The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Debatable List is a fascinating journey into Jewish food and culture. The author makes it clear as to what the book contains: “What’s here,… are the foods that contain the deepest Jewish significance—the ones that, through the history of our people (however you date it), have been most profoundly inspired by the rhythms of the Jewish calendar and the contingencies of the Jewish experience. That many of them are also delicious is obvious, and Darwinian: It’s how they’ve survived as long as they have.” For those who are non-Jewish, this cookbook contains loads of information on eating kosher, and the reasoning behind many Jewish foods.

Each chapter has vignettes or essays from prominent Jews, that bring Jewish food to life. Most of the chapters also give recipes for those very Jewish foods, and since there is a picture of every dish, readers will want to make almost everything. Some of the dishes will appeal to only those who have been brought up eating them, but there are dozens that will appeal to everyone. The book includes famous traditional Jewish dishes such as Latkes, Kugel, and Cheese Blintzes (a very delicious version), but also for interesting recipes that many non-Jews have never heard of, such as Kichel (hard cookies shaped into a bow tie and enjoyed mostly by adults), Kiddush Cookies (homemade cookies that used to be served after services but aren’t anymore because of cost), and Labda ( easy and incredibly delicious potato pancakes from the Republic of Georgia). There is an excellent recipe for Matzo Brie, as well as a delicious version of Shakshuka, which has recently been the darling of spicy egg dishes everywhere.

Whether you are Jewish or not, this cookbook includes dozens of recipes that everyone will want to make. The stories will make it fun to curl up and read, and since the recipes are written in an easy-to-follow format, it will be fun for everyone to make some of these dishes. The recipes turn out well, even for less experienced cooks.

Highly recommended, this is a fun book to add to any cookbook collection.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The 100 most Jewish foods: A highly debatable list.
By Alana Newhouse.

With contributions from Ruth Reichl, Éric Ripert, Joan Nathan, Michael Solomonov, Dan Barber
and many more.
I loved this book, the format was: first there were images of the food to be discussed, then there are personal stories about the history of the item being discussed. The recipe follows the narrative with ingredients and method to make the recipe. The origins of the recipes such as the Bagel which originated in Poland but today is very much part of the American menu.

“Perhaps most fun of all, The 100 Most Jewish Foods will provide you with new talking points for the food debate that is sure to unfold around your next holiday meal. And what could be more Jewish than that?”
The recipes mostly come from food writer Gabriella Gershenson, who served as recipe editor on the project.

While overall enjoyable, this collection of essays and recipes didn't catch my attention very well. Would like to try some of the recipes.

Full disclosure: I am not Jewish. So, one could wonder why I would be interested in the 100 Most Jewish Foods.and hat actually has a simple answer: my godmother is Jewish and from the Bronx. (Long story short my family is weird and I've got a Catholic set of godparents and a "worldly" set of godparents. My baptism was a party.) I grew up throwing words around that I didn't know were Yiddish and have eaten some tasty food from her kitchen while listening to her stories. Having parts of Jewish culture become part of my super Canadian mutt of an identity made me want to see how food influenced traditions that I had only heard of in passing.

This collection of recipes and stories is truly a testament to the resiliency of the Jewish people. Everything has a reason, everything has a purpose and a story whether it is challah or a black and white cookie. Of course, this is not all encompassing nor is it without debate but it was an adventure from start to finish. It was interesting to see the why, the how, and the where when it comes to foods that have become so synonymous with Jewish culture while also reading about foods that I would never have considered like Tofutti. Frequently foods were chosen to solve a problem, the Jewish people saw an obstacle then sought to overcome it while being true to the laws of their religion.

If you want some new recipes and some family/world history in your kitchen or you want to connect a little more with your roots The 100 Most Jewish Foods would be a great addition to your collection.

I do love a good debate and The 100 Most Jewish Foods will give the goods.

I have included it in my spring books review for my newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/talesfromtopographickitchens/letters/spring-for-more-books-1

This was such a fun, quick, relaxing read. Like I said in my GoodReads notes as I was reading it, it feels a bit like when I was a tween and used to let through DK travel books about London or Paris. Except instead of far away places I'll never see, this has recipes! Jewish culture has always felt extremely foreign to me because I grew up in the South. When I was growing up in Atlanta there was one major Catholic church (which my family went to) and I expect there was one major synagog as well. And the rest? Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians as far as the eye could see. This book does a great job of explaining Jewish culture through food, and even digs into the nuances of the different Jewish sub-cultures, even what the book lovingly dubs "Bagel Jews" (the Jewish equivalent of my self-styled "ethnic Catholicism." In addition to exploring Jewish cuisine, culture, and subcultures, the book also digs into specific foods that have transcended jewish culture to become American staples, like cream cheese or Bazooka bubblegum. Overall? delightful, and I heartily recommend it for a nice Readathon warmup.

I can't wait until this book is actually released to add to my cookbook collection! I learned a few new recipes and will be adding to some older ones. I really liked this book!

This book is a must-have for every Jewish cook. Not only did it make me feel more connected to my Jewish culture, but it taught me recipes I'd never known!

I cannot wait for this title to be released. I will be gifting it to my Jewish friends as well as trying many of the recipes myself. It was a wonderful lesson in this deeply rich culture and enlightening to see the commonalities we share through food. Can't wait to get in my kitchen!

I was not raised Jewish, nor was anyone in my distant family but recently found out as a result of some genetic testing that I actually a very small percentage Jewish which has peaked my curiosity about Jewish culture - so as someone with little to no knowledge of Judaism or Jewish history, I really enjoyed this book! I liked the set up of the book, it would make a great coffee table book. I know it probably wasn't super factual and mostly opinion based but I still enjoyed it with the occasional recipe. There was quite a bit of foul language which I wasn't prepared for but overall enjoyed this quick read!

The 100 Most Jewish Foods is both fascinating and infuriating. Its fascination comes in the short essays that precede every entry. Most are informative, some are amusing, a few may be offensive to some readers (i.e., foul language). The lovely photographs are particularly helpful as a guide to foods with which the reader may be unfamiliar, Yerba, for example, was new to me. The book is infuriating in parts, however Or perhaps questionable is more accurate a description. Slivovitz, Chinese food, Bazzoka gum and more that I wouldn’t have thought of (and still don’t) as Jewish foods are all included. I get the humor and appreciate the often thoughtful essays that accompany these choices, but perhaps a different title would both indicate the book’s intent more accurately and attract more readers.

This book describes both familiar and unfamiliar foods, and each one is preceded by a brief article (a few surprisingly vulgar), and an occasional recipe. (I was very surprised that the apple cake recipe had both butter and sour cream, since every recipe I’ve seen uses the more traditional orange juice and oil.) I preferred the articles that offered some history of the item rather than a story about the author’s memory of the particular food item. (I had no idea that Bazooka bubble gum was started by four Jewish brothers, or that Sweet ‘n’ Low was created by a Jewish father and son.)