A Cuisine of Cuisines
I've been cooking for over 50 years. I love cooking. I cook Bonne Femme style, which means simple and uncomplicated, or heimishe in Yiddish. Growing up, my immediate and extended family cooked Ashkenazi (Eastern European) and a little Sephardic, and food was at the center of all family gatherings. Those experiences influenced my cooking. As I grew older, moved, got married, and my tastes changed, I expanded my cooking skills but held onto my roots. I have a large library of various cookbooks (300 and counting) including over 100 specifically Jewish. I enjoy the history of food, the influence of language and culture on food, and sharing my knowledge. I hope through this website I can show you the world of Jewish cuisines.
Food is an essential element of Judaism both religiously and culturally with most traditions and holidays accompanied by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah) and many ingredients having a symbolic meaning.
A cuisine is a style of cooking identified by distinctive ingredients and preparation, and most often associated with a specific culture and/or geographic region. Immigration patterns, Holidays, and Religious food laws also influence cuisine. Jewish cuisines are most notably influenced by all these factors.
While many of the ingredients and foods in Jewish culture can be found in other ethnic cuisines, it's the influence of religion and history that makes them uniquely Jewish. A simple dish such as Cholent (a Sabbath dish of baked meat and vegetables slowly cooked overnight) not only differs among cuisines, but within countries, regions within the country, and even within cities in a region. Through adaptation Jewish food has become a cuisine of cuisines.
Throughout this site you may see different words describing the same ingredient or dish. It's not an error. Over the centuries as the dishes morphed the name morphed too. For example, Cholent may be rooted in Latin (calēns, that which is heated) or French (chaud lent - to keep warm) that then morphed to the more modern Yiddish (shul ende - synagogue end, which describes when it is eaten). As this dish was a Sabbath staple among all Jewish Cuisines , many adopted their own names, Hebrew (hamin), Morocco (dafina), or Spanish (chamin), among others. I hope at some point to expand "Vas is Das?" to include etymology.
I do not keep kosher. The recipes you'll find here are a mixture of Kosher and non-Kosher. Also, the recipes may not be what your Bubbe (Grandmother) cooked. That's one of the endearing characteristics of Jewish Cuisine, every recipe is based on tradition (cue music from Fiddler on the Roof).
Idishe Kvizin. Leynen. Lernen. Kakhn. Esn. Hnah.
Jewish Cuisines. Read. Learn. Cook. Eat. Enjoy.
