Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

Food is more than just sustenance. It s a reflection of a community s history, culture, and values and this is especially true for the Jewish people a community that spans the globe. From Brooklyn to India and everywhere in between, Jewish food is represented by a fascinating array of dishes, rituals, and traditions.Jewish cuisine is truly international. In every location where Jews settled, they brought culinary traditions with them and also adopted local dishes, modifying them to fit their dietary laws, lifestyle, and tastes. Unique traditions and dishes developed within the cuisines of North Africa, Europe, Persia, Asia, and the Mediterranean, but all are recognizably Jewish.The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food explores the foods and culinary traditions of individual communities, such as the honey nut sfratto cookies beloved by Italian Jews in Tuscany, as well as those that unite Jews everywhere, like the key elements of the Passover Seder plate. Alphabetical book entries from Afikomen and Almond to Yom Kippur and Za atar present recipes, ingredients, and holidays that are significant to the story of Jewish food, spanning three thousand years.Even those with a well developed knowledge of Jewish food will find plenty of new and compelling information here dishes and ingredients they ve never heard of, surprising and delicious variations on favorite traditional recipes, and plenty of historical and cultural tidbits that explore how, when, and why Jewish foods developed into what they are today.For anyone interested in Jewish cooking, culture, or history, the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food is an enlightening and engaging tour through the culinary heart and soul of a people.