Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sftig.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!mhuxv!mhuxh!mhuxi!mhuxf!mhuxm!sftig!susan From: susan@sftig.UUCP (S.Eisen) Newsgroups: net.cooks Subject: Re: Authentic Jewish recipes? Message-ID: <588@sftig.UUCP> Date: Thu, 12-Sep-85 16:54:55 EDT Article-I.D.: sftig.588 Posted: Thu Sep 12 16:54:55 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 13-Sep-85 05:02:34 EDT References: <1985@amdahl.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Summit, NJ Lines: 53 > > Hi. My wife has asked me to ask all of you out there if any > of you have authentic Jewish recipes that you would like to > post. Anything would be greatly appreciated: bagels, latkes, > main courses, desserts, etc. > I'm disappointed that I still haven't seen a response that says there's no such thing as *AUTHENTIC* Jewish cooking. What exists is any number of different styles of cuisine that have been adapted to the laws of keeping kosher. What we often think of as Jewish cuisine is predominantly of Eastern European origin, and it's popular due to the large concentration of Ahkenazic (Eastern European) Jews on the East Coast and other major US cities. However, Jews from Sefardic (Spanish) origin, or Oriental (Middle Eastern) descent cook foods that don't resemble the types of food posted as *AUTHENTIC* Jewish recipes at all, like falafel, borekas, various curried stews, etc. There are a number of cookbooks out, like "The Cookbook of Italian-Jewish Cuisine" (I think that's the title) that includes a bit of history of the Jews that settled in Italy several centuries ago. I have a book simply called "Jewish Cookery" by Florence Greenberg, the editor of a column of kosher recipes in a British Jewish publication. I assure you that the recipes reflect a British/Continental influence, despite the fact that many of the dishes have names similar to ones my family makes. Another book I have, "A Lexicon of Jewish Cooking" has recipes of Jews from all over the world, with a little synopsis of the origin of each. Most of the recipes are unusual, and the book is enjoyable to read. By default, all vegetarian cookery is kosher. Therefore, many of the vegetarian restaurants in NYC are frequented by Jews who keep kosher, and I would say that American-Kosher cooking, a new development, is heavily vegetarian. And, of course, why so many Chinese Kosher restaurants? Because, as so many people who post to the net pointed out, there is are no dairy products mixed with the meat, and since one of the laws of keeping kosher is the separation of meat and dairy products, it is simple to turn a Chinese dish into a kosher meal. All you need is kosher meat. I and most of my friends who like to cook own woks, and at least one or two Chinese cookbooks. The recipes adapt easily. I am a little disappointed that Barry Shein chose to be so tongue-in-cheek in his response, since I'm also very fond of Eastern European cookery. I assure you, my stuffed cabbage is exactly the same as my Polish-Catholic friend's, only I use kosher chopped meat and she doesn't. The list of dishes are also very variable - tzimmes, to point out one, doesn't have to be made with meat, or prunes, and if you get a Jewish Cookbook that is geared towards Eastern European style cooking, you might find at least 4 ways to make things that have the same name. I also don't know why he thinks the spicing is strange, and I've never seen a recipe that called for citric acid! Sorry I've been so long winded, but I believe that if you can make it kosher, it becomes part of your repertoire of Jewish cooking.