Laura Frankel, full-time chef and full-time mother, celebrates and enlivens Jewish cooking for the holidays and meals throughout the year with this book of seasonal specialties from Shallots restaurant, adapted for home cooks.

What makes Jewish cooking unique is the ancient dietary laws that govern the selection, preparation, and consumption of observant Jews. Food plays a major part in rituals past and present, binding family and community. It is this theme that informs every part of Joan Nathan’s warm and lively text.

Every dish has a story–from the cholent (the long-cooked rich meat stews) and kugel (vegetable and noodle puddings) prepared in advance for the Sabbath, to the potato latkes (served with maple syrup in Vermont and goat cheese in California) and gefilte fish (made with white fish in the Midwest, salmon in the Northwest, haddock in New England, and shad in Maryland). Joan Nathan tells us how lox and bagels and Lindy’s cheesecake became household words, and how American products like Crisco, cream cheese, and Jell-O changed forever Jewish home cooking.

Try a Recipe:

• Advieh (P) (p. 64)
• Crunchy Herbed Croutons (P) (p. 206)
• Fig Confit (P) (p. 194)
• Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes (M or P) (p. 163)
• Pickled Vegetable Antipasto
• Porcini Oil (P) (p. 148)
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes (P) (p. 184)