Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central, Eastern, Northwestern and Northern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.
Ashkenazi Jewish foods have frequently been unique to Ashkenazi Jewish communities, and they frequently consist of local ingredients (such as
The cuisine is largely based on ingredients that were affordable to the historically poor Ashkenazi Jewish community of Europe, and it is frequently composed of ingredients that were readily available and affordable in the regions and communities of Europe in which Ashkenazi Jews lived. Some ingredients were considered less desirable than other ingredients, such as
Meat is ritually slaughtered in the
Due to the lack of availability of
History
The cuisine of the Ashkenazi Jews is reflective of their journey from Central to Eastern Europe and then to the Americas and Israel.[3] Ashkenazi Jews are a Jewish diaspora population which coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. This population progressively migrated eastward, and established population centres in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (a nation which then consisted of territories currently located in parts of present-day Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine).[4] Ashkenazi communities have also historically been present in the Banat, a region in central and eastern Europe that consists of parts of present-day Serbia, Romania, and Hungary. As a result, the cuisine of Ashkenazi Jews was highly regional in the past, and has also been influenced by a diverse range of European cooking traditions, including German, French, Italian, Slavic, and Ottoman cuisines.
A common refrain is that the food of Ashkenazi Jews is the food of
While the majority of Jews who have been living in the Western Levant and Turkey since the time of the first diaspora have been Sefardic, Mizrahi, and other non-Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi communities also existed among the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period (the Old Yishuv), and Turkey.[7] Evidence of cross-cultural culinary exchange between Ottoman and Ashkenazi cuisines can be seen most readily in the food of Jews in the Banat, Romania, and Moldova, particularly pastrami and karnatzel.[8]
A stereotype of Ashkenazi food is that it contains few vegetables relative to other Jewish cuisines.[9] While there is some truth to this allegation, it was most true in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period during which many eastern European Ashkenazi Jews experienced particularly extreme deprivation (including in terms of the availability of food), that coincided with the advent of industrial food processing. "Modern kitchen science" and industrial food processing continued and accelerated into the mid-20th century in the United States, leading to a narrowing of the culinary repertoire and a heavier reliance of processed shelf-stable foods.[10]
Root vegetables such as turnips, beets, parsnips, carrots, black radish and potatoes historically made up a large portion of the Ashkenazi diet in Europe. The potato – indigenous to the Americas – had an enormous impact on Ashkenazi cuisine, though it reached most Ashkenazi Jews only in the second half of the 19th century.[11] Other vegetables commonly eaten were cabbage, cucumbers, sorrel, horseradish, and in the Banat, tomatoes and peppers. Cabbage, cucumbers, and other vegetables were frequently preserved through pickling or fermentation. Fruits include stone fruits such as plums and apricots, apples and pears, and berries, which were eaten fresh or preserved. Raisins are also historically an integral part of Ashkenazi cuisine since the 14th century.[12] Staple grains included barley, rye, buckwheat and wheat; barley and buckwheat were generally cooked whole by boiling the grains/groats in water, while rye and wheat were ground into flour and used to make breads and other baked goods. Dairy products were common, including sour cream, and cheeses such as farmer's cheese and brindze and kashkaval in southeastern regions. Nuts such as almonds and walnuts were eaten as well. Mushrooms were foraged or purchased.[13]
In North America in the 20th century, Ashkenazi food became blander and less regionally-distinct than it had been in Europe, due primarily to the unavailability of certain ingredients and staple foods, the advent of industrial food processing and modern kitchen science,[14] and poverty and pressures to assimilate.[15] In the early 21st century, however, increased interest in heritage and food history, including that of Ashkenazi Jews, has resulted in efforts to revitalize this cuisine.[16]
Dishes
Baked goods
The
Kugels
Bread and cake
The dough of challah (called barkhes in Western Yiddish) is often shaped into forms having symbolical meanings; thus on Rosh Hashanah rings and coins are imitated, indicating "May the new year be as round and complete as these"; for Hosha'na Rabbah, bread is baked in the form of a key, meaning "May the door of heaven open to admit our prayers."[citation needed]
In Eastern Europe, the Jews baked black (proster, or "ordinary") bread, white bread and challah. The most common form is the twist (koilitch or kidke from the Romanian word încolăci which means "to twist"). The koilitch is oval in form and about one and a half feet in length. On special occasions, such as weddings, the koilitch is increased to a length of about two and a half feet.
The
Fats
The rendered fat of chickens, known as schmaltz, is sometimes kept in readiness for cooking use when needed. Gribenes or "scraps", also called griven, the cracklings left from the rendering process were one of the favorite foods of the former Jewish community in Eastern Europe. Schmaltz is eaten spread on bread.
Fish
With kosher meat not always available, fish became an important staple of the Jewish diet. In Eastern Europe it was sometimes especially reserved for
Even though fish is
Gefilte fish (from German gefüllte "stuffed" fish) was traditionally made by skinning the fish steaks, usually German or French carp, de-boning the flesh, mincing it and sometimes mixing with finely chopped browned onions (3:1), eggs, salt or pepper and vegetable oil. The fish skin and head were then stuffed with the mixture and poached.[19]
The religious reason for a boneless fish dish for Shabbat is the prohibition of separating bones from food while eating (
A more common commercially packaged product found today is the "Polish" gefilte-fish patties or balls, similar to quenelles, where sugar is added to the broth, resulting in a slightly sweet taste.[20] Strictly speaking they are the fish filling, rather than the complete filled fish.[21] This method of serving evolved from the tradition of removing the stuffing from the skin,[22] rather than portioning the entire fish into slices before serving.
While traditionally made with carp or whitefish and sometimes pike, gefilte fish may also be made from any large fish: cod, haddock, or hake in the United Kingdom.
The combination of smoked salmon, or whitefish with bagels and cream cheese is a traditional breakfast or brunch in American Jewish cuisine, made famous at New York City delicatessens.
.
Meat
Holishkes, stuffed cabbage, also known as the cabbage roll, is also a European Jewish dish that emerged from more impoverished times for Jews. Because having a live cow was more valuable than to eat meat in the Middle Ages, Jews used fillers such as breadcrumbs and vegetables to mix with ground beef. This gave the effect of more meat being stuffed into the cabbage leaves.
A spread of
Gebratenes (roasted meat), chopped meat and essig-fleisch (vinegar meat) are favorite meat recipes. The essig or, as it is sometimes called, honig or Sauerbraten, is made by adding to meat which has been partially roasted some sugar, bay leaves, pepper, raisins, salt and a little vinegar. Knish is a snack food consisting of a meat or potato filling covered with dough that is either baked or grilled.
Side dishes
Tzimmes generally consists of cooked vegetables or fruits, sometimes with meat added. The most popular vegetable is the carrot (mehren tzimes), which is sliced. Turnips are also used for tzimmes, particularly in Lithuania. In southern Russia, Galicia and Romania tzimmes are made with pears, apples, figs, prunes or plums (floymn tzimes).
Soups
A number of soups are characteristically Ashkenazi, one of the most common of which is
In the preparation of a number of soups, neither meat nor fat is used. Such soups formed the food of the poor classes. An expression among Jews of Eastern Europe, soup mit nisht (soup with nothing), owes its origin to soups of this kind.
Soups such as
At weddings, "golden" chicken soup was often served. The reason for its name is probably the yellow circles of molten chicken fat floating on its surface. Today, chicken soup is widely referred to (not just among Jews) in jest as "Jewish penicillin", and hailed as a cure for the common cold.[24]
There are a number of sour soups in the borscht category. One is kraut or cabbage borscht, made by cooking together cabbage, meat, bones, onions, raisins, sour salt (citric acid), sugar and sometimes tomatoes.
Beet borscht is served hot or cold. In the cold version, a beaten egg yolk may be added before serving and each bowl topped with a dollop of sour cream. This last process is called farweissen (to make white).
Krupnik, or barley soup, originates in Polish lands; its name comes from the Slavic term for hulled grains, krupa. While non-Jewish recipes for krupnik often involve meat (beef, chicken, pork or a mixture) and dairy (sour cream) in the same recipe, Jewish recipes for meat-based krupnik generally use chicken or (more rarely) beef broth; if made without meat, sour cream may be added.[25]
Sweets and confections
In Europe, jellies and preserves made from fruit juice were used as pastry filling or served with tea. Among the poor, jelly was reserved for invalids, hence the practice of reciting the Yiddish saying Alevay zol men dos nit darfn (May we not have occasion to use it) before storing it away.
Because it was easy to prepare, made from inexpensive ingredients and contained no dairy products, compote became a staple dessert in Jewish households throughout Europe and was considered part of Jewish cuisine.[26]
Gallery
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Chocolate rugelach
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Bagel with lox, cream cheese, and capers
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Cholent
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Half sour and full sour fermented cucumber pickles
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Chicken broth with kreplach (soup dumplings)
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Kasha varnishkes
-
Holishkes (cabbage rolls)
-
Gefilte feffers (stuffed peppers)
-
Cheese blintzes with blackberry preserves
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Varenikes (dumplings with fruit preserves)
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Krupnick (barley and mushroom) soup
-
Shtshav (sorrel soup)
-
Shashlik cooked outdoors
-
Fresh curd cheese
-
Fruit preserves
-
Tzimmes with sweet potato and pear
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Gefilte fish quenelles
-
Pontshkes (jelly doughnuts)
-
Cucumber salad with dill and onions
-
Arbes (boiled chickpeas)
See also
- List of Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants
- American Jewish cuisine
- Sephardic Jewish cuisine
- Mizrahi Jewish cuisine
- Ethiopian Jewish cuisine
- Syrian Jewish cuisine
- Israeli cuisine
- Yemenite Jewish cuisine
- Ancient Israelite cuisine
- Jewish cuisine
- French cuisine
- German cuisine
References
- ^ Nathan, Joan. King Solomon's Table.
- ^ Marks, Rabbi Gil. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.
- ^ "Ashkenazi Cuisine". My Jewish Learning. 70 Faces Media. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Mosk (2013), p. 143
- ^ Bauer, Ela. "Guilds". YIVO Encyclopedia. YIVO. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Landsburg, Steven E. (13 June 2003). "Why Jews Don't Farm". Slate. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Headrick, Isabelle S. (15 March 2021). "A Family Fight on the Bosporus: The Ashkenazi Jews of the Ottoman Empire". Not Even Past. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ "The Hirshon Romanian-Jewish Garlic Beef "Sausages" – Karnatzlach". The Food Dictator. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-250-07151-4.
- ^ Haber, Joel (27 April 2022). "Ashkenazi Food: Unrecognized Diversity". A Taste of Jew. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-250-07151-4.
- ^ Schoenfein, Liza (March 2, 2023). "Could this be the most underrated ingredient in all of Jewish cooking?". The Forward. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ^ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. "Food and Drink". YIVO Encyclopedia. YIVO. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Haber, Joel (27 April 2022). "Ashkenazi Food: Unrecognized Diversity". A Taste of Jew. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Koenig, Leah (20 April 2016). "As American as Pot Roast and Potato Salad". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Kaplan, Ben (5 February 2020). "Reclaiming Food, Reclaiming History". eJewish Philanthropy. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ Filippone, Peggy Trowbridge. “Bagel History: Bagels date back to the 1600s” Archived 2016-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, About.com website, retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ Altschuler, Glenn C. (2008). ”Three Centuries of Bagels”, a book review of: 'The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread', by Balinska, Maria, Yale University Press, 2008, Jewish Daily Press website, published on-line November 05, 2008 in the issue of November 14, 2008
- ^ Попова, М. Ф., Секреты Одесской кухни, Друк, Одесса, 2004, p.163 (Russian); Popova M.F., Secrets of Odesa kitchen, Druk, Odesa, 2004, p.163
- ^ Satz, Miriam, Heirloom cookbook: recipes handed down by Jewish mothers and modern recipes from daughters and friends, Kar-Ben, 2003, p.14
- ^ Goodman, Hanna, Jewish cooking around the World: gourmet and holiday recipes, Varda Books Skokie, Illinois, 2002, p.147
- ^ Garfunkel, Trudy, Kosher for everybody: the complete guide to understanding, shopping, cooking, and eating the kosher way, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004, p.11
- ^ Polis, Jared. "Schav (Sour Grass)". Jewish Food Experience. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ "Jewish penicillin definition". Medterms.Com. Medicine Net.Com, a WebMD Company. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
- ^ Romanow, Katherine. "Eating Jewish: Krupnik (Polish Barley Soup)". Jewish Women's Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Be Merry / A taste of Poland, Haaretz
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