Historical Perspective

 When you look at Jewish food  history, you also need to look at Jewish history and the diaspora. This provides the context to examine the origin of its cuisines. 

To tell the story behind "Jewish Food: A Cuisine of Cuisines" we have to go back almost 4000 years.   Ancient people were fortunate to have a cuisine consisting of simple ingredients; wine, honey, olive oil, barley, lentils, pomegranates and occasionally fish and lamb. 

2022 BCE - our story begins, it was a warm summer's day, food is scare.

2021 BCE - a year has gone by… just kibetsing (joking), I don't have the kutspe (nerve) to go year by year. It's still a long story though.

Moving ahead to around 1800 BCE in the Land of Canaan with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the establishment of the Jewish People, also known as Hebrews. Their diet was much the same as their ancestors with the addition of bread, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.

Over several hundred years the Hebrews thrived as a nation, but famine forced them to move and eventually they became enslaved in Egypt. The food of the Egyptians, while similar to their own, now became theirs. About 1300 BCE Moses led an exodus and the Jewish People settled in the Land of Israel, where they lived for  centuries during what's known as the Period of Kings. Farming, animal husbandry, and traders and merchants took their place next to warriors. Recipes began to emerge combining ingredients, previously eaten separately, into recognizable dishes like stews, pies, and breads. Class distinction played a large part in an individual's diet.

The Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah thrived for centuries until 587 BCE when the Babylonians invaded and destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. Some Jews were exiled to Babylonia and others dispersed north and west. After 50 years, under the Persians, many Jews returned and built the Second Temple. Many more remained dispersed. The significance is the beginning of Jewish Cuisine. Menus now included not only their traditional food, but also the food of the regions where they were living. They also brought these foreign cuisines back to Israel.

Starting in 587 BCE and continuing for over 2500 years, Israel, and the entire mid-east region, was under the control of not less than 7 empires and 2 crusades. The resulting Exiles, Inquisitions, Pogroms, the Holocaust, and the Diaspora had a significant impact on the culture and cuisines of the Jewish people.

In what has become known as the Jewish Diaspora, the Roman army conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE.  Jewish people were exiled from Israel, and were forced to disperse to different areas of the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and even as far East as India, China, and Asia. Three major Jewish groups split off into different parts of the world during the Middle Ages.  Jewish people who migrated to Europe in places like Germany, Poland, and Russia, are called Ashkenazi Jews.  Jews who went to places like Spain and Portugal are known as Sephardic.  Jews that remained in North Africa and the mid-East were Mizrahi. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, Jews continued their dispersion to areas such as America, South America, Canada, and Australia.

With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, dispersed Jews from all over the world began returning to the "Promised Land" of Biblical prophecy. Although the next 70 years would be tumultuous, Jews still make "Aliyeh" to Israel. A modern cuisine, Israeli, is the natural result of the 4000 year journey from Canaan to Israel and the myriad cuisines reflective of the regions where Jews had lived.

Kashrut is laws that pertain to dietary restrictions and laws that apply to issues of food and cooking in general.  These laws appear across the Torah and Talmud. Food compliant with Kashrut are considered Kosher. Greatly simplified, these are a few basic rules of Kashrut:

• Land animals must have cloven hooves and must chew their cud. Only the front half can be eaten.
• Seafood must have fins and scales.
• Fleishig (Meat) and Milshig (Dairy) cannot be cooked or eaten together. Some foods are considered Parve and may be cooked or eaten with either.
• Only specific Fowl are allowed. It is forbidden to eat birds of prey. 
• Some foods are Parve (safe) and can be combined with either meat or dairy.
• Cooking and eating utensils for meat and dairy must be separate.
• Other rules apply to grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
• Special Kashrut rules apply to  the Passover Holiday.

Kosher foods are those that comply with the laws of Kashrut. Kosher is not a style of cooking and therefore there is no such thing as "kosher-style" food. Any kind of food - Chinese, Mexican, Indian, etc. - can be kosher if it is prepared in accordance with Jewish law. At the same time, traditional Jewish foods like knishes, bagels, blintzes and matzo ball soup can all be non-Kosher if not prepared in accordance with Jewish law.  However, the words Kosher or Kosher-style are often used informally without attachment to Kashrut, i. e., Kosher salt, Kosher-style pickle, or "Just make sure everything is kosher ''.

TRADITIONS

Blessing Most observances begin with a prayer over bread (Motzi) and/or wine (Kiddush) - Challah, Kosher wine or grape juice
Shabbat (Sabbath - day of observance and rest) - Cholent, challah
Shivah (Period of mourning) - Cooked foods and sweets (no heating)
Wedding  - Culturally appropriate to Bride and Groom (i.e., Ashkenazi)
Bris (Ritual male circumcision) - Eggs, bagels, Arbes
Bat/Bar Mitzvah  (Celebration of coming of age) -  Culturally appropriate  food

HOLIDAYS

Rosh Hashanah  (New Year) - Apples and honey 

Yom Kippur (Day of Attornment) - Light meal, usually fish and dairy, after a day of fasting
Sukkot - (Celebrates the 40 year desert pilgrimage) Fall fruits and vegetables
Simchat Torah (Giving of the Torah) - Sweets, kreplach
Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) - Latkes, Sufganiyot, fried foods
Tu b’Shevat (Literally the 15th of Shevat, it Celebrates the aging of trees)  - Fruits, nuts, wine
Purim (Celebrates family, community, overcoming adversity) - Hamantaschen
Passover ( Celebrates the Biblical story of Exodus, lasts 7 days, with feasts, called a seder, usually the first and second night) - Matzo, Charoset
Shavuot  (Known as the feast of weeks, it Celebrates the harvesting of wheat) -  Dairy, grains
Tisha b’Av - ( Literally the 9th of Av, observes past ancient disasters. Simple light food after fasting

A lot of ingredients and dishes they contain have symbolic meaning. For example, for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, simanim  foods, literally Hebrew for signs or indicators, are meant to point the way to improved circumstances. Some of the most popular simanim foods include fish, honey, pomegranate, apples, and dates. Symbolic foods are usually eaten individually or in combination. While mostly seasonal  they're also symbolic by shape, such as circular foods like eggs, olives, arbes, grapes, and bagels. Interestingly, round foods are symbolic for celebrating birth and death.

Offal, the part of an animal usually thrown away, is significant in Jewish cuisines.  It was readily available, flavorful, and versatile,  so it plays a larger part in Jewish cuisines than most other cuisines. When it comes to offal Jews were innovative and truly head-to-tail; from tongue to chicken necks to gribenes to kishka to derma to chopped liver to giblets to Jerusalem Mixed Grill to the pupik. Also, parts not usually mentioned in conjunction with food (genitals and mammary glands), are found in few cuisines.