expert cookbook offers all the recipes and information any cook needs to celebrate Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and many other Jewish holidays. 1,000 Jewish Recipes includes:
- Instructions for maintaining a kosher kitchen
- Information on the delicious culinary heritage of Jewish cultures
- Tempting and easy-to-follow recipes such as Three-Cheese Knishes and Old-Fashioned Roast Chicken.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Most Valuable Cookbooks in My Arsenal.......2006-04-03
If you're looking for something beyond the traditional recipes for potato kugel, plain challah, and brisket (although they're in there, too), this is a great cookbook. It's nice to see a broad representation of Jewish culture and heritage here, and will enable you to expand the repetoire of your Jewish kitchen! Absolutely recommended!
Great recipes for the jewish cook.......2002-10-10
This is a very large collection of Jewish recipes grouped by the holiday. I find this very helpful. Particularly helpful is the section on challah. She includes recipes and directions for three methods of bread making.There are personal tidbits about the recipes also. This is a must -have for any person who wants to make Jewish food. I am really thrilled to have it and the seller sent it quickly, right in time for the Jewish New Year! The book has no pictures.
Comprehensive and contemporary.......2002-03-08
A very comprehensive and contemporary cookbook featuring traditional kosher cuisine and new classics. Includes all types of kosher cuisine (Sephardic, Ashkenazic, European, etc.). An excellent all around cookbook to have--our family cookbook "bible". I am not generally too fond of her cake recipes, but the "My Favorite Cheesecake" is fabulous! A must for the modern kosher cook!
Misleading Title.......2001-07-11
I am a former kosher food columnist and was somewhat disappointed in this large and expensive tome with the promising title. Faye Levy lives in Israel and this is really a comprehensive overview of the various Israeli styles of cooking, with a few French-style (she trained in France) and Ashkenazi recipes (from her family) thrown in. Most of the recipes don't sound either particularly exciting or easy to make and her prose is, well pretty prosaic, so it's not a good armchair book either.
A better title would be 1000 Kosher Recipes, although it probably wouldn't sell as well. If you're a big fan of Israeli cuisine, you might find this book useful. If you're expecting more of the traditional East-European and American-Jewish fare, pass it up.
Winner of the 2000 National Jewish Book Award.......2001-03-08
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award 2000 (awarded March 2001). Ms Levy is a syndicated columnist with the LA Times and an experienced cookbook author. Her book contains new and classic Jewish recipes for life and nearly every holiday and Shabbat. It also includes 23 sample menus. Each recipe is tagged with either a (P)areve, (M)eat, or (D)airy tag. Chapters include those for Passover, Shavuot, the High Holidays, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, Shabbat, and Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Dairy Specialties, Fish, Poultry, Meats, Vegetarian and Pareve Main Courses, Veg. Side Dishes, Noodle and Pasta dishes, Rice and Grain dishes, Breads, Desserts, and a section of basics, including flavorings, sauces, and 10 different types of stocks. Recipes among the 1,000 that I found most interesting including Persian Pear and Banana Haroset for Pesach; Farefl Stuffing with leeks and Carrots; Passover Turkey Schnitzel (incorrectly tagged as Pareve; it is meat); Onion Matza Brei; Spinach and Cottage Cheese Noodle Kugel; Macaroni and Cheese Kugel; Beet Salad with Apples and OJ; Gefilte Fish; Sea Bass with Saffron and Tomato Sauce; Turkey Tzimmes with Sweet Potatoes; Adi Levy's Kibbutz Honey Chicken (you partially roast it, then glaze it with soy and honey); a Meingue Topping; Sephardic Spinach Cakes; Queen Esther's Salad (lettuce, nuts and seeds to eat in the palace); Haman's Fingers; Alsatian Jewish Sauerkraut with Meat; Alsatian Kugelhopf cake; Mock Chopped Liver (one with cashews, one with lentils); Spicy Moroccan Fish Stew; Chicken with Olives; a Friday night Chicken with Cumin Tumeric and Pepper; two dafinas and eight cholents; Miami Style Sweet Potato Puree; at least six chopped liver recipes, 7 hummus, 7 knish, 6 matzo ball (one which is matzo and cholesterol free), 13 challah, 8 bagel, 4 pita, one dozen blintzes, and 5 potato salad recipes; and one for Egyptian Jewish Okra Salad. Now you can see why it won the award.
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- Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean
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- Testing IT: An Off-the-Shelf Software Testing Process
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Books Index
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General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat: Connect and Celebrate--Bring Your Family Together with the Friday Night Meal
Sammy Spider's First Haggadah (Passover)
Creating Lively Passover Seders: An Interactive Sourcebook of Tales, Texts & Activities
What Makes Someone a Jew?
The Art of Blessing the Day: Poems with a Jewish Theme
