Jewish American Food Culture

by Jonathan Deutsch, Rachel D. Saks

Overview

Many Jewish foods are beloved in American culture. Everyone eats bagels, and the delicatessen is a ubiquitous institution from Manhattan to Los Angeles. Jewish American Food Culture offers readers an in-depth look at both well-known and unfamiliar Jewish dishes and the practices and culture of a diverse group of Americans. This is the source to consult about what "parve" on packaging means, the symbolism of particular foods essential to holiday celebrations, what keeping kosher entails, how meals and food rituals are approached differently depending on ways of practicing Judaism and the land of one's ancestors, and much more. Jonathan Deutsch and Rachel D. Saks first provide a historical overview of the culture and symbolism of Jewish cuisine before explaining the main foods and ingredients of Jewish American food. Chapters on cooking practices, holiday celebrations, eating out, and diet and health complete the overview. Twenty-three recipes, a chronology, a glossary, a resource guide, and a selected bibliography make this an essential one-stop resource for every library.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803226753
Publisher:	UNP - Bison Books
Publication date:	10/01/2009
Series:	At Table
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jonathan Deutsch is an assistant professor and director of the Culinary Management Center in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. He is the coeditor (with Annie Hauck-Lawson) of Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Rachel D. Saks is a nutritionist and a graduate student at New York University. She works as a personal chef and cooking teacher.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Jewish American Diversity
Chronology
1. Historical Overview
2. Major Foods and Ingredients
3. Cooking
4. Typical Meals
5. Eating Out
6. Special Occasions
7. Diet and Health
Glossary
Resource Guide
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Jewish American Food Culture is an essential one-stop resource for every library: this is the source to find our what 'parve' on packaging means, the symbolism of particular foods that are essential to holiday celebrations, what keeping kosher entails, how meals and food rituals are approached differently depending on how religious one is and the land of one's ancestors, and much more.” —Suite101.com

“This book is one in a series on Food Cultures in America, which intends to show how different ethnic and regional food cultures have become part of American identity. As the authors explain in their introduction, the Jewish contribution to food culture in the US is complicated because of the Diaspora background of US Jews from Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. . . . Recommended. General and undergraduate collections.” —Choice

“Jewish American Food Culture encompasses the vast diversity of Jewish Americans—those who observe the Jewish dietary laws of kashrut(keeping kosher), those born into the Jewish faith who do not actively practice the religion, Jews of various European heritages, Arabic-speaking Jewish Americans, the Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn, and intermarried families in the multiethnic suburbs of Los Angeles. Each volume in this series contains a foreword, an introduction, a chronology, line drawings and photos, recipes, a glossary, a resource guide, a selected bibliography, and an index.” —MultiCultural Review

“Jewish American Food Culture is a welcome new resource for classes in American studies, anthropology, folklore, foodways, Jewish studies, and religious studies. The non-scholarly reader will also enjoy the work. . . . They do an excellent job of covering vast expanses of territory, time, and space — from the ancient Middle East to contemporary America, and they do so gracefully and with good humor.” —Gastronomica

“Jewish American Food Culture offers a good introduction to American Jewish culinary traditions. It is a good addition to high school, public, and synagogue libraries.” —ARBA

“A small book that crams a large amount of information on the eating proclivities of American Jews into its pages. The dominant theme is Ashkenazic, but the authors also include Sephardic traditions, too. Recipes for basic holiday foods are included, along with an explanation of kashrut. This would serve as a good basic introduction, and possibly as a handbook for caterers.” —JTNews

From the Publisher