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Tradition in the Kitchen

by Sarah Rose · January 17th, 2007

Cookbooks, Jewish Culture

Among the joys of visiting my cousin Gladys is perusing her cookbooks, some 3000, collected over the last 90 years.

Though she had ample material for study, Gladys was never a good cook. As her sister used to say, “a million recipes in this house and they all taste like tunafish.”

On my recent trip, I focused on the 200 or so Jewish cookbooks, among them some 15 iterations of Hadassah cookbooks, and 2 copies each of the Italian-Kosher, Chinese-Kosher, and French-Kosher cookbooks (one for milk and one for meat?).

The recipes have a sameness to them – either oldworld favorites in jeopardy of being lost, or timesaving tips that involve cream of mushroom soup and a jar of pimentos.

But the book titles make me smile:

Love and Knishes
A Rage to Nosh
Mazel Tov Y’all
From Noodles to Strudels (parts 1&2)
So Eat, My Love
From Mama to Mousse
Kosher Kitchen Capers
Tradition in the Kitchen
The Balabusta’s Best
Food That Really Shmecks

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3 Responses to “Tradition in the Kitchen”

Leah Says:
January 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Here’s another smile-worthy Jewish cookbook title: Matzah Ball Gumbo.

Written by Marcie Cohen Ferris, it’s an amazing book that chronicles the “Culinary Tales (and recipes) of the South.”
Sharon Lebewohl Says:
January 18th, 2007 at 12:13 am
Like your cousin Gladys, I too collect cookbooks. I read them like novels, and it is rare that I ever make anything from them. I probably also have over 200 Jewish Cookbooks and I checked to see if there might be an interesting one that your cousin Gladys doesn’t have. How about The Jewish Lesbian California cookbook? It’s sitting on my bookshelf if you want to read it.
The Jew and the Carrot » Blog Archive » Why the balabusta keeps kosher Says:
January 28th, 2007 at 11:04 am
[…] the Illustrated Balabusta’s Best, 1955: The secret of Israel’s survival in the past was the beauty and integrity of the Jewish […]