The World Of Jewish Cooking : More Than 400 Delectable Recipes from Jewish Communities
- Book Review,
by Gil Marks
Amazon.com
Rabbi Marks explains how the Jews, spreading to all corners of the world beginning with the Diaspora, adapted their recipes to local ingredients and adopted the local fare, often giving it new twists. A historian and a chef, he provides a clear explanation of what makes a dish Jewish and why so many Americans associate Jewish cooking with Eastern European food. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy the more than 500 recipes Marks includes. A wealth of historical and culinary information, as well as photos and drawings, accompany the recipes.
From Publishers Weekly
Developed by Jews dispersed around the globe, Jewish cuisines have been shaped by both adopted cultures and by the laws of kosher. This excellent overview contains such diverse recipes as those for the Ashkenazic classic Roast Chicken and Ethiopian Chicken Stew with hard-boiled eggs. There are kugels galore (Alsatian Pear and Prune Kugel; Ashkenazic Potato Pudding; Indian Rice Pudding), but also Yemenite Spicy Poached Fish and Cochin Fish Soup from the Jews of the Malabar Coast. Marks (a rabbi and former editor of Kosher Gourmet magazine) provides tasty nuggets of intriguing information as well. It is no surprise to find a treatise on bagels (which Marks insists were not named after a Polish prince's stirrups as is often claimed) in a Jewish cookbook, but who knew that a Jewish fish seller first transformed Sephardic Pan-Fried Fish Fillets into fish and chips, or that a Minneapolis Hadassah chapter was behind the introduction of the bundt pan to the U.S.? Plentiful archival photographs and illustrations (showing everything from a Jewish family in Burma in 1938 to a Jewish poultry inspector in 19th-century France) add to the encyclopedic feel of this sweeping effort. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The two major divisions of the Jewish community are the Ashkenazim, whose ancestors are from eastern Europe, and the Sephardim, originally from the Iberian Peninsula. Marks, a rabbi and former editor of Kosher Gourmet, includes recipes from both communities in The World of Jewish Cooking, while Rabbi Sternberg, the author of Yiddish Cuisine (Jason Aronson, 1993), focuses on the cooking of Sephardic Jews in The Sephardic Kitchen. Marks's recipes come from Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa; Sternberg's from all the countries of the Mediterranean, with a few places a bit farther afield. Both authors include a great deal of cultural and religious background: Sternberg starts with a longer introductory section that covers social customs, ingredients, and kosher laws and also scatters folktales throughout his text, while Marks includes many boxes on ingredients and other topics. Although both books are informed and well written, The Sephardic Kitchen is the more readable and engaging: Marks offers more history and more detail, but his style is drier than Sternberg's. Despite some overlap, however, the books are different enough that both are recommended.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Not organized by holiday as are many Jewish cookbooks, this is, instead, loosely arranged by food category, with chapters on appetizers, soups, and main dishes, as well as side items, breads, and desserts. The range is wide. You'll find recipes from India, Africa, even China, here, alongside many dishes that originated in one of the two major Jewish cultural communities, Ashkenazic and Sephardic. Marks also provides insight into how each dish evolved or fit into to Jewish culinary tradition, and the book includes a rich selection of photos and graphics to further establish cultural flavor. The recipes definitely aren't for novice cooks, and a few ingredients (spelt, for example) are not readily available. But Marks includes some tempting and unusual offerings, and his strong emphasis on cultural connections can be felt in every dish and on every page. Stephanie Zvirin
Review
Faye Levy author of Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook The World of Jewish Cooking makes delectable reading. Each recipe comes with a fascinating history evoking the role of the dish in Jewish life at a particular time or place. There's a wealth of enticing dishes....
Book Description
From a rabbi who is also a gourmet chef and a noted authority on Jewish food history and lore comes a comprehensive and beautiful new guide to the World of Jewish Cooking. To most Americans, Jewish cooking evokes images of Eastern European fare such as chicken soup with matza balls. But scattered across the globe, in cultural communities of varying sizes and antiquity, there are many distinctive, delicious, and authentic Jewish cuisines to be savored. Gil Marks serves up a collection of kosher recipes and histories of Jews throughout the world. He delights and enlightens readers with traditional recipes from Italian, Yemenite, Ethiopian, Indian, Romanian, Hungarian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Moroccan, German, Alsatian, and Middle Eastern Jewry; culinary conversations with contemporary members of these ancient and medieval communities; and fascinating commentary on Jewish food and Jewish history. The World of Jewish Cooking offers an astonishing array of delicacies, including: Pastilla (Moroccan "Pigeon" Pie) Esfongos (Sephardic Spinach Nests) Injera (Ethiopian Pancake Bread) Ab-Gush (Persian Lamb Shank Soup) Lubiya M'sallat (Syrian Black-Eyed Peas and Veal) Samak (Yemenite Spicy Poached Fish) Kufteh Sabzi (Persian Green Meatballs) Badam Loozena (Calcutta Almond Diamonds) as well as more familiar traditional Jewish dishes, such as Goldena Yoiche (Ashkenazic Chicken Soup), rugelach, kugel, chopped liver, and gefilte fish. The World of Jewish Cooking is destined to become the cornerstone of every Jewish kitchen.
Simon & Schuster
From a rabbi who is also a gourmet chef and a noted authority on Jewish food history and lore comes a comprehensive and beautiful new guide to the World of Jewish Cooking. To most Americans, Jewish cooking evokes images of Eastern European fare such as chicken soup with matza balls. But scattered across the globe, in cultural communities of varying sizes and antiquity, there are many distinctive, delicious, and authentic Jewish cuisines to be savored. Gil Marks serves up a collection of kosher recipes and histories of Jews throughout the world. He delights and enlightens readers with traditional recipes from Italian, Yemenite, Ethiopian, Indian, Romanian, Hungarian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Moroccan, German, Alsatian, and Middle Eastern Jewry; culinary conversations with contemporary members of these ancient and medieval communities; and fascinating commentary on Jewish food and Jewish history. The World of Jewish Cooking offers an astonishing array of delicacies, including: Pastilla (Moroccan "Pigeon" Pie) Esfongos (Sephardic Spinach Nests) Injera (Ethiopian Pancake Bread) Ab-Gush (Persian Lamb Shank Soup) Lubiya M'sallat (Syrian Black-Eyed Peas and Veal) Samak (Yemenite Spicy Poached Fish) Kufteh Sabzi (Persian Green Meatballs) Badam Loozena (Calcutta Almond Diamonds) as well as more familiar traditional Jewish dishes, such as Goldena Yoiche (Ashkenazic Chicken Soup), rugelach, kugel, chopped liver, and gefilte fish. The World of Jewish Cooking is destined to become the cornerstone of every Jewish kitchen.
About the Author
GIL MARKS, a chef, rabbi, writer, and historian, is a leading expert in the field of Jewish cookery. The founding editor of Kosher Gourmet magazine, Marks lectures frequently on Jewish cooking, including at New York's 92nd Street Y Kosher Cooking School. He lives in New York City.
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